“American drummer Chris Corsano and French saxophonist Christine Abdelnour have been working as aduo for several years and perform regularly in Europe. The disc « Quand fond la neige, où va le blanc ?» (Where Does the White Go When the Snow Melts?) is the highlight of their teaming.
The association of the two most talented musicians of the "new" generation offers a music of incredible richness in which the duo merges like tectonic plates of different densities, moving through intricate and complex...

Sakina Abdou - saxophone

Goodbye Ground is an album almost handmade, recorded by Sakina Abdou in several «passings», through a recording system set in a dedicated room in her home, for two months. Designed as a triptych, the disc is structured in three parts. The first one, «The Day I Became a Floor», sets, lays out and establishes a musical architecture eminently horizontal, with stretched outlines thinning out in a temporality where you can settle in and that eventually you can almost imagine.

“This album celebrates the 1977 band TWINS, that consisted of Bruce Ackley, Eugene Chadbourne, Henry Kaiser, and John Zorn. Featuring the usual instrumentation of two reeds and two guitars, it pre-dated they New York Downtown scene that was to follow. Ackley and Kaiser wanted to re-visit the original repertoire and approach of this quartet, but found it unlikely that the original members could be reunited for such a project. Grabbing their pals Fred Frith and Aram Shelton, they entered the studio to...

Susan Alcorn - pedal steel guitar
Luis “ToTo” Alvarez - guitar
Claudio “Pajaro” Araya - drums, cuatro
Francisco “Pancho” Araya - charango
Rodrigo Bobadilla - flute, quena, zampoña, vocals
Amanda Irarrazabal - double bass, vocals
Danka Villanueva - violin, vocals

“Pedal steel innovator Susan Alcorn combines Chilean folk and nueva canción with free improvisation and contemporary classical on her breathtaking new album.”

I love this album; do you love pedal steel guitar and/or Astor Piazolla? If so, you will love it too!

“It’s wholly fitting that this questing US pedal steel guitarist has chosen to interpret the nuevo tango of Astor Piazzolla on her latest longplayer. The late Argentinean composer presided over a revolution in traditional music by emphasising elements of improvisation, dissonance and counterpoint, while Alcorn seeks the total liberation of her instrument, away from the stifling confines of...

Lina Allemano - trumpets
Axel Dörner - trumpets

“Berlin trumpeters Axel Dörner and Lina Allemano team up to create experimental improvised sonic explorations, both in duo and in larger trumpet-ensemble form. The pieces' titles reference the small lesser-known objects circling around the sun in our solar system; the album’s title Aphelia being the furthest distance away in orbit around the sun.”

Robbie Avenaim - prepared typewriter
Chris Abrahams - synthesiser
Jim Denley - bass flute

“Although Weft is the first release for this trio, the three musicians - Jim Denley, Robbie Avenaim and Chris Abrahams - have been playing together in various groups and contexts for decades—often meeting at Chris’ house to converse, drink tea and play/record music. The line-up for this particular session comprised bass flute, Waldorf Q+ Synthesiser and typewriter. The combination of instruments..

Steve Baczkowski: baritone and tenor saxophones, homemade winds (tracks 2 & 9)

"This recording of solo improvisations was initiated and realized by my longtime friend and collaborator David Bailey. We recorded nearly all of these pieces on the evening of a lunar eclipse, after David brought his vintage reel-to-reel tape machine to my old warehouse living room. The process and timing created an energy of focused intensity and stark intimacy, which is apparent in the music. I am grateful for the...

“Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ is right in Frisell’s wheelhouse as a soulful blend of country, blues and gospel, and he delivers jagged electric phrases that, like fireworks, sometimes end abruptly with a starburst and sometimes zigzag before fading. John McLaughlin’s ‘Follow Your Heart’ is likewise refried and slowly wrung out after sizzling. Baron comes to the fore on fleet but gentler tracks such as Benny Goodman’s ‘Benny’s Bugle,’ Charlie Parker’s ‘My Little Suede Shoes’ and a nifty soft-shoe...

Gregg Belisle-Chi Acoustic Guitar

"Koi is simply one of the best guitar records I’ve heard in ages, with Gregg Belisle‐Chi’s steel‐string acoustic interpretations of Tim Berne’s compositions a special feat. Gregg – with flawless technique and sensitivity – has transcended the distance between Tim’s alto saxophone and the guitar to make a new, fresh and wonderful music.” — ANDY SUMMERS

The compositions of saxophonist/bandleader Tim Berne have earned renown for their intensely kinetic...

Tim Berne - alto sax Nasheet Waits - drums

“Full of timbral invention, utilising chasms of nihilistic space and a ferocious fervour to their interplay, navigating the no man's land of free form jazz where anything is possible and composition is in real time via high wire reflex and in the moment ideas, recorded live 10/19 at the Sultan Room in Brooklyn.”

“The title track starts with a written structure that eventually leads to an unaccompanied bass solo which reminds these ears that, as much as I enjoy Bisio with pianist Matthew Shipp, a greater appreciation of his technique and writing comes across when he steps away from the individualistic pianist. The music is grounded, not free and wild, but that nevertheless generates close listening. Sometimes Knuffke and Bisio play in an in-between place which doesn't feel like the bass is echoing the cornet...

“In seven tracks, all credited to both of them, the players keep their ears on each other, exploring the sonic possibilities of their instruments and how they can interact. Those familiar with either musician might expect some untamed frenzy, and Bisio and Shipp definitely deliver dark and stormy textures. Bisio utilizes his bow for intense scraping and howling in ‘Decay,’ where Shipp begins by plucking his piano strings and ends with heavy handwork in the lower register. But the bassist also reveals...

John Blum - piano
David Murray - tenor saxophone
Chad Taylor - drums

“The Recursive Tree features a rather remarkable trio consisting of John Blum on piano, tenor-saxophonist David Murray, and Chad Taylor on drums. Although the three musicians had never before recorded together, they sound very much like a working trio.
The title is inspired by a concept in mathematics that explains the architecture in nature arising from systematic growth over time. This algorithmic expression..

Santiago Bogacz - guitar
Emiliano Aires - clarinet

"This is the first recording of this guitar/clarinet duo from Uruguay. These nine frenzied tracks display an intensity and passion developed over 9 years of playing. Their listening and anticipation of each other is telepathic. The results are edgy and invigorating."

Karen Borca - bassoon
Paul Murphy - drums

“Avant-garde bassoonist Karen Borca's first proper leader record is a series of duos with drummer Paul Murphy who she first played with in Jimmy Lyons’ group.”

Matthew Bourne - piano
Emil Karlsen - drums

“Matthew Bourne is a renowned pianist with a reputation as a fearlessly unpredictable improviser. Emil Karlsen is an independently minded drummer who plays with power and delicacy. The Embalmer documents one of Karlsen and Bourne’s first meetings. Recorded in a single session in 2020, The Embalmer sees a wide-ranging musical discourse between the two musicians unfold in its most lean form across the six improvised tracks.”

Tony Buck: electric guitar, electric baritone guitar, arch-top acoustic guitar, bass guitar, mono-chord, waterphone, zulu-bells, and instrument preparations
Mark Nauseef: bells and gongs from Bali, Java, Korea, Japan, India, China and Tibet

“Mongrels—Buck Nauseef—two creatures with no pedigree or particular style who have absorbed, mixed and amalgamated numerous pedigrees and styles during long careers working closely with leading musicians of diverse genres including: orchestral, Javanese..

John Butcher - saxophones
Florian Stoffner - guitar
Chris Corsano - drums & half clarinet

"These three artists don’t need volume or soloing to get their message across. Their message is inscribed in elegant lower-case and rarely used aural fonts. You will find yourself leaning forward because not a note or whisper should be missed ..." - Brian Morton

Tomeka Reid - cello
Kyoko Kitamura - voice
Taylor Ho Bynum - cornet
Joe Morris - guitar

“This foursome is resolute in its acceptance of communal responsibility and creation. Vocalist Kyoko Kitamura sings and speaks in wordless flurries matching Taylor Ho Bynum’s brassy exhortations on cornet. Cellist Tomeka Reid and guitarist Joe Morris worry and pluck their respective strings, applying speed and torque in the loosing of spidery cascades of crinkled and crenelated tones. Pitch...

Kirsten Carey - guitar
Aaron Edgcomb - drums

"Mature Defense Mechanism is an improvised experiment in the relationships between rock and jazz characterized by whimsy amidst seclusion. It’s natural territory for guitarist Kirsten Carey and drummer Aaron Edgcomb, who are both gaining reputations for adventurous and wide-ranging approaches to music making."

Chris Pitsiokos - alto saxophone
Susana Santos Silva - trumpet
Torbjörn Zetterberg - double bass

“Khimaira is a three headed monster. It has a lion head in front, a wild goat head on it’s back and a snake head at the end of it’s tail. It is the offspring of Echidna, the mother of all monsters. The group collaborates to produce eerie organic sounds, howling cries, whispered hums, disturbing wailing, shrieks that die off and reimerge with an intense fluidity. Yet there is an architecture

Greg Cohen-bass
Bill Frisell-guitar

“The sunny lyricism of "Old Gravenstein" sets the bar high from the outset. Frisell takes lead melodic duties while Cohen injects rhythmic impetus, but in truth their lines are but two interweaving threads of the same chord.
The duo has a spring in its step on "California Here I Come," written in 1921 by Buddy DeSylvia, Joseph Myer, and Al Jolson and declared the official state song of California in 1988. Cohen takes his most extended solo of the set...

“Salt Task opens with the revolutionary title track, a 20-minute-piece that erupts with dense contrapuntal cogitations simultaneously driven by the trio. After the opening section, the musicians usually interact two by two, exploring different sonic possibilities and moods until reaching the final section, where the trio strikes again. Depending on the setting, one may float serenely over idyllic landscapes, march at the sound of a military trumpet, startle with ominous low-pitched piano vibes, revolve...

Matthias Müller, trombone
Eve Risser, piano
Christian Marien, drums

“Cranes is a brand new collaboration, a European project. Three extraordinary improvisors from Germany and France maintain their long term musical relations by dedicating themselves to cross-linked sonic experiments and the discursive use of forms. Their music is powerful and fragile at the same time.”