Brilliant work from this well-matched trio of improvisers – a group who definitely smash and grab in a highly sonic way – thanks to cello and electronics from Fred Lonberg-Holm, drums and percussion from Paal Nilssen Love, and alto, tenor, and baritone saxes from the great Dave Rempis! If you know the players in other formats, you'll know what they're capable of – and if you've heard them as Ballister before, you'll know that they really seem to set each other on fire – often working with an intensity that's breathtaking, very much at the level that Paal serves up on some of his own work as a leader. Fred uses the cello in a very different way than most other classical and jazz – and Dave, as always, is incredible with his freeform sense of creativity throughout. Titles include "Smash", "Grab", and "Even More Smashing". CD

We love the reedwork of Dave Rempis in many settings – but one of our favorites is this excellent percussion quartet – a cool combo that features two drummers, Tim Daisy and Frank Rosaly, plus the bass of Ingebrigt Haker Flaten – all working together as a sublime setting for the alto and tenor of Rempis! The group is sometimes very rhythmic, other times a bit free – and Dave's saxophone lines are tremendous throughout – stretching out on very long tracks with that unbridled sense of imaginative creativity that can make his longform improvisations so wonderful! Flaten is fantastic too – the record is a great reminder of how much focused energy he can bring to a session like this – and titles include "Everything Happens To You", "Spooky Action", "Fat Lip", "Little Fascists", and "The Exuberant Aubergine" – the last of which features guest flugelhorn work from Jean Luc Cappozzo. CD

Very striking sounds from a very striking quartet – one that brings Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik into play with the Chicago sounds of Dave Rempis on alto, Fred Longberg-Holm on cello, and Tim Daisy on drums! The tracks are all long, and have a very freely improvising quality – fast-thinking, instant creation by improvisers who are hardly new to the game – three players who know each others strengths instantly, and merge together with Harnik here at a really breathtaking level! Titles include "Ohrenkratzer", "Penggaruk Telinga", and "Mimikaki". CD

The reedwork of Dave Rempis is in a wonderfully electric setting here – next to the electric bass and electronics of Farida Amadou, and the piano and additional electronics of Jonas Cambien – both players who seem to really bring a lot of different sounds out of Dave's work on alto and tenor saxes! Yet if you know Rempis, you know what a wonderfully adaptive improviser he can be – and the mix of electro and acoustic elements in the record almost seems to take the early experiments of Anthony Braxton and Richard Tietelbaum and push them to a whole new level – maybe in part because the work on the strings of the bass and the tones of the piano seem to widen the color palette of the performance in really great ways. Titles include "Exotropia", "Radiata", "Bladderwort", and "Camelopardalis". CD

A great reunion of pianist Pandelis Karayorgis and reedman Dave Rempis – both of whom seem to bring out the best in each other on the album's two long, improvised tracks! Rempis blows alto, tenor, and baritone – crafting those completely imaginative solos we love in his music – almost these sensitive journeys in sound that have a distinct presence that always marks Dave as one of the most gifted players of his generation – set off strongly by the piano work of Pandelis, who has a much freer approach on the keys. The group also features bass from Jakob Heineman and drums from Bill Harris – and titles include the very long "Stone Fruit", and the shorter "Burning Bush". CD

Sonic exploration by three players who really know how to find the right path forward together – Tomeka Reid on cello, Joshua Abrams on bass, and Dave Rempis on alto and tenor saxes – a trio who resonate with that crisp, consistent sense of improvisation that has made the Chicago scene so wonderful in recent decades! The blend of the two stringed instruments with the reedwork by Rempis is wonderful – both Abrams and Reid are at the top of their league, and have a way of finding all these textures and soundshapes that are more than magical enough on their own – but which get really triangulated beautifully with the always-amazing sounds created by Dave on his saxes. There's nothing too heavy or too overdone here – brilliantly balanced performance throughout, on titles that include "Scape", "Stolon", "Umbel", "Anther", "Petiole", "Butomissa", and "Bulbil". CD

Saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Tim Daisy are no musical strangers to each other, having played together often on many different recordings – yet here, the duo seem almost reborn – opening up all sorts of amazing sounds in the company of violinist Mark Feldman – whose sense of sound throughout is really incredible! This isn't jazz violin, ala Jean-Luc Ponty or Stephane Grappelli – as Feldman uses his instrument more as a sonic engine, to generate unusual sounds of all different types – which are then amplified and echoed by Daisy and Rempis on their instruments, which includes added percussion from Tim, and a mixture of alto, tenor, and baritone from Dave! The set features two long, mindblowing improvisations, both recorded at Elastic Arts – "Ostro" and "Bora". CD

The fantastic first record from Chicago's Territory Band – a project headed up by saxophonist Ken Vandermark, and one that definitely builds the Transatlantic Bridge that's promised by the title! During the second half of the 90s, the Chicago avant scene really exploded with some great younger players – and also drew a lot of guests from other global scenes too – creating a lively cross-breeding of sounds, styles, and ideas – all of which are represented strongly by this group! The lineup features Jim Baker on piano, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Axel Dorner on trumpet, Dave Rempis on alto and tenor, Kent Kessler on bass, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, and both Paul Lytton and Tim Mulvenna play drums – which makes for a super heavy sense of energy throughout. Vandermark blows tenor, bass clarinet, and b flat clarinet – on titles that include "Collage (for Kurt Schwitters)", "RM (for Marcel Duchamp)", "Mobile (for Alexander Calder)", and "Stabile (for Hans Hoffmann)". CD

The greatest album to date from Ken Vandermark's Territory Band – and a record that firmly places the group in a lineage of experimental jazz orchestrations that runs from Duke Ellington through Charles Mingus and the later work of the London Jazz Composers Orchestra! There's a strength here that goes beyond any of the group's earlier efforts – and although some numbers continue their freely improvised moments, others fall into a straighter, even more focused sound – one that's got the boldness of Mingus at its best, with lots of powerful passages that give way to even more personal solo moments. Players include Ken Vandermark, Fredrik Ljungkvist, and Dave Rempis on reeds; Axel Dorner on trumpet, Johannes Bauer on trombone, Paul Lytton and Paal Nilssen-Love on percussion, Jim Baker on piano, Kent Kessler on bass, and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello. 3CD set features 2 studio discs and 1 live radio performance – with titles that include "Fall With A Vengeance", "Untitled Fiction", "Corrosion", "Cards", and live performances of all numbers on disc 3. CD

Possibly the greatest album so far from Ken Vandermark's Territory Band – a live performance that has the ensemble joined by legendary Chicago tenorist Fred Anderson! The work here is one long composition – "Collide" – written and directed by Vandermark, played by the largeish ensemble, and featuring improvised passages by Anderson over the top. Instrumentation includes trumpet from Axel Doerner, percussion from Paul Lytton and Paal Nilssen-Love, electronics by Lasse Marhaug, piano by Jim Baker, and reeds by Vandermark, Dave Rempis, and Fredrik Ljungkvist – and the concert was recorded with great acoustics in Chicago's Millenium Park. CD