"Vision Towards Essence captures Muhal Richard Abrams live at the peak of his powers, performing solo in front of an enthusiastic audience at the 1998 Guelph Jazz Festival in Canada. This incredible recording captures an unedited account of a continuous s

"The Art Ensemble of Chicago’s Non-cognitive Aspects of the City is a double CD representing two sets recorded during the band’s rare six-night engagement, March 30th through April 4th 2004, at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City. Engagements of that l

"In late 2002, Pi Recordings inquired into the possibility of recording the AEOC as a quartet once again with Joseph Jarman back in the fold. With some quartet shows booked in Europe on the horizon, the moment seemed right to bring the remaining members b

Guitarist/composer Liberty Ellman’s second Pi recording as a leader, Ophiuchus Butterfly, is an initially striking and ultimately deeply satisfying set chronicling six musicians, ten pieces and one ambitious, personal and utterly mature sensibility. Ellma

"Praised by NPR’s Fresh Air as “a jazz power trio for the new century,” Fieldwork makes its most powerful and fiercely imagined statement to date with Door, their third album for Pi Recordings. An important marker in this New York collective’s ongoing ev

"Your Life Flashes is a powerful response to European accusations of stagnation in America’s creative music; it is emotional, challenging, experimental, edgy, hard-hitting, and intense. The music comes in cascades and torrents, demanding the listener’s un

"With this project, Iyer and Ladd have inspired each other to reach far beyond what either has done previously. Taken together, their influences cover the entire spectrum of modern music, and it shows. The mesmerizing sonic miniatures range from the omino

"Pi Recordings is pleased to announce the release of Demian as Posthuman, the highly anticipated new release by Steve Lehman, and his first as a leader for Pi Recordings. Hailed as one of today’s truly original new voices by publications as diverse as The

"Once again the outside world has provided a launching point and a system of order to draw from for Rudresh. The music on Codebook stems from ideas and concepts related to cryptography. The varied systems provided the groundwork for Rudresh to approach th

"Mother Tongue is the latest album from Indian-American composer and alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa. Mother Tongue is Rudresh’s musical attempt to dispel the mistaken notion that India, with its multiple cultures, religions and hundreds of spoken...

"Song for My Sister is the Note Factory’s first release since 1999’s Nine to Get Ready. Recorded February of 2002 in Roscoe’s home of Madison, WI, the lineup has changed with the addition of Corey Wilkes, Vijay Iyer, Vincent Davis, and Leon Dorsey...

"And Now… the return of the Revolutionary Ensemble! The release of a new album by the influential collective may come as a surprise to band’s many long-time fans – Not much had been heard from the trio since the late 1970s. An avant-garde jazz band based

"A visionary guitarist, Ribot is a fount of pithy commentary."-New York Times

"Almost a polar opposite of his last release, Party Intellectuals, Silent Movies is mostly filled with gorgeously contemplative compositions performed solo, with...

"Synastry is a collaboration between groundbreaking vocalist Jen Shyu and master bassist Mark Dresser that demonstrates new possibilities for jazz singing. Shyu, a member of influential saxophonist Steve Coleman’s Five Elements, is well known for her...

"This is the first full duo recording of Wadada Leo Smith and Anthony Braxton ever. There have only been three times that the two have actually performed as a duo. The previous times were in Chicago and France. Some 30 years later, on April 5th, they play

Zooid is Henry’s first all acoustic band since The Sextet, and his first band since X-75 which has focused so heavily on strings. A “zooid” is an organic cell capable of independent movement or several cells forming a colony. As always with Henry the...

"This Brings Us To is the first release from Threadgill since 2001. He has spent those eight years, the longest time between releases in his career, creating and perfecting a new system of improvisation in a group setting...

"This is a smart, passionate, yearning, exploratory and generous set of performances from a young trumpeter who came to my attention via his work in the TransAtlantic Ensemble CDs of Evan Parker and Roscoe Mitchell. I have been a little wary of his...