"Sensitive and athletic improvisation that has the flexibility to pull in multiple directions at once without violating the boundaries of the three improvisors’ distinctive voices, at times no doubt approaching, to borrow from John Corbett, the level of “sublime communication.”" --- Mette Rasmussen – alto sax Tashi Dorji – guitar Tyler Damon - drums --- Recorded Live at Array Space by Joe Strutt, Toronto, 18.6.2016. Mastered by Martin Siewert. Artwork by Lasse Marhaug

"Bassist Joëlle Léandre and pianist Elisabeth Harnik have only been playing together since 2016 but this debut CD – a recording from their third ever performance – reveals a duo who have already developed a highly simpatico and sophisticated approach to spontaneous composition that draws equally on elements of free improvisation and contemporary classical music. Rather than the waxing and waning 40 minute set that presently constitutes a lot of live recordings, there is an adroit attention to form in operation here, as the duo present half a dozen perfectly shaped and finely delineated miniatures, ranging from six to 11 minutes long. For much of the time, Léandre favours a high, tightly controlled arco full of fragile harmonic overtones that often sounds more like a cello than a double bass. When Harnik responds with pellucid splashes and rippling hazes, the two are capable of creating sustained moods of gentle wonder and delicacy. Léandre adds an element of enigma with her slightly off-mic vocalising: somewhat absent-minded, more overheard than performed, it´s ephemeral, transitory and soothing in its wordless calm, evoking the private musings of a washerwoman at work or a nursing mother cooing her love. One almost feels compelled to lean in and strain the ears, searching for fleeting meaning in her mysterious mutterings.Many of the pieces are so balanced and sensitively executed that they possess a kind of inevitability. Call it perfection if you prefer. By contrast, the more abstract and experimental gambits gleefully ride a puckish unpredictability: the scritch-scratch of agitated piano strings and polystyrene squeak slotting into Léandre´s multiphonic gossamer arco textures; dirge-like dabs of unhurried bass with arachnoid scuttlings in the body of the piano. But, even at its furthest extent, this music emanates a warmth, a patience and, yes, as the title suggests, a tenderness that´s rarely heard." - Ken Vandermark --- Elisabeth Harnik / piano Joëlle Léandre / double bass --- Mastered by Jean-Marc Foussat. Artwork by Lasse Marhaug.

"Hermann Nitsch playing the church organ in the Jesuit church of Vienna, November 20th, 2013. Four heavy drone pieces, mastered by Martin Siewert. These four tracks of Nitsch performing solo on organ are made of sustained drones that are soothing and intense. Music is beautiful and meditative, as it slowly evolves and transforms, full trills that shimmer with celestial light and glide slowly into one another in a harmony that's at the opposite of Nitsch's jarring and disturbing Aktion pieces, though with a similar droning minimalism aesthetic." --- Tracklisting: 1. Satz 1 - 16:04 2. Satz 2 - 13:16 3. Satz 3 - 11:54 4. Satz 4 - 13:00

Recorded 1995 at Wollf 281 Studio, Basel, by Manuel LiebeskindVocals recorded 2018 at Ruminator Audio, San Francisco, by Monte VallierMixed, mastered and produced 2018/19 by Alex BuessEdited by Roger GrafCut at Centraldubs, Bern, by Adi FlückArtwork by Marco Papiro --- Alex Buess - reeds, electronicsDamian Bennett - bassMichael Wertmüller - drumsRoger Graf - guitarEugene S. Robinson - voiceKasia Meow - voice

"unreleased duo songs, Berne 1988" --- Sven-Ake Johansson / vocals Alexander von Schlippenbach /  piano ---

"It was of Peter Brötzmann‘s great concern to pay his tribute to many years of comraderie and much music together - from GLOBE UNITY times in the 70s, the PB Group, untill the CHICAGO TENTET. In one of Brötzmann’s boxes this beautiful tape – live in Osaka 1997 - was sitting and waiting for a release!" "The way Bauer and Brötzmann collaborate on this album is really moving. There’s a mutual respect and obvious camaraderie. It’s clear that they both are enjoying their performance most when allowing themselves to let it all out there with extended improvised bursts of notes. There’s this extreme sense of having so much to say as they push through the twenty-five-minute mark without any sign of wanting to stop." -Free Jazz Blog --- Peter Brötzmann / tenor & alto saxophone, tarogato, b-flat clarinet Johannes Bauer / trombone --- Masered by Martin Siewert. Artwork by Peter Brötzmann.

"Consisting of Mats Gustafsson (sax), Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (bass), and Paul Nilssen-Love (drums), this trio plows through nearly 40 minutes of improv across three tracks." "The Thing is still archetypal free jazz/rock of the 21st century - it’s a group you might recommend to someone who wants to explore a more adventurous genre, although they work for experienced listeners as well. I’m surprised how this band wins me over again …. and again." Free Jazz Blog --- Mats Gustafsson / tenor & baritone saxophone Ingebrigt Håker Flaten /  electric & double bass Paal Nilssen-Love / drums, percussion --- Recorded July 2nd and 3rd, 2017 by Øyvind Gundersen at Studio Paradiso, Oslo Mixed October 2017, by Andreas Werliin at Repeat Until Death, Stockholm Mastered by Lupo at Calyx mastering, Berlin Liner notes by Brian Morto. 

Founded 1995 in London by Austrian trumpeter and band leader Franz Hautzinger as an ensemble for experimental music, the project developed over the years into a mixed style wild fusion band. Various musicians like Fennesz, Tony Buck, Otomo Yoshihide, Burkhard Stangl, Oren Ambarchi, and others were part of this long-time and often changing project, combining jazz, improvisation, brass melodies, guitar rock and electronics. The band developed its specific pulsating and continously evolving "Regenorchester Sound", comparing the constantly changing ways of making music, analogue and digital. Hautzinger and his Regenorchester XII play a kind of “jazz about jazz”, incorporating quite naturally accomplishments of experimental improvisation or drone and noise experiences into the rock jazz sound, pushing the boundaries of sound art and always creating surprises. --- Relics was recorded live at the Klangspuren Schwaz festival in 2019 Franz Hautzinger - quarter tone trumpetChristian Fennesz - guitar, laptop Otomo Yoshihide - guitar, turntables, el. devicesLuc Ex - bassTony Buck - drums, percussion linernotes by Reinhard Kager - translated by Mark Fisher

"Bariton saxophonist Luca T. Mai is best known for his membership in the mighty Italian avantrock trio ZU. On his solo debut album he is shifting his probing and powerful saxophone artistry from energetic sound scapes to celestial layered drones. Immersive and deep." --- Recorded: Sep 2018 at ZK squatt Riot Studio by David C. And Luca T.M.Mix/Mastered by Lorenzo Stecconi at Mobile Cosmic Digital Sound EntertainmentCover: Francesca CarlsArtwork: David “Seekktt0“ C

At The Hill Of James Magee presents the duos complete performance at the extraordinary monument "The Hill" in the Chihuahuan Desert in the middle of nowhere in Texas. John Butcher and Joe McPhee had never shared a stage before which ended up being an attentive collaboration, starting with a long duo, alternating solo performances, and closing the atmospheric set with another duo. "The four solo pieces are advanced clinics in saxophone technique, again supplemented by architecture and wind and weather. Each performer invited the desert into their sound, giving the listener the feel of sand between our toes and the visual of sage brush rolling by." - All About Jazz --- Joe McPhee / alto saxophone John Butcher / tenor saxophone

"Wild free jazz grooves, another monster of an album from the trio of reedist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love with guests Anna Hogberg on alto sax and Goran Kajfes on cornet; intense, passionate, and precise." --- Mats Gustafsson / tenor & baritone saxophones Ingebrigt Håker Flaten / electric & double bass Paal Nilssen-Love / drums, percussion Additional guests on Aim:  Anna Högberg / alto saxophone  Goran Kajfes / cornet --- Recorded June 1st and 2nd 2015 by Jørgen Træen at Duper studio, Bergen Norway. Mixed June-July 2015 by Johan Berthling and Andreas Werlin, Stockholm Sweden. Mastered by Lupo at Calyx Mastering, Cover by Lasse Marhaug.

"A giant two day meeting of three outstanding musicians German legend Peter Brötzmann is one of the leading saxophone players in the current international free jazz scene, continuing to tour and release with various musicians. Keiji Haino – japanese avantgarde wizard, mesmerizing with voice and guitar. Jim O’Rourke –outstanding composer, from ambient to free jazz to rock." --- Peter Brötzmann / alto/tenor-saxophone, tarogato, clarinet Jim O‘Rourke / guitar Keiji Haino / guitar, voice, shamisen --- Recorded At Shinjuku Pit Inn, Tokyo, on November 23, 2010 In memoriam: Yasuo Fujimura. Thanks to Kanji Suzuki & The Pit Inn Staff, and Mark Rappaport.

"On a peaceful summer evening in 2002 in the small village of Brösarp in Scania, twelve two- and three-cylinder tractors from the 1950s and 60s were positioned in a semi-circle at a fruit plantation and the sounds of bells ringing can be heard. Before an enthusiastic audience of 1000, the old tractors started their engines and pressed the gas pedals while idling. They raced, purred, played, and sang in the sunset. The landscape in Brösarp is a cultural landscape. With plow, horse, and tractor, it has been created by people. The efforts of generations can be read therein. A cultural landscape is a narrative of the work of people, of their villages and material conditions. Forty and fifty years old, the tractors in Johansson's work are already stories in themselves, and the audience gazes on this evening over a landscape that will soon be a sparsely populated area where not a tractor plows and not a cow grazes. One could thus experience the tractor concert as requiem and lament for a region on its way to disappearing. The tractors sing of a time that has escaped. But if there is no memory, then there is no future. As such, the Konzert für 12 Traktoren is also a work as laudation of work. By the way: if you project a Nuffield 342 faster than light, your vision goes black." --- Tractor drivers: Erland JosefssonKlas BerndtssonLars-Erik OlssonSimon NeumerMagnus HildessonUlf OlssonAnderz ErlandsonPeo LarssonMorgan OlssonChrister OlssonJenny OlssonBo Isaksson -- 12 "Zetor" tractors directed by Sven-Åke Johansson Recorded by Mikael Forsman, Orust, Sweden, 2009.

"There is complexity in simplicity, and Sparrow Nights is Peter Brötzmann and Heather Leigh's most enduring record to date, and their first studio album. A series of emotionally rich and boldly elucidated tonal and timbral exchanges played like compositions on pedal steel and reeds, the tracks (released as a 6 track LP and 10 track CD) are cold-forged minimalist blues motifs dragged from instrumental laments.   After three years playing together Brötzmann/Leigh's connection and understanding is by now both cerebral and deeply invested in the physical and sensory possibilities of their combined sound, while retaining a melancholic distance. Within this duo there is fluidity – neither is the anchor – and these recordings sound with as much variety as the sea. At times Sparrow Nights carries the clarity and poeticism of still water and open horizon ("This Word Love"), and at others it contains the elemental and ferocious roar of white water breakers on black rocks ("This Time Around").     On their previous three live albums (Ears Are Filled With Wonder, Sex Tape, Crowmoon) the duo have developed an intimate and intense language that manifests here as a focus on power and control, where figures blasted of unnecessary decoration are drawn from the shadows and smoke of collapse. The studio setting also allows Brötzmann to bring a broader range of reeds than in live scenarios: where previously he has played primarily tenor, clarinet and tarogato with Leigh, here he delivers the heat of alto and the low pressure of bass saxophone and clarinet.  Brötzmann’s duo with Leigh continues to trace a fresh new arc in his trajectory, and this release also falls at a time when Leigh releases Throne, her most song-based record to date. Here as a studio duo they play a new-old blues for times of complexity, noise and chaos, continuing to redefine and re-sound possibilities for improvised music."   

"The soulful and grooving play of Ken Vandermark (one of the key musicians/composers in the current free jazz scene) on reeds with the filigran electronic distortions and loops of Christof Kurzmann, with a solid rhythm layer by the young Dutch bassist lloopp Jasper Stadhouders and drummer Tim Daisy. An unusual "jazz" record, fascinating so much the more. --- Ken Vandermark / reeds Christof Kurzmann / electronics, lloopp Jasper Stadhouders / bass Tim Daisy - drums --- Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Bob Weston.