One of the strangest albums ever from John Cage – but one of the most compelling too – and a record that really gets at the larger person behind his incredible music! The album has a very spare format – and features John Cage reading 90 stories – all short, spoken bits that are woven with Cage's theories on art, music, chance, and existence – backed by music from David Tudor, who plays piano passages from Cage's "Concert For Piano & Orchestra" and tape sections from the classic "Fontana Mix". Cage's voice alone is worth the price of admission – especially on some of the more autobiographical sections! CD

... CD

The first release of a groundbreaking performance – David Tudor's 1956 recording of "Music Of Changes" – one of John Cage's first experiments of writing based around the I Ching! The work is based heavily on chance – following charts of possibilities put together by Cage, and extrapolated dramatically by Tudor – who was, at the time, one of the few pianists who really understood Cage's impulses – and could bring them to fruition with a performance like this! CD

... CD

... CD

Music for solo saxophone and small ensembles. CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

The sound of silence, taken to a new level – as John Cage works beautifully here in an illustrative piece inspired by a rock garden in Kyoto! There's a very spacious quality to the piece – instrumentation that really leaves lots of space in between the notes – even though the piece is performed by a sextet that includes Eberhard Blum on flute, Ivewn Hausmann on trombone, Robert Black on bass, Gudrun Reschke on oboe, John Patrick Thomas on voice, and Jan Williams on percussion. The hour-long work builds beautifully – and has this evocative, Eastern-styled vibe that definitely lives up to its inspiration! CD

Prepared piano, standard piano, and even toy piano – all played beautifully by Jeanne Kirstein in a double-length collection of classics by John Cage! The set's one of the best illustrations of the power of Cage's work in the early days – and many of these numbers have more force than silence, particularly the prepared piano compositions – which ring out with an other-worldly sound that still holds up beautifully all these many years later. Also includes a collection of earlier recordings of Feldman's work, most of which feature David Tudor on piano, with occasional other instrumentation, like violin or string quartet. CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

A really unique project from Philippe Samiguel – recorded in Bamako, where Samiguel has worked as a producer for many years – during which time he's pulled together ideas from all sorts of different projects, and forged them into a new groove of his own! Samiguel's worked most famously with Samba Toure – who's here on the record alongside other artists who include Hugo Race, Mariam Kone, Mamadou Sidibe, and others – working on music that has roots in Malian blues, Tuareg guitar, and other west African modes – but which has a quality that's also very much all its own. There's an experimental nature to the project that takes us back to some of the best global experiments from the early days of the Crammed label – and titles include "Are U Satisfied", "The First Tone", "Minamba", "Heaven Sands", "Mad Girl Lament", "Quicksand Blues", and "Golden Cage". CD

One of the coolest collaborations between the mighty Dells and the great arranger Charles Stepney – a studio talent who really brings some magic to their fantastic harmonies! Stepney adds in all these amazing touches to the record – including John Cage-styled prepared piano on two tracks, and plenty of soaring orchestrations that really up the power of the group's sound! Titles include the wonderful progressive tune "There Is", a great long remake of "Stay In My Corner", and the cuts "Wear It On Our Face", "The Change We Go Through", "Higher & Higher", "Close Your Eyes", "Run For Cover", "Love Is So Simple", "Oo I Love You", and "When I'm In Your Arms". CD

Joe Acheson works here with a group he originally described as an "imagined orchestra" – but which here is actually a relatively large group of musicians coming together to follow Joe's lead! The players shift from track to track, and Joe himself handles a lot of the instrumentation – on piano, basses, keyboards, percussion, and even some field recordings and zither as well – all layered in a sonically complex way that echoes some of the London experiments in recent years, augmented by other work on cello, trumpet, drums, bass clarinet, and trombone. The sound is often dark, but with these warm currents of hope – and titles include "Skylarks", "Nightfall", "Ripple", "Broken", "Cage Then Brick", "Reverse Learning", "Little Buddy Move", and "Hammered". CD

The first real moment of genius from Elton John – a record issued with an understated cover and title, but which set the scene for all the greatness to come from the singer in the 70s! The strength of the Bernie Taupin partnership is on full display here – through a set of amazing tunes that are still some of Elton's greatest – delivered with vocal performances that are open, honest, and free of any sense of self-consciousness – matched by arrangements that use strings in ways that are subtle and sublime. The whole thing is a masterpiece – with titles that include "Your Song", "Sixty Years On", "First Episode At Hienton", "I Need You To Turn To", "Take Me To The Pilot", "Border Song", "The Greatest Discovery", and "The Cage". CD

A set that showcases a surprising contribution that Andy Warhol made to American music in the postwar years – graphic work done years before his time as a Pop Art icon, or his relationship with the Velvet Underground – from years when Warhol was a more conventional illustrator, and created images for a range of different record covers! Since the images here were more part of a gig, Andy didn't have creative input on the music – yet the covers were often used on the sorts of recordings that showcased important cultural streams of the 50s – on a series of records by Thelonious Monk, Moondog, JJ Johnson, Count Basie, Johnny Griffin, and Kenny Burrell – plus some modern classical recordings too! The set's got a full booklet of notes that illustrate Andy's New York connection to the growing world of the long playing record – with one CD of jazz, two CDs of classical-related material, and one more CD that portrays Andy's New York – with more material from Cecil Taylor, Lenny Bruce, Charles Mingus, Luciano Berio, John Cage, and others. CD

Includes compositions by John Cage, Mark Osborn, Mark Andre, Toshio Hosokawa, Gerald Eckert and others. CD

Pieces by John Cage, Robert Ashley, Charles Dodge, John Giorno, Beth Anderson, Charles Amirkhanian, and others. CD

A massive tribute to this groundbreaking, genre-busting label – a short-lived imprint on Island Records that was put together by Brian Eno in the mid 70s – all to showcase some of the best new experiments in avant classical and minimalist music! There's a special sort of quality to these records – work that maybe has a bit more "heart" than some of the colder, more academic work of the period – even in comparison to some of the other records issued by some of these artists – warmer and more personal than the productions of Cramps or CRI, for example – and always seeming to have that special sort of sonic brilliance that Eno brought to his own music of the time! The label only issued ten full records, but that makes for a very unified vibe for the entire catalog – which is collected here with a huge booklet of notes inside the box set. Albums include The Sinking Of The Titanic by Gavin Bryars, Voices & Instrumentals by Jan Steele & John Cage, Irma by Tom Phillips, Pavilion Of Dreams by Harold Budd, Decay Music by Michael Nyman, Discreet Music by Brian Eno, New & Rediscovered Musical Instruments by Max Eastley & David Toop, Music From The Penguin Cafe by Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Machine Music by John White & Gavin Bryars, and Ensemble Pieces by Christopher Hobbs, John Adams, & Gavin Bryars. CD

A fantastic CD collection – one that brings together all five volumes of Stereolab's Switched On albums in one set – a huge collection of unusual material and rare singles! On the original Switched On record, moog, fuzz, and farfisa have never sounded so great together – and although these guys drank deep of the well of 60s pop magic before making this modern-day classic – they also come off sounding pretty darn original on their own! When this gem of a record first hit the world, it was as if all of us were hearing music from the cosmos for years, but could never find a way to make it part of our everyday lives. Then along come Tim Gane, Laetitia Sadier, and crew – and completely change the world for the better! An album that no home should be without – with titles that include "Contact", "Super-Electric", "Doubt", "Brittle", "Au Grand Jour", "The Way Will Be Opening", and "Changer". Refried Ectoplasm is the second in the holy trinity of "switched on" albums from Stereolab – a set that collects together all the unusual recordings and other side bits the group were doing in the early years of their career – standing strong as a testament to their non-stop efforts to forever push the boundaries of electric fuzzy pop! The vocals Laetitia Sadier are completely sublime – almost a bridge between the darker modes of the previous pop generation and all the new ideas of the world to come – when the rest of rock music would finally catch up to these guys, and realize that the best path to the future is through the past! Titles include "Farfisa", "John Cage Bubblegum", "Tempter", "Exploding Head Movie", "French Disko", "Harmonium", "Revox", "Mountain", and "Sadistic". By the time of Aluminum Tunes (Switched On Vol 3) – it had only been a few years since the previous Switched On set, but Stereolab had already created so much musical magic, they needed a double-length record to keep the whole thing intact! The sound here is somehow getting even more dreamy and wonderful – definitely showing their work with the mighty Sean O'Hagan, and also really opening up into all the many musical ideas that Tim Gane was picking up from his never-ending search for unusual records! The 60s swirl through time and space, and make the future sound even better than we could have imagined it – while the Channel is drained, and England and France become one in a genius marriage of pure pop modes. Titles include "The Extension Trip", "How To Play Your Internal Organs Overnight", "Space Moment", "Iron Man", "The Long Hair Of Death", "One Note Samba/Surfboard", "Percolations", "1000 Miles An Hour", "Klang Tone", and a great take on the theme to "Get Carter". Switched On 4 is full of fantastic sounds from Stereolab – an assortment of rare singles and other unusual recordings that were mostly issued on their own Duophonic label, and which are far more obscure than their bigger label albums during the same period! Even though Stereolab gave the world some undeniable classics in the late 90s and early 00s, they were also working endlessly, and seemed to record more than they could ever fit on a full length set – which resulted in all the cool singles, limited releases, and other material included here – not dusty tapes pulled from the archives, but beautiful work that often returns the group to all the space age charms of their first few records! The package is huge – 25 tracks in all, of varying length – and titles include "Barok Plastik", "Calimero", "Fried Monkey Eggs (voc)", "Solar Throw Away", "Variation One", "Monkey Jelly", "Explosante Fixe", "Jump Drive Shut Out", "The Super-It", "L'Exotisme Interieur", "Pandora's Box Of Worms", "Retrograde Mirror Form", "Nomus E Phusis", "I Feel The Air Of Another Planet", "Outer Bongolia", and "Intervals". Includes tracks from Duophonic 45s, Underground Is Coming EP, Moog, First Of The Microbe Hunters, and work from compilations, unreleased tracks, and even a collaboration with Brigitte Fontaine! Switched On 5 is maybe the coolest entry so far in this really wonderful series – a set that's overflowing with rare and unusual work from Stereolab – most of it done at a time when the group were riding high on a major label, but still managed to issued a huge amount of music on their own, and work in a variety of collaborative settings too! One of our favorite is their work with Nurse With Wound, and tracks from that partnership begin this set – which then moves into rare singles, work with artists, compilation contributions, and plenty more – all with the usual Stereolab charm, but often with a nicely different vibe too! Titles include "Simple Headphone Mind", "Symbolic Logic Of Now", "Magne Music", "Forensic Itch", "Spool Of Collusion", "Robot Riot", "Trippin With The Birds", "Cybele's Reverie (live)", "Nth Degrees, "Refractions In The Plastic Pulse (Autechre Feebate mix)", and "Plastic Mile (original version)". CD

Includes the songs "Cry! Cry! Cry!", "Hey Porter", "Folsom Prison Blues", "I Walk The Line", "Get Rhythm", "Big River", "Guess Things Happen That Way", "Ring Of Fire", "Jackson", "A Boy Named Sue (Live)", "Sunday Morning Coming Down", "Man In Black", "One Piece At A Time", "Highwayman", "The Wanderer", "Delia's Gone", "Rusty Cage", "I've Been Everywhere", "Give My Love To Rose", "The Man Comes Around (Early Take)", and "Hurt". CD

Forgive Roger Kellaway for all the other snoozy work he's ever done – because this album's a treasure! Kellaway's working with a jazz trio that includes drummer Dave Bailey – and the set's a hip one with a mix of straight soul jazz grooving and some more experimental twists that actually work. Best of these is the cut "Brats", a fantastic little number that's sort of a waltz for "prepared piano", ala John Cage! The cut has a sound that's amazing – eerie, haunting, but also swinging in a very strange way. That track's worth the price of the album alone – but there's other nice numbers like "Organ Morgan", "One Night Stand", "Can't You See It", and "Signa: ON". CD

Very heady sounds from this hip French trio – one who go further than even the usual avant piano combo, by using a prepared version of the instrument for part of the set! Eve Risser handles the keys – and the piano is both standard, although played with very unusual inflections, and sometimes "prepared" – in the mode of sticking bits and pieces under the strings, in the style first pioneered by John Cage! Yet the sounds here are far from those of Cage – as the trio's got a great sense of energy that really builds on the album's two long tracks – kind of a simmering of Risser's piano, Dubocs' bass, and Perraud's drums – until things really start boiling on "Trans" and "Chant D'Entre". CD

The title's no lie, as the set's filled with all the singles issued by Soundgarden during their legendary run – titles that include "Black Hole Sun", "Loud Love", "Jesus Christ Pose", "Flower", "Nothing To Say", "Hands All Over", "Ty Cobb", "Bleed Together", "Spoonman", "The Day I Tried To Live", "Rusty Cage", "Get On The Snake", "Outshined", "Fell On Black Days", "Pretty Noose", "Burden In My Hand", and "Blow Up The Outside World". CD

Music from Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Powermad, Angelo Badalamenti and Kinny Landrum, Nicolas Cage, Them, Koko Taylor, Chris Isaak, Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps, Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Rubber City, and Angelo Badalamenti and Kinny Landrum. CD

A wealth of rare European grooves – most recorded in the late 60s and early 70s, all making their debut on CD! The package brings together previous vinyl-only reissues from the Sonorama label – 7" singles that feature material dug from German sound library recordings of many years back – all in a great blend of jazz, funk, soul, and bossa! Given the strength of the material, the collection may be the best release so far on Sonorama – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the already-great titles the label has brought to the market. CD features two tracks appearing here for the first time ever – "Woe's All Over Me" by Jazz Orchestra Rob Pronk and "By The Help Of You & Me" by Ray Christoph's New Sound – plus "Happy Samba", "Summertime", "The Lady Is A Tramp", and "Windmills Of Your Mind" by Mark Murphy & Louis Van Dyke; "Baby I Love You", "Fever", "Cold Sweat", "I Got A Feeling" by Kadri Six; "Love Cage", "Hard Work", "Neptune's Walk", and "Scotch & Soda" by Orchestre Pete Jacques; and "Wordless Blues", "Soul Organ", and "The Very First Day" by Ray Christoph's New Sound. CD

A really great collection of work that sets the scene for the London Underground of the 60s – that heady cultural scene that was about to burst forth and shower the world with a huge range of new music that would influence listeners for decades to come! This package isn't that music – in that most of the artists here are American, mixed with contributions from a few key Brit talents too – and the whole thing works together to showcase the sorts of sounds that were a bit inspiration on the generation that would then inspire many others to come – a mad mix of modern jazz, electronic music, avant classical, groovy vocal, and even some compelling beat/poetry recordings too – all packaged together in an overstuffed 3CD set that makes for a hell of a journey in music! Artists include Ornette Coleman, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Mingus, Daphne Oram, Modern Jazz Quartet, Aldous Huxley, Cecil Taylor, John Cage, Eric Dolphy, Annie Ross, Sun Ra, Gyorgy Ligeti, Allen Ginsberg, Jimmy Smith, Luciano Berio, John Coltrane, Chico Hamilton, Alexis Korner, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Albert Ayler, Joe Harriott, and many others. CD

A pair of early albums from the great Gordon Giltrap – both released by Transatlantic Records when Gordon was a very young fellow! The self-titled Gordon Giltrap is a gem from 1968 – a record that has Gordon stepping out as a hell of a guitarist, and a very dark-tinged songwriter – certainly of the generation that was budding with John Renbourn and Bert Jansch – but with a distinct quality that really set Giltrap apart from the rest, maybe making him as much of an individualist as Davy Graham! Although just 18, Giltrap's acoustic guitar work is fantastic– and his vocals are much more biting than some of his contemporaries – almost mean at times. Titles include "Window Pattern", "Blythe Hill", "Won't You Stay Awhile Suzanne", "Don't You Feel Good", "Birth Of Spring", "Don't You Hear Your Mother's Voice", and "Ives Horizon". Portrait is an amazing record – at one level filled with mastery of the 12 string guitar has has Gordon Giltrap matching the best of the Takoma generation in the US – but also graced with vocals that are very distinct, very pointed, and which make the tunes with lyrics such a contrast to the instrumentals! The whole thing is fantastic – a true testament to the legend that has grown up around Giltrap over the years – with titles that include "Thoughts In The Rain", "Never Ending Solitude", "Young Love", "Lucifer's Cage", "Portrait", "Tuxedo", and "Hands Of Fate". CD

The first real moment of genius from Elton John – a record issued with an understated cover and title, but which set the scene for all the greatness to come from the singer in the 70s! The strength of the Bernie Taupin partnership is on full display here – through a set of amazing tunes that are still some of Elton's greatest – delivered with vocal performances that are open, honest, and free of any sense of self-consciousness – matched by arrangements that use strings in ways that are subtle and sublime. The whole thing is a masterpiece – with titles that include "Your Song", "Sixty Years On", "First Episode At Hienton", "I Need You To Turn To", "Take Me To The Pilot", "Border Song", "The Greatest Discovery", and "The Cage". CD

Crucial rare work from Danish piano genius Tom Prehn – a player who's only known for a handful of rare records from the 60s, and some unissued material that has come out in more recent years! This set falls somewhere between the space of both of those points – as the material had been released, but only on reel to reel format – making it even rarer than Prehn's vintage vinyl, and clearly able to use the extended format of the tape to let the group improvise in ways that they couldn't even do on a single record at the time! Case in point is the amazing 44 minute track "Centrifuga" – a cut that seems to have Prehn playing piano that sounds prepared, ala John Cage – mixed with equally unusual sounds from the bass of Poul Elders, some striking sounds from the drums of Finn Slumstrup, and this amazing raw tenor from Fritz Krogh – a player we don't know at all, but who's very much in the best mode of the early free jazz world on the European scene! The second part of the record features four shorter pieces, each numbered variations of "Solherv" – recorded six months after the first track, and with this open sonic sensibility that recalls much more contemporary improv work – such as recordings by Mats Gustafsson, who actually contributed the notes to the set. CD

Electro acoustic ensemble from San Pietro A Majella performs music by John Cage, Salvatore Carannante, Stefano Silvestri, Dario Sanfilippo, and Agostino Di Scipio. CD

Faada Freddy already has a very striking style – a blend of gospel and soul with some elements of his Senegalese roots – yet here, he pushes the boundaries even more by just working with voice and human percussion elements, but in a mode that makes for a mighty full groove! Freddy's voice mixes with others in the group, rising up with a very righteous vibe that's wonderful – served up with English lyrics that, if there were any justice in the world, would get Faada some exposure on our side of the Atlantic too! The approach is great – hardly gimmicky at all, and really lean and stripped down to just the groove and voice – on titles that include "The One For Me", "Tables Will Turn", "Happy Together", "Day To Day Struggle", "Aladdin", and "Truth & Lies". CD

The great reedman Mark Whitecage is a player who never fully got his due – a really unique talent in terms of phrasing and rhythm, finally given one last chance at the spotlight here on this final recording with The Nu Band, a group in which he played for many years! All four players here are great – Thomas Heberer on quarter tone trumpet, Joe Fonda on bass, and Lou Grassi on drums and percussion – but it also feels as if there's a special sort of focus on the very personal, very expressive sounds that Whitecage can create – as he plays here on alto, flute, and clarinet. There's a mixture of modern structure and free improvisation here – that great legacy of the group, which is there way of bringing forward some of the new thing ideas of the 60s with more personal contemporary improv modes. Titles include "Christophe & Ornette", "Five O'Clock Blues", "The Closer You Are The Further It Gets", "Prayer For The Water Protectors", and "Minor Madness". CD

With Matt Lux on bass and Avreeayl Ra on drums. CD

The title's a reference to another work, but seems especially well-put here to describe the special creative activity of pianist Simon Nabatov and reedman Frank Gratkowski – two players who've worked together many times over the space of decades, which really seems reflected in the sonic sensitivity of the album! Gratkowski blows alto, flute, clarinet, and bass clarinet – and the open tonal possibilities of the latter two instruments seem especially resonant with the feel of the record – these gentle tonal shifts that are almost painterly, as is Nabatov's piano – creating gentle structures of sound, on titles that include "Cagey", "Safe Home", "Layers Of Disguise", "Disgruntled Settlement", and "Turn Of Events". CD

A batch of eclectic postmodern soul that's as original and instantly gratifying as anything we've heard on Stones Throw! Aloe Blacc more than lives up to the expectations we had for him after hearing his first couple of Stones Throw singles. His previous work in the adventurous hip hop outfit Emanon really only hints at his solo work – and it's even more bold in its idiosyncratic approach to an appealing groove! The almost entirely self-produced Shine Through (Oh No and Madlib produce one track each) is rife with an electronic sheen, touching on a bubbling psychedelic soul vibe we've never really heard before. A couple of tracks have guitar, bass, and keys that bring a more organic, but still kind of otherworldly groove – even touching on a cosmic Latin vibe on a couple of tunes! Tracks include "Whole World", a totally re-imagined take on Sam Cooke's "Long Time Coming" (produced by Oh No), "Are You Ready", "Busking", "Bailar", "Nascimento", "Dance For Life", "Patria Mia", "Shine Through", "Caged Birdsong", "Arrive", "Want Me", "One Inna" (produced by Madlib) and "I'm Beautiful". CD

A trio of fantastic albums from Christian Scott – all packaged together! First up is Ruler Rebel – a fantastic step forward for trumpeter Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah – an artist who takes on a new name with this recording, and a vibrant new sound as well! Scott still plays trumpet, but he also works with some electronics and effects, too – in a group that mixes acoustic elements from piano, flute, and percussion with electric work on Fender Rhodes and guitar – all in a sound that's swirlingly soulful, and as enigmatic as you might expect! The music reaches back to some deeper roots, but reworks the sound completely with lots of contemporary elements – and Scott's trumpet takes on a new sort of majesty in the setting – maybe hitting the promise we first saw in his music years back, but with even more focus here. Titles include "Encryption", "The Coronation Of X A Tunde Adjuah", "The Reckoning", "Ruler Rebel", and "New Orleanian Love Song". Next is Diaspora – a set that has Christian Scott really opening with a new sense of pride and power after adopting the Atunde Adjuah name – and blowing here not just on trumpet, but also "reverse flugelhorn", sirenette, and siren – and also using some sonic architecture to open up and expand his sound! Rhythms are a compelling mix of drum programs and acoustic percussion – peppered with work on alto, Fender Rhodes, bass, guitar, and drums – in this groove that's much more sharp-edged and sonically compelling than most other projects of this nature. Titles include "Lawless", "Our Lady Of New New Orleans", "IDK", "Desire & The Burning Girl", "Completely", "No Love", and "The Walk". Last is Emancipation Proclamation – part of Scott's brilliant trilogy that has him reworking his sound even more than before – using his horn in both acoustic and electric settings, and mixing with bits of funk and deeper musical currents – all at a level that's vaguely in the territory of Don Cherry in the 70s, but served up with a vibe that's very much Christian's own! Rather than be buried in the mix of percussion, Fender Rhodes, and other horns here – Scott seems to be set free, and really opens up with both the space of his solos, and the style of his phrasing – which is even more personal than before. The other players are great, too – a shifting lineup who retain the same bristling energy throughout – on titles that include "Ashes Of Our Forever", "The Emancipation Procrastination", "AvengHer", "Cages", "New Heroes", "Videotape", "The Cypher", "Michele With One L", and "Unrigging November". CD

Features Roy Campbell Jr. on trumpet, Mark Whitcage on alto sax, Joe Fonda on bass, and Lou Grassi on drums. CD

Maybe the most striking set in this ever-shifting series of releases from Matana Roberts – and one that shows his more advanced sonic sensibilities, in a mix of improvised jazz and more compositional settings! There's a vibe here that's almost like the more "serious" work of Roscoe Mitchell – at least in the way that reeds and strings interweave – yet Roberts, as always, brings a deeply personal approach to the music, with lots of shorter songs that weave more soulful elements amidst the avant expressions – which are served up by a lineup that includes Mike Pride on drums, Cory Smythe on piano, Darius Jones on alto, Mazz Swift on violin, and Mat Lavelle on alto clarinet and pocket trumpet. Kyp Malone brings in a bit of electronics, and there are vocalizations at points – on titles that include "A Caged Dance", "No Way Chastened", "Away Is Not An Option", "Shake My Bones", "Enthralled Not By Her Curious Blend", "Different Rings", "Predestined Confessions", and "We Said". CD

Music from Odean Pope & Dave Burrell, Mark Whitecage's Other Other Quartet, Bruce Eisenbeil's Crosscurrent Trio, Sam Bardfeld's Cabal Fatale, Dom Minasi Trio, Blaise Siwula Trio, Joe Fonda Quintet, Joe Mcphee's Bluette, John Bickerton Trio, Steve Swell Trio & more. CD

Dominic Duval on bass – with Jason Hwang on violin, Tomas Ulrich on cello, and Mark Whitcage on reeds. CD

One of the most obscure albums ever from the amazing singer Jeanne Lee – and that's saying a lot, given how obscure most of her albums are in general! The record has a beautifully poetic feel – a mixture of songs, improvisations, and some spoken passages too – set to fantastic improvisation from a group of players that includes Sam Rivers on soprano, tenor, and flute; Gunter Hampel on piano, vibes, alto, and flute, Jack Gregg on bass, and Steve McCall on drums – plus guest work from Mark Whitecage on alto, and both Perry Robinson and Allan Praskin on clarinet. There's some of the spirituality of a Strata East recording here, mixed with some of the more open modes of the New York loft jazz scene too – and titles include "Sundance", "Yeh Come T Be", "Jamaica", "Subway Couple", "The Miracle Is", "Your Ballad", "Angel Chile", and "Conspiracy". CD

Tracks Cagedbaby, Tennishero, Mish Mash, Restless & Volatile, Shaolin Master Feat. Siobhan, Juliet Roberts, T Funk Feat. Inaya Day, Wilder & Clarke Feat. Katherine Ellis, Cajmere Feat. Dajae, Shiny Grey, Southside Hustlers, and more. CD