A record that announces its difference right from the very first note – then keeps on setting itself apart with each new musical selection! The group's led by pianist Jonas Cambien – who can play both warmly and starkly – and the sound is balanced between the drums and percussion of Andreas Wildhagen, and the reed work of Andre Roligheten – who blows tenor, soprano, bass clarinet, and flute – often with textural tones that fold in nicely alongside the piano and drums! Yet despite that statement, there's also no set style to the group – as they really explore different interpolations of their instruments on every track – often in ways that seem to have an inherent structure, but which are also strikingly new as well – maybe even more powerful because of their tuneful inclinations than if the musicians were more free-minded. Titles include "Creationism", "Swear Like A Bear", "Unlikely Friendship", "Long Long Long", "Sister You Proved Me Right", "Crib", and "Animalism". CD

The title might be a bit goofy, but it's actually a pretty great way to sum up the spirit of this group – as the contemporary Cortex come from avant roots, but also have a vibrancy that makes their music sound more celebratory than confrontational! The quartet features endlessly creative rhythms from the duo of Olya Hoyer on bass and Gard Nilssen on drums – topped by beautiful interplay between the trumpet of Thomas Johansson and saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts – both players who can sometimes be completely in step with each other, sometimes almost at odds, and individually really work to make the whole record soar when it's time for their solos. Titles include "Mac Davis", "Grinder", "Chaos", "Waltz", "Disturbance", "Obverse/Reverse", and "Off Course". LP, Vinyl record album

With a title and cover like this, we had to check the record out – and the sound within doesn't fail to disappoint! The song titles themselves are extremely political, but the music has a very universal appeal in the freer side of the spectrum – almost a poetic take on the world of free improvisation, with as much tunefulness as unbridled sense of exploration in the musicians! Players include Simone Graziano on piano, Gabriele Evangelista on bass, and Francesco Cusa on drums – working with guest Carlo Atti on saxes. Titles include "Delivering A Load Of Musical Boxes To Wall Street", "Adam Smith Counts Every Penny", "Fiscal Regime In The Life Of The New York Taxidriver/Jazzman", "Sun Ra Vs Donald Trump", and "Accelerating From The Global Society To The Foamed Society". CD

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The trombone of Steve Swell is a great presence here – balanced alongside the trio of Frode Gjerstad on alto, Jon Rune Strom on bass, and Paal Nilssen Love on drums and percussion! Both Swell and Gjerstad have this way of creating flurries of notes that are mindblowing – fast-thinking, quickly-creative tones that fall from their horns with almost an organic sort of energy – blended together in a magical conflagration of high and low and impulses! Strom's bass shifts nicely – sometimes itself a strong engine of sonic nodes – and the drums of Paal Nilssen-Love are sometimes nicely restrained, before coming on with his trademark boundless energy. The set features four long improvisations – "Bop Stop", "Stop Bop", "Pop Bop", and "Post Stop". CD

Three horns, no piano, and plenty of imagination – a triple-length set that really opens up new possibilities for improvisation, by a quintet that features Mats Aleklint on trombone, Martin Kuchen on alto, sopranino, and flute – and Kjetil Moster on tenor and clarinet – alongside Olay Hoyer on bass and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen on drums! The tracks are very long and flowing – almost with the organic quality of spiritual jazz, but maybe a bit more outside too – very open in the way the musicians come together, almost blossoming like individual flowers in the same garden – rather than trying to challenge each other for primacy or time in the light. Titles include "See Don't Tell", "Hear Don't Say", "Towards The Uncool", "A Clandestine Jazz Operation", and "Myriads Of Space (parts 1 to 4)". CD

A really old school trio setting – one that has a loose, open, freely exploratory vibe that really takes us back to the loft jazz generation – as the musicians work in very creative territory that really shows their individual spirits, yet still also come together strongly as a whole! Joe McPhee is great on tenor and trumpet – and really reminds us of those tremendous textures and tones he started developing in the late 70s – and the rest of the trio features Pascal Niggenkemper on bass and Stale Liavik Solberg on drums – both younger musicians, but equally creative in the setting. Titles include "i", "A", and "Zero Supreme Love" – the last of which is dedicated to John Coltrane. CD

Scandinavian jazz, recorded in Bali – in a great shift from previous volumes in this series – as all musicians play a bit of gamelan as well! Make no mistake, the format is definitely freely improvised music with a strong jazz current – with the mighty Jonas Kullhammar on tenor and flute, Susana Santos Silva on trumpet, Torbjorn Zetterberg on bass, and Espen Aalberg on drums and percussion – working together as a fantastically cohesive unit, with a bold sense of confidence that really shows the players' understanding of each other. Yet there's also a special vibe here – really marking the album as a special outing from the musicians – even if the gamelan is used sparingly alongside the more familiar instrumentation. Titles include "Irama Berat", "Dewas Dance", "Slow Ostinato", "Suling", and "Ilir Ilir". CD

An incredible solo record from Rob Mazurek – a wonderful change from some of his larger group and collaborative projects – even though we love those a heck of a lot too! This set's a great reminder of the core improvisational genius that Rob's always had, but which sometimes is overshadowed by the group activity on his other records. Here, Mazurek blows cornet alone, and also plays both standard and prepared piano – and colors things with just a dash of his great electronics – often used in more sparing and subtle ways than some of his group efforts. A really beautiful set from a musician who continues to reward us over the years – with titles that include "Twombly At New Church", "Gazing Through Walls", "King Of Rome", and "Sweet Life In Disrepair". CD

Triangulum – a great title for the wonderful energy of this group – which swings perfectly between the three sharp points of Nick Mazzarella on alto, Matt Ulery on bass, and Jeremy Cunningham on drums! These guys are freewheeling, but always soulful – not just because of Nick's well-shaped sense of tone – which can be arch-modern, yet with a surprisingly warm core – but also because the bass of Ulery has this completely rapt (wrapped?) approach – almost like some deep force watching over the whole proceedings, which then seems to set Cunningham free on drums. The group represents an amazing third (or fourth?) wave in the contemporary avant scene in Chicago – the kind of joyous expression that continues to make us proud to live in a city that can create music this wonderful. Titles include "Ringdown", "Reminiscing", "Witch Hazel", "Rhododendron", "Strange", and "Inflection Point". CD

Tenorist Kjetil Moster works here with a great trio of musicians from the Chicago scene – Jeff Parker on guitar, Josh Abrams on bass, and John Herndon on drums – the last of whom comes as a bit of a surprise on a date like this! Yet the drums are often a very important part of the sound here – as they're sometimes full-on and rhythmic, other times more muted but a strong part of the structure of the performances – which allows for some especially creative moments from Parker and Moster, who find these really cool ways to bring unusual sounds from their instruments together! Abrams is a delight, as always – definitely much more on the avant side of his spectrum – on titles that include "Dig Me Out", "Orko", "Pajama Jazz", "Anicca", and "Island Life". CD

A trio of live performances from this excellent trio – material recorded in Oslo, Ljubljana, and the North Sea festival – brought together here in a really wonderful package! The first CD features just the trio – Gard Nilssen on some incredibly dynamic drums, working with Petter Eldh on bass and Andre Roligheten on tenor and soprano sax – a group who really find a new way to open things up past the original trio mode of Sonny Rollins in the 50s, but without the oft-trod territory of the familiar avant power trio too. The group is joined by Fredrik Ljungkvist on tenor and clarinet on the second CD – and we always love Fred's work on any session, this one included. The final CD features a quintet – with the presence of Jorgen Mathisen on tenor and clarinet, and Kristoffer Berre Alberts on alto, tenor, and baritone – which really ups the reed power of the album! A heck of a lot of music in one short space – all free, but nicely structured into songforms too. CD

A totally cool combination of musical elements – baritone sax and analog electronics – both played here by Jonah Parzen-Johnson with a style that's unlike anything else we can think of! Sure, saxes and electronics have come together before – ever since Richard Tietelbaum and Anthony Braxton first recorded together back in the 70s. But there's also a very different vibe here that comes both from the baritone, and its deeper sonic range – and the way that Jonah uses his electronics, sometimes with flutteringly rhythmic elements that really make the music shimmer, but without overwhelming it at all. He's also not afraid to blow straight and soulfully at times too – which is especially great when the electronics are more abstract – and throughout, the album's full of these revelatory moments that make the whole thing a delight. Titles include "These Shoulders Those Shoulders", "Cabin Pressure", "I Have Questions", "What Do I Do With Sorry", "Guns Make Us Murderers", and "Too Many Dreams". CD

The bass of Eric Revis sounds better than we ever remember – and that's saying a lot, because we've really liked his other records too! Yet here, it almost feels like Revis is out to re-state himself as a musician – coming on strong with a tone that could put him up there with the giants of earlier years – and beautifully matched with drummer Chad Taylor, who's always been an amazing example of that rare quality of being tight and loose at the same time! Ken Vandermark blows tenor and clarinet – but in a way that really seems to respect the path taken by Revis and Taylor – as does the piano of Kris Davis, which punctuates the sound perfectly. Titles include "Sing Me Some Cry", "PT 44", "Good Company", "Rye Eclipse", "Rumples", and "Drunkard's Lullaby". CD

A pretty great little album of solo piano – one that not only has a different vibe, given that Mattias Risberg also uses a moog Taurus – but also because the piano here seems to be both normal and "prepared"! Risberg has a great way of pulling out odd sounds that are still surprisingly tuneful – laying them out in progressions that are often quite angular and jagged, but which have a warm quality as well – almost painterly in the way that Mattias handles his music, with a beautifully personal touch. The whole album's played live, without overdubs – and the Taurus is handled with foot pedals, in a subtle but striking way. Titles include "Marine", "Emerald", "Vermillion", "Cobalt", "Sienna", "Viridian", and "Umber". CD

We find ourselves loving the sax work of Tony Malaby more and more as the years go on – and here, he's perfectly situated in a trio with Samo Salamon on guitar and Roberto Dani on drums – a group that really finds the best way to triangulate the efforts of all three players! Unlike other takes on this format, where the tenor might dominate – Malaby's work on that instrument, and a bit of soprano, are bold, but also phrased in ways that resonate beautifully with the drums and guitar – which themselves, especially the latter, take on these elements that are completely captivating – all of which makes for a record that's a lot more inside than you might guess from the cover! Titles include "Breathing", "Traveling Without Motion", "Pedro Is Clean", "Arnold", "Kei's Dream", and "Moving Target". CD

A record as enigmatic as its title – slow-building sounds crafted by the trumpet of Yaw Tembe and percussion of Monseiur Trinite – both musicians we don't know at all, but who really find a special space with this album! The sound is very open and spacious – much more in an ECM legacy than the usual releases on Clean Feed – but also with a sound that's individually its own, and which isn't trying to copy the ECM style at all. Percussion is often very spare and stark – not loud, but striking – and the performance appears to be live, in a space that also allows for lots of room echo to expand the individual elements. Titles include "A Kind Of Jester's Kindness", "Delta", "Trial", "King Before Kings", "Inner Suite Three Magnificent Ride", and "No Body". CD

We love the Trespass Trio – a group that offers up a very fresh setting for some musicians we first discovered in the Moserobie side of the universe – bassist Per Zanussi, drummer Raymond Strid, and reedman Martin Kuchen – who plays baritone, alto, and sopranino saxes on the album! Zanussi can have a deep bass sound at times, but also bows his instrument at points – with this beautiful current of melancholy – and there's a loose, almost ragged quality to the music that we never would have expected from the musicians years before – a mode that's powerful at moments, but maybe even more compelling when it opens up into some bluer currents of sound. Titles include "Sounds & Ruins", "In Tears", "Centers", "The Spirit Of Pitesti", and "Fri Kokko". CD

A record that comes on with the frenzy of an Ornette Coleman Quartet session – and one with a very similar lineup too – given that Nate Wooley is on trumpet, Chris Pitsiokos is on alto, Brandon Lopez is on bass, and Dre Hocevar is on drums! Yet the sound is freer, and bolder too – as the instruments flurry together in clusters, then burst out into incredible sonic territory as the set moves on – with moments that include Wooley blowing fast and tuneful with a mute, like some speed freak Miles Davis – or hitting these popping, punctuated sounds that are really unusual. The record's one that really keeps us on the edge of our seats – and furthers the sense of surprise that can make real jazz improvisation so special! CD

Dark tones and textures from this well-matched quartet – a group led by pianist Benoit Delbecq – and featuring tenor from Mark Turner, bass from John Hebert, and drums from Gerald Cleaver – all musicians who really seem to have a strong sense of each others' role! If you know Turner's ability to slowly shift in moody passages, you'll know some of the energy of this set – although Hebert can often provide this rumbling depth that really wins us, and Delbecq can have more angular, powerful piano lines that occasionally redefine the proceedings. Titles include "Broken World", "Rosemary K", "The Loop Of Chicago", "Spots On Stripes", "Dawn Sounds", "Old Vinyl", and "Dripping Stones". CD