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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

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

Freely improvised sounds from a trio that features bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg and trumpeter Susana Santos Silva – both musicians we've loved together in the past – joined here by alto saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos, who seems to give them a much freer sound overall! The tracks are very open in shape and structure – with especially strong interplay between the trumpet and alto – who sometimes dance around each other, sometimes spar – while Zetterberg really pushes himself, too – and seems to move past his more inherent sense of melody, into territory that we may well never have heard before (and we've listened to – and loved – dozens of his many recordings!) Titles include "Now Then", "I Find Nothing", "What Now", and "Yeah Well". 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

The legendary Pharoah Sanders joins the Chicago/Sao Paulo Underground – and the result is one of the most striking records in years from everyone involved! Pharoah blows with this really open, searching sort of tone – wonderfully concerned with sound texture at points, and not nearly as straight a some of his other sessions in recent decades – definitely drawing strong inspiration from the freewheeling work of Rob Mazurek on cornet, flute, and electronics – with additional electronics from Guilherme Granado. Drummer Chad Taylor provides a firm grounding for the experiments – as does bassist Matt Lux – and the group gets some Sao Paulo touches touches Mauricio Takara, who also plays percussion as well. Tracks are all relatively long – cosmic and open, with a stunning mix of acoustic and electric elements – and titles include "Spiral Mercury", "Primitive Jupiter", "This One's For All Mothers", and "Asasumamehn" – two of which are not on the CD! LP, Vinyl record album

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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

An album recorded in Portugal – as you might guess from the title – but featuring a group of real Swedish music heavyweights! The trio features fantastic interplay between the bass of Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, the drums of Kjell Nordeson, and the tenor and soprano sax of Martin Kuchen – the latter of whom wrote most of the music, with a vivid style that's extremely compelling – as rich in fresh ideas as the musicians are free in their interpretation! Kuchen is amazing – really wonderful on both tenor and soprano – and the music here has maybe a looser approach to the sorts of sounds that the Moserobie label first gave us in its early years – with this great interplay between structure and freedom. Titles include "Equality & Death", "Satan In Plain Clothes", "Francisco/By Way Of Deception", and "Don't Ruin Me/Love Flee Thy House". 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

Friends & Neighbors have really deepened their voice for this wonderful album – definitely showing us what's next, as they move past their initial inspiration from Ornette Coleman, and open up in modes that are completely their own! Some of the best passages here have this rich, melodic, almost majestic statement from the trumpet of Thomas Johansson and tenor of Andre Roligheten – beautifully bold yet fluid players together – but also able to crackle with energy when the solo passages open up – driven on nicely by Oscar Gronberg on piano, Jon Rune Strom on bass, and Tollef Ostvang on drums. The bass is especially strong – poised in the structure to really explode the sound – and titles include "Influx", "Headway Heat", "Thorlief's Blues", "Mozart", "Kubrick's Rude", and "WLB". CD

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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

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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 really amazing record from saxophonist Fredrik Nordstrom, and a really collaborative one too – given that the album features two different quartets, one in the left channel, one in the right – working together in this fantastic formation of sound! The lineup is filled with top musicians from Nordstrom's scene – including Fredrik Ljungkvist on tenor and clarinet, Niklas Barno on trumpet, Mats Aleklint on trombone, Filip Augustson and Torbjorn Zetterberg on basses, and Fredrik Runkqvist and Christofer Cantillo on drums – many players who've made great music under their own names, and contributed key sounds to albums on both Clean Feed and Moserobie – but maybe finding a completely new level of expression here. Given the structure, there's a sense of cohesion here that's breathtaking – very different than what you might expect – and titles include "Needs", "Fake Face", "Brand New Dollars", "MorningBliss", "Hope", and "Hometown Prophet". 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

We're not sure that we've ever heard pianist Jacob Sacks before – but he makes a really wonderful presence on this album as leader of a quintet that features reed work from Ellery Eskelin on tenor and Tony Malaby on tenor and soprano sax! Both Esklelin and Malaby blow in ways that are very familiar – and which are well-matched together – but Sacks' piano often moves in these different directions, with different phrasing – at a level that we really like a lot, and which adds more dimension to the record that we might expect from other saxophonist. Sacks wrote all the songs, and there's a strong tension between composition and improvisation – by a group that also features Michael Formanek on bass and Dan Weiss on drums. Titles include "Carnegie Kvetches If", "This Is A Song", "Carnegie The Sketcher", "Saloon", "Chopped In", "Ill Blues", and "Five Little Melodies". CD

A German disco extravaganza – and a much-needed look at one of the strongest 70s club outlets next to the US! At first glance, the mix of Germany and disco might seem like an unlikely fit – but the German scene gave the world some key disco hits back in the 70s, as well as a huge variety of underground and lesser-known gems! The German approach was often a bit heavier on electronics than the American one – modes that were slightly pulled from prog and fusion that was bubbling around earlier in the decade, then fused into a cleaner, leaner, more rhythmic groove – and often topped with vocals in English, sometimes by American vocalists living overseas. Even the older German instrumentalists got in on the act – and the 70s saw both jazz and easy players hitting a disco groove with a new approach to their music! This great collection – put together by the folks who gave us The In Kraut – showcases all these aspects of the scene, and brings together a few hits with a lot more obscure gems – many of which we've never seen on this side of the Atlantic before. Titles include "Opium" by Peter Thomas, "Philodendron" by Veronika Fischer, "Illegal Toys" by Alfie Khan Sound Orchestra, "Lovemachine" by Supermax, "You've Got The Power (parts 1 & 2)" by Su Kramer, "Fashion Pack" by Amanda Lear, "Weider Zusammen" by Marianne Rosenberg, "Sex World" by Berry Lipman, "Get On The Funk Train (part 1)" by Munich Machine, "I Can't Move No Mountains" by James Last, "Treat Me Like A Woman" by Jackie Carter, "Feedback Brother" by Peter Herbholzheimer Rhythm Combination & Brass, "Disco Cisco" by Carsten Bohn's Bandstand, and "Love In A Sleeper" by Silver Convention. CD