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
Mark Feldman - violin
Michael Formanek - double bass
Mary Halvorson - guitar
Ryan Sawyer - drums

“Pedernal opens with Alcorn’s gracefully slithery pedal steel line suggesting a dark, minor blues that’s joined in an undulating caress by Formanek’s lithe bass. Descending chords introduce the second section as the band steps into the gathering maelstrom, eventually resolving into a beatifically lyrical theme that seems to summon the abidi

Susan Alcorn - pedal steel guitar
Patrick Holmes - clarinet
Ryan Sawyer - drums

“This adventurous set catches lightning in a bottle. They hit the ground running and never let up. Susan Alcorn's pedal steel soloing is phenomenal while Ryan Sawyer drives the trio forward as Patrick Holmes' clarinet keeps pace with both of them. A breathless set of high energy free improvisation at its best.”

“A trio of adventurous Spanish improvisers, pianist Irene Aranda, bassist Johannes NÄstesjö and percussionist Nuria Andorra channel forces of exploration, energy and elemental mystery on Inner Core, six inventive tracks that plumb their astonishing creative depths with a fervid curiosity.
Fans of free improvisation may recognize these musicians through their mutual connections with pianist Agustφ Fernßndez, currently one of the most highly-regarded performers in this genre. And like Fernßndez...

“AYCH features three of the finest improvisers working today: saxophonist Jim Hobbs; guitarist Mary Halvorson; and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum. All three come with stellar pedigrees and experience in guitarist/bassist Joe Morris' ensembles, plus Halvorson and Bynum were schooled at the knee of Anthony Braxton. Their previous recording together was last year's Bynum Sextet session, Apparent Distance (Firehouse 12, 2011).
Seven of the twelve tracks presented here are group improvisations, the remaining ...

“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...

“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...

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."

“On the surface, the album title might be an oxymoron. None of these free-form works resemble traditional ballads, but the young Brooklyn-based duo's ideology and vision is clearly distinct and personalized via these jaunts that to some extent, parallel the British free jazz scene with acidic, creaky and scorching elaborations. There is a consortium of zany nouveau classical music breakouts with bizarre episodic transgressions that tend to hold your attention. At times, the acoustic instrumental...

Peter Brötzmann : saxophone, tarogato, b-flat clarinet
Fred Lonberg-Holm : cello, electronics

“"Memories Of A Tunicate" is the third release and the first studio recording by Peter Brötzmann and Fred Lonberg-Holm. It was recorded in Manhattan at GSI Studios when Peter was in town for the 2019 Vision Festival. These seven pieces move between lyrical spaciousness and no holds bar flying sparks. This is a deep and focused session where they thoughtfully explore their history together."

“Last Dream of the Morning is insistently acoustic, distinctions between free jazz and improvised music fall away here. Kinships and antecedents extend from AMM to Sun Ra and they’re being consistently synthesized and extend into new terrains.
Bassist John Edwards and drummer Mark Sanders have become the defining ‘rhythm’ pairing of English free jazz, working together for decades in groups with Evan Parker, Veryan Weston and many others. If this is a first meeting of a trio with Butcher, past...

“They make music that has "length and width and breadth and depth", but no real recognizable shape to speak of. Having "shape" would mean that any of the previous adjectives would have to go, because confining the attributes to the world of Space would limit its possibilities. At the same time, they offer us a glimpse into expanded dimensions of music that Mtume talked about.
Enough philosophised: this is great music.
Taylor Ho Bynum plays cornet, flugelhorn, bass trumpet, trumpbone, John....

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.”

Camille Dietrich - cello
Don Dietrich - tenor saxophone

“For more than 40 years Don Dietrich has been one of the three musicians in Borbetomagus, whose music has been described as an unrelenting, take-no-prisoners wall of sound.
Camille Dietrich grew up in the crucible of her father's free playing. As a cellist she shares his passionate intensity and brings a playful freshness which Don feeds off. This is the stunning follow-up to their 2017 Pica Disc release.”

Tetsu Saitoh - double bass
Frederic Blondy - grand piano
Michel Doneda - soprano and sopranino saxophones

“Michel Doneda recently lost one of his most faithful friends and musical companions, the double bass player Tetsu Saïtoh. Relative Pitch now offers us a superb album recorded on April 16, 2016 on Radio-France bringing together the two improvisers and the remarkable piano explorer Frédéric Blondy.
Spring Road 16 is comprised of two collective improvisations under the title...

Soprano player Michel Doneda and Le Quan Ninh are celebrating a 30 year playing relationship. Doneda's playing can be at turns lyrical, playful, or raucous, and can switch from the liveliness of street melodies to circular breathing, microscopic sounds, or shrieking outbursts. Ninh plays regularly in ensembles in forms that mix improvised acoustic & electroacoustic music, 'performance art', dance, poetry, experimental cinema, photography and video. Listening is their main discipline.
"It’s our...

“A sound of a decidedly different kind. With the release of their CD Lily (Relative Pitch Records), ISABELLE DUTHOIT and FRANZ HAUTZINGER have proven they know how to consistently create a different kind of musical harmony and escape musical conventionality.
Those familiar with the artistic creations and various projects of these artistic free-spirits can probably imagine where Lily will take them. And that is most definitely not to any of the usual musical landscapes. That which Isabelle Duthoit...

“Danish saxophonist Signe Emmeluth, who now lives in Oslo after studying in Trondheim, Norway, has made a strong impact on the European free music scene in the last couple of years, not only due to her ferocious sound, but also through a stylistic openness...
This solo outing — a single piece recorded live for Ingebrit Håker Flaten’s Sonic Transmissions Festival — contains its fair share of fire-breathing, with tart boppish phrases ricocheting toward the horizon in upper register sallies, but it...

Carmina Escobar : voice sound toys, guitarron
Milo Tamez : home percussion, stones, branches, electronics
Thollem McDonas : synthesizer, vocals, clay pot

“Estamos Trio is an exploratory music ensemble formed through the cross-border Estamos Project founded by Thollem McDonas in 2010. The trio includes Carmina Escobar (vocals, electronics, guitarrón), Milo Tamez (percussion, found objects, electronics) and Thollem (keyboard, vocals, clay pot).
Recorded live at SITE Santa Fe, Dire...