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Early sounds from the Spontaneous Music Ensemble – in this case mostly the duo of John Stevens on percussion and Evan Parker on soprano and tenor – with the bass of Peter Kowald added in on two tracks! The material is quite striking, especially given the vintage – and the interplay between Stevens and Parker is fantastic – with Evan blowing some surprisingly soulful lines at times, almost in a way that echoes some of the AACM reed work of the time from Chicago. Peter Kowald darkens the sound nicely on the two tracks in which he appears – and titles include "First Cousins", "Listening Together 1", "Listening Together 2", "Echo Chamber Music 1", and "Second Cousins".

Two different sets of "saxophone special" recordings from Steve Lacy – each representing a key shift in his style on the European scene of the early 70s, and capturing him before he'd stratified things into the more standard Lacy modes that would come! The first half of the set has Lacy working with a great lineup that features lots of offbeat guitar from Derek Bailey – really sounding wonderfully here next to Steve's soprano sax – plus Steve Potts on alto and soprano, Kent Carter on amplified bass, and John Stevens on percussion. Sounds are sharp and short, often with the energy of some of Lacy's solo performances – but sonically expanded in a quintet setting – and titles include "38", "Flakes", and "Revolutionary Suicide". The second half features a performance from the following year – again with great guitar from Bailey and saxes from Potts – plus additional saxes from Trevor Watts and Evan Parker, and some electronics from Michel Waisvisz, which is a very nice touch. Titles include "Staples", "Dreams", "Swishes", "Sops", and "Snaps". CD features two album's worth of material – and also features the bonus alternate version of "Snaps".

Unreleased recordings from that amazing moment when British jazz was really coming into its own – exploring the farther reaches of the avant garde, but in ways that were quite different than American sounds at the time! The lineup here features some of the most inventive London players of the generation– Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flugelhorn, Paul Rutherford on trombone, Trevor Watts on alto and flute, Evan Parker on soprano and tenor, Barry Guy on bass and piano, and John Stevens on drums and percussion – plus some especially mesmerizing guitar from Derek Bailey on two thirds of the album's tracks. Given the 1966 and 1967 dates, the music is years ahead of its time – and titles include unused tracks for a film soundtrack – "Withdrawal" – plus other Withdrawal tracks, and the longer "Seeing Sounds & Hearing Colours".

The title's a bit confusing, but it'll make a bit more sense once we get through telling you about all the great music on this CD! The core of the disc features the album 4444 – a 1978 London performance from the quartet of John Stevens on drums, Paul Rutherford on tormbone, Evan Parker on soprano and tenor sax, and Barry Guy on bass and electronics – all really feeling their energy strongly together, and working at a level that's some of the fiercest we've heard from this time – clearly all confident enough to improvise at a very frenetic level on most of these numbers. Added to this material are three more tracks that feature the duet of Rutherford and Guy – although this time Rutherford's handling the electronics at points, which really sound great next to Guy's bass – and which, oddly, often have some of the same offbeat tones as his trombone! Last up are two more duet tracks that feature Stevens' drums and Parker's soprano sax – both recorded in London in 1992, and issued here for the first time ever! So essentially, you've got 5 improvised tracks from the original 4444 album, 3 more tracks with Rutherford and Guy, and 2 more with Stevens and Parker – a heck of a lot of music!