Petr Vrba and Veronika Mayer use non-idiomatic improvisation to research the combination of textural materials, crossing them with vibrations of objects on the speakers, pure sound waves, feedbacks, tones coming from trumpet, accordion, electronics, and laptop, culminating in the creation of a muscular frenetic soup of tense energy fields.

The Little Village Foundation run by keyboardist Jim Pugh assembled this band through Indian blues harmonica player & singer Aki Kumar, who brought drummer June Core and guitarist Rome Yamilov, deciding to make the release a "crazy guitar album" by adding Henry Kaiser; along with vocalist Lisa Leuschnet they hit the mark in an exuberantly diverse set of blues performing the music of J.B. Lenoir.

Pianist Dirar Kalash is a Palestinian performer, whos concerts combine free improvisation, text, sound, image, video and movement; opportunities to record and perform are rare, but on a visit to the UK in 2020 Simon Reynell (Another Timbre) was able to record these two extended and exemplary improvisations at St Paul's Hall at the University Of Huddersfield.

Two suites recorded in 1978 from the French improvising quintet of Jouk Minor on baritone saxophone & contrabass clarinet, Josef Traindl on trombone, Jean Querlier on alto saxophone, Christian Lete on drums and Dominique Regef on hurdy gurdy, two journeys guided by waves of drone from Regef's hurdy-gurdy as each player emerges and subsides in billows and surges of collective expression.

One of the pioneers of laptop electronics, Mori here features her idiosyncratic take on contemporary dance rhythms and electronica in instrumental tracks and an animated video.

A beautifully paced and uniquely voiced album of electronic soundscapes from luminary New York performer Ikue Mori, 10 works including a realization of Izumi Kyoka's story "Koya Hijuri", 3 pieces for Mozu birds, the 2-part "Pomegranate Seeds", and one of Zorn's Masada compositions.

Tonewheel organ meditations along with feedback and sound forms using processed guitar, keyboards and field recordings from sound artist Jamie Newton, 2 slowly evolving tonal works sandwiching three more turbulent pieces in a journey of drone, noise and reflection.

As part of the Polish website Jazzarium.pl's 5th anniversary celebration, UK tenor saxophonist Evan Parker joined the Polish RGG free-improvising piano trio of Lukasz Ojdana on piano, Maciej Garbowski on bass, and Krzysztof Gradziuk on drums, for this four-part sophisticated collective improvisation recorded at the legendary Alchemia club in Krakow.

The Ratchet Orchestra is a large ensemble of 30 fringe musicians from Montreal headed by director Nicolas Caloia whose compositions allow for improvised chamber jazz and showcase the talents of the orchestra's most passionate players.

"As Frogworth says in one review: 'Two giants of Australian avant-garde music getting together here, dedicating their record to Australian composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks, whose house in Paddington, Sydney is used for residencies/sabbatic...

San Francisco Bay Area guitarist John Schott (Junk Genius, T.J. Kirk, Tom Waits) in his 3rd release on Tzadik with his trio of Dan Seamans on bass and John Hanes on drums, 8 upbeat compositions including one for James Blood Ulmer; lyrical pieces with tight interplay.

Mysterious and beautiful, the compositions of Norwegian improvisers, saxophonist, trumpeter and clarinetist Torben Snekkestad and pianist Søren Kjærgaard, are influenced by the peaceful western coast of Norway where they recorded these 12 pieces, with titles adapted from the texts by Torben Ulrich in the work Meridiana: Lines Toward A Nonlocal Alchemy.

Live recordings in 2015 from Bim Huis, and in Quintavant/Audio Rebel in Rio de Janeiro, the first a tribute to the late saxophonist Ornette Coleman in a 3 part suite of fast-paced and insightful improv; the 2nd "Quantum Illusion", an introspective and rich 2-part work.

The Norwegian & Danish freejazz-noise-rock trio Yes Deer of Anders Vestergaard on drums, Karl Bjora on guitar and Signe Dahlgreen on sax, in their second album of high energy, cacophonous and brutally joyful (they say "enthusiastic despair") collective improvisation.

The final night of Otomo and Sachiko's first residency at London's Cafe OTO in 2009 saw the pair joined by the long-running trio of Evan Parker, John Edwards and Tony Marsh and special guest John Butcher, for an exceptional set of creative improvisation.

"5th January, 12th January, 19th January, 4th February of the year 2015 have a thin red line (or I'd rather say a black line, considering their color on a calendar). They occurred on Monday, the first five Mondays of that year to be pre...

An outrageous interpretation of Alfred Jarry's fictional character Ubu performed with with the International Contemporary Ensemble and core Downtown New York performers Ikue Mori, Ches Smith and Zorn himself, using Zorn's quick cut approach to composition; presented along with a work inspired by French poet Charles Baudelaire and an elegy to painter Paul Gauguin.

Zorn's sixth quartet is inspired by the hermetic Angelic actions of John Dee and is replete with the procedures of distillation, calcination, crystallization, sublimation, purification, rotation as well numerology, prayers, canons, contrapuntal complexity, &c.

Composer John Zorn's Simulacrum ensemble of Trevor Dunn (bass), John Medeski (keyboards), Kenny Grohowski (drums), Matt Hollenberg (guitar), and Sara Serpa (voice) in their 6th album of heavy improv, celebrating the 500th anniversary of the passing of painter Hieronymus Bosch.

Extending the duo of British improvisers, legendary vocalist and leader of London's The Gathering, Maggie Nicols, also performing on taps and percussion, and Confront label-leader, percussionist Mark Wastell performing on cymbals and frame drum, with Swedish percussionist Matilda Rolfsson on bass drum, captured in a captivating concert at All Ears in Oslo in 2023.

Looking to configure The Leap of Faith ensemble with a 3-horn front line, Boston wind & reed player and Evil Clown label leader David Peck recruited John Fugarino to perform on trumpet, slide trumpet & trombone, and surprisingly, Japanese pianist Keiichi Hashimoto, who also performs on trumpet, cornet & flugelhorn, with cellist Gylnis Lomon filling out the band for this dynamic, extended set.

A psychedelic set of recordings based around the guitar work of Philip Gayle, improvised, recorded, and layered into diverse experiments in sound and performed on banjo, bass, cello, door, guitars, mandolin, percussion, piano, toy piano, voice, ukulele and waterphone, with guests including saxophonist Shogo Ohshima and vocalists Shizka Ueda, Omusubisan and Fuuchan.

Two works for voice and chamber orchestra performed by the UK Explore Ensemble under the direction of Nicholas Moroz, and a multi-tracked vocal work by Lotte Betts-Dean, rich and understated works of rich harmonics and atmospheric overtones composed by Catherine Lamb, placing phonetic vocals in space and ambiance, eschewing words for tone, texture and motion; mesmerizing.

Upbeat retro-future jazz with a bit of an acerbic wit, from the organ trio of Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen, Danish drummer Stefan Pasborg and French Hammond organ player Cédric Piromalli, in nine diverse pieces from funky swing to lush balladry, with Canadian improviser Lori Freedman providing sharply inquisitive narrative on two pieces.

The follow-up to Music for Two Organs and Two Bass Clarinets, combining the collective work of clarinetists Chris Cundy, (bass clarinets, soprano ocarina) & Ove Volquartz (bass clarinets), Thanos Chrysakis (chamber organ & voice) and Peer Schlechta (pipe organ), recorded in the natural resonance of the Neustadter Kirche church in Hofgeismar, Germany.

The follow-up to Music for Two Organs and Two Bass Clarinets, combining the collective work of clarinetists Chris Cundy, (bass clarinets, soprano ocarina) & Ove Volquartz (bass clarinets), Thanos Chrysakis (chamber organ & voice) and Peer Schlechta (pipe organ), recorded in the natural resonance of the Neustadter Kirche church in Hofgeismar, Germany.

Bringing together two generations of sound artists and field recording specialists--Belgian composer Moniek Darge, known for her ethnomusicologist "soundies" from global locations; and American sound composer Vanessa Rossetto transforming everyday occurrence--for a meeting at Lincoln Center in NYC to record the city and reshape its sound into four impressionistic sonic reveries.

Taking a turn into the Caribbean and the music of Don Drummond, trombonist Samuel Blaser assembled a new group with Alex Wilson on keys, Ira Coleman on bass, Dion Parson on drums, Michael Blake on tenor sax and Soweto Kinch on alto and vocals, with guest performances by Carroll Thompson, dubs by the late Lee 'Scratch' Perry, and a multi-bone section including Steve Turre & John Fedchock.

A series of intimate duets between Syrian-born, Vancouver-based oud, ney, flamenco guitar and singer Emad Armoush with aA series of intimate duets between Syrian-born, Vancouver-based Emad Armoush performing on oud, ney, flamenco guitar and song, with clarinetist Francois Houle, violinist Jesse Zubot, trumpeter JP Carter, drummer/percussionist Kenton Loewen and cellist Marina Hasselberg--Houle, Zubot and Carter also adding electronic layers--as Armoush reinvents Arabic tradition alongsie original compositions. Francois Houle, violinist Jesse Zubot, trumpeter JP Carter, drummer/percussionist Kenton Loewen and cellist Marina Hasselberg--Houle, Zubot and Carter also adding electronic layers--as Armoush reinvents Arabic tradition alongside original compositions.

Aberrant, expressive and idiosyncratic improvisations from the merging of two unique duos--Audrey Chen on voice and Henrik Munkeby Norstebo on trombone; and Eivind Lonning on trumpet and Espen Reinertsen on tenor sax--all using electronics, recording in Norway together while in separate rooms linked by headphones to create these two beautifully strange improvisations.

A septet bridging generations of improvisers from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, DC, Minnesota, and NY, from Chad Fowler (sax & flute), George Cartwright (sax & guitar), Christopher Parker (piano), Kelley Hurt (voice), Luke Stewart (bass), Steve Hirsh (drums), and guest tenor saxophonist Zoh Amba, in four works reflecting our turbulent times, plus a tribute to Davey Williams.

Reflecting on a magnificent career as an improviser, vocalist & organizer, including Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Les Diaboliques and the Feminist Improvising Group, Maggie Nichols releases an LP solo vocal improv: a set of intimate & expresive songs performed on voice and piano applying techniques going back to John Stevens/SME, and a take on Zappa's 'what's the ugliest part of your body'.

Reflecting on a magnificent career as an improviser, vocalist & organizer, including Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Les Diaboliques and the Feminist Improvising Group, Maggie Nichols releases two related CDs of solo vocal improv: a set of intimate & expresive songs performed on voice and piano; and a set of overdubbed free improvisations applying techniques going back to John Stevens/SME.

Two long-standing experimental sound projects join together as Legendary Bastard Noise, aka Eric Wood and +DOG+, aka Steve Davis, combine for two extended and well-paced works of dark sonics and electronics, the first piece "Misery Milestone" a haunting and desolate soundscape with disruptive punctuation; the 2nd "Beneficiary: Earth" adds agonizing voice to a work of global arpeggiation and destruction.

A unique 1995 studio album from bassist Joe Fonda, remastered reissued to bring to life this septet with Anthony Braxton on reeds & winds, Herb Robertson on trumpet, Grisha Alexiev on drums, Vickie Dodds on vocals, and integrating tap dancer Brenda Bufalino as a full percussive voice into the ensemble's unique merging of jazz and dance, and of the healing arts and the performing arts.

Straddling quirky folk song and experimental sound collage, the long-running Western Massachusettes duo of fiddler, banjo player & singer Mia Friedman and clarinetist, wind player & sound artist Andy Allen (Guerilla Toss) present an album of observational songs with unusual perspectives and an anything goes approach to the music that surrounds each song; delightful.

A musical work composed by French drummer Peter Orins inspired by Alan Moore's 2016 novel Jerusalem crossing geographical and temporal space, recorded during a residency with the Muzzix collective at La Malterie in Lill and performed with Maryline Pruvost on voice & indian harmonium, Barbara Dang on piano, and Gordon Pym on electronics & amplified objects.

One "Small Dog" and one Big from the Texas experimental duo of Andrew Weathers on synth, lap steel, recorder & electronics, and Gretchen Korsmo on voice, keys & percussion, both members of the Full Spectrum Records collective, their confident collaboration morphing drones, sonic deformation, resonance, voice, bells and mysterious sources in two well-paced & passionate sonic journeys.

Compressing his Exploding Star Orchestra to a sextet, Chicago trumpeter Rob Mazurek presents two expansive works of ecstatic, exploratory electric and groove-oriented jazz, performed with Damon Locks (voice, electronics), Tomeka Reid (cello), Angelica Sanchez (Wurlitzer electric piano), Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten (double bass) and Chad Taylor (drums).

Elka Bong is the experimental sound art duo of Al Margolis and Walter Wright, here joined by guests Andrea Pensado on voice and electronics and Steve Davis on electronics, Margolis performing on synth, electric guitar & objects, and Weiss on Board Weevil and drum kit, in a mix of improvisation, extended technique, cacophony and indeterminacy.

French free vocalist Isabelle Duthoit and world traveling improviser and Zeitkratzer trumpeter Franz Hautzinger continue their collaborations at GMEA Centre National de Creation Musicale, in Albi, France to record these 11 unusual duos, using outrageous technique and inexplicable intent to create aberrant accompaniments to your most subtle and frightening dreams.

The Tamarisk trio of bassist David Menestres, guitarist Andrew Weathers and vocalist Christina Carter (Charalambides) are heard live at Casa del Popolo, in Montreal and at PIT, in Brooklyn, New York, joined in Brooklyn by flutist Laura Cocks, each performance an extended journey between assertive, cathartic improvisation and introspective rumination.

Strange monsters indeed, two creative improvising vocalists--Mascha Corman from Germany and Thea Soti from Serbia--join with Czech prepared saxophonist Salim Javaid, each using their instrument both as a voice and an unusual sound source, presenting 16 short works that explore harmonic and unexpected outcomes from their unique conversations.

A stunning album that effortlessly blends styles from jazz, electronics, minimalism and contemporary forms, rendered by an eclectic group of primarily NY artists including Nate Wooley, Jennifer Choi, James Brandin Lews, Oscar Noriega, Anna Webber, Shahzad Ismaily and Smith himself, in an exhilarating and well-balanced set of Smith compositions that inform and groove spectacularly!

The improvising string duo of stalwart London improvisers, Daniel Thompson on acoustic guitar and Phil Durrant on the octave mandola, are heard in two settings of texturally rich, intricate interactions, first at Cafe OTO in 2022 for an extended improvisation, then at Cable Street Studios two months later for six succint, impressively diverse dialogs.

Strange and expansive music from the duo of Lee Pui Ming (piano, objects, body) and Joane Hetu (vocals, alto saxophone).

Merging members of Ensemble SuperMusique with a subset of the ensemble Chorale Joker, Joane Hétu presents four premieres that explore our experiences during the pandemic, SuperMusique focused on electronics and synthetic instruments and offset by a wind quintet, the music and vocal interactions often explosive, reflecting on our mental states during an overwhelming cultural malady.

A collection of works from pianist & composer Dante Boon in diverse duos and virtual duo compositions that reflect on John Cage's "inner clock" concept from "Two2", each of Boon's compositions directing the players through systems of notation and counting unique to each player, varying the rules of how the two players eventually synchronize their performances.

Two movements from a live score for the classic silent film Terje Vigen by Sjöström composed and produced by Swedish pianist & keyboardist Alex Zethson (Angles 9, VÖ, Fire! Orchestra), two long-form tracks of dark and sombre, pulsating folk-drone featuring Norwegian vocal ensemble EMBLA plus appearances by, i.e., Christer Bothén, Kristin Amparo Sundberg and Goran Kajfeš.

The trio of Kaja Farszky on marimba & percussion, Annette Giesriegl on voice and electronics, and Katharina Klement on piano for a gripping album of free/ea improvisation, splitting the release in 3 parts from a live concert in 2015 at Sonnenhang House Concerts Series in Kumberg/Austria, and 3 parts recorded at Croatian Radio in Zagreb in 2016.

A powerful, spiritual and warmly dynamic album of international and cross-cultural free improvisation meticulously recorded live at Jazzfest Berlin in 2022 from the trio of German reedist Peter Brötzmann on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Chicago drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake, and Moroccan guembri player and vocalist Majid Bekkas.

Inspired by the memoir from Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, this first album from the ORD quintet uses text from Tranströmer and original work from pianist & composer Karin Johansson and vocalist Jenny Willén, with trombonist Niclas Rhyd, reedist Gunnel Samuelsson and bassist Hasse Westling, in an exquisite set of introspective songs that bridge composed and improvised forms.

Inspired by the memoir from Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, this first album from the ORD quintet uses text from Tranströmer and original work from pianist & composer Karin Johansson and vocalist Jenny Willén, with trombonist Niclas Rhyd, reedist Gunnel Samuelsson and bassist Hasse Westling, in an exquisite set of introspective songs that bridge composed and improvised forms.

Newly Distributed in 2021: A 12-CD set presenting Braxton in dialogue with three distinctive duet partners: violinist Erica Dicker, vocalist Kyoko Kitamura and bassoonist Katherine Young, recorded in the summer of 2012 over two sessions with each player, a remarkable and expansive set of innovative and creative improvisation.

A 12-hour collection over 12 CDs of composer Anthony Braxton's Ghost Trance Music (GTM), a compositional system he developed with his superlative Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble, GTM allowing the ensemble to generate a performance in real time in a mix of sung, spoken, and non-verbal utterances, with unpredictable and surprising results that reveal fascinating layers with each listen.

Percussionist Isaiah Ceccarelli's work for percussion, two voices, two bass clarinets and viola da gamba, woven from the delicate fabric of the tension between darkness and light.

After riding through his city of Zurich to the Kunstraum Walcheturm studio in 2020, Jason Kahn was struck by the quiet aspects of the usually busy city, now quelled by pandemic; entering the studio feeling the desolation and strange sense of peacefulness in the midst of so much tragedy and suffering, he recorded these "songs" of passionate free vocal improvisations and acoustic guitar.

Swiss improviser Jason Kahn continues his forays into vocal experimentation with this solo album, recorded in the rooms of a former Swisscom telephone relay station in Zurich, recorded in a single take, pushing himself over the edge in these unique vocal compositions that are stark examples of his creative and confrontational skills.

Mattin takes 5 spontaneous 5-minute songs from 5 musicians, and a 25 minute concert structured by 5 instructions based on those song titles, then records vocals for the 5 songs as a singing lecture, then superimposes all 3 to create the five 5-minutes songs on this album.

Spanish sound artist and vocalist Mattin in his 6th "Songbook" album, performed with Farahnaz Hatam, Pan Daijing, Colin Hacklander, Werner Dafeldecker, and Dean Roberts, a vicious mix of essentially no-wave rock and experimental music, six songs at exactly six minutes each covering topics of the conflicts, confusion and frustrations of our modern age.

A 7" 6 song release of Mike Pride's "punk" vocal troupe Punkappella, with Dusan Hedl, Bojan Tmoazic, Rick Klaus Theis, and Jessica Pavone on vocals; double sided sleeve contains lyrics for these unusual vocal vignettes.

Percussionist, Quakebasket label leader, and experimental sound artist Tim Barnes both subverts and respect the forms of electronica by turning it on its side, extracting unusual rhythms and structures from rhythmic elements and samples, at times following conventional direction and then breaking off into Barne's instinctive drive for abstraction and diversion.

A unique album of self-aware conversation from Hong-Kai Wang and Mattin, who record themselves responding to their own dialog, addressing those responses to the audience and adding their reaction to the final recordings, creating an abstract spoken ambiance.

Known as a jazz bassist, Torbjörn Zetterberg mostly steps away from the big strings for a series of multitrack studio compositions on a variety of instruments electronic & acoustic, plus samples and voice, all performed by Zetterberg himself (with Konrad Agnas and Anna Hogberg adding input on a couple of tracks); powerful, urgent, impressive works from a truly well-rounded musician.

The French duo Griffure of cellist & vocalist Leonore Grollemund and violinist & vocalist Amaryllis Billet are transformed into a string quintet enhanced by electroacoustic instrumentation, with violinist Chloe Julian, violist Alix Gauthier and double bassist Lea Yeche, all three providing vocals, in 15 evocative works that shift between composition, improv and text.

A beautifully contemplative collection of vignettes performed on solo Hardanger d'amore, a sympathetic-stringed relative of the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, from Brooklyn improviser and composer Zosha Warpeha, in 13 works of thoughtfully spacious playing utilizing the resonance and rich texture of the Hardanger fiddle, seemingly suspending time despite beguiling momentum.

The 2nd part of Chicago trumpeter Rob Mazurek's Astral Spirits series that started with "Vortice of the Faun", Mazurek performing on piccolo trumpet, electronics, voice, and percussion in a detailed journey, released alongside Mazurek's art opening "Constellation Scores" at URDLA, the cover showing two 3-D prints and the package comes with glasses to view them.

A wild "Afro-Surrealist Anti-Opera" from composer & bassist Nick Dunston, performed with an ensemble of string players (including JACK Quartet) and vocalists, in a gripping hybrid of acoustic and electronic music, using the studio for post-processing to create Dunston's self-described "warped narrative", an understatement for this incredibly passionate, surreal and absolutely impressive work.

The second album from Swiss improviser Jason Kahn and Taiwanese experimental vocalist Alice Hui-Sheng Chang, in eight pieces of free vocal improvisation recorded during Jason Kahn's one-month artist residency in September 2023 at Ting Shuo Hear Say in Tainan, Taiwan, an unusual collaboration of idiosyncratic interactions using a wide spectrum of vocal techniques.

A septet of German improvisers recording in Ulrichsberg, embracing both ea- and acoustic instrumentation that borders on free jazz but takes things a bit farther, with free vocals from Mara Kolibri adding unusual asides and narrative around highly intertwining sax, trombone, cello, electric guitar, percussion, glitch and electronics; unique and engaging.