There's a beautiful assemblage of players here – all working under that special Instant Composers banner that seems to create a special sort of magic – shifting sounds as the different players come together under the leadership of pianist Misha Mengelberg, who also structured most of the loose compositions that are used as the basis for free improvisation, or "instant composing" as the group states with their name! Players include Han Bennink on percussion, Ab Baars and Michael Moore on reeds, George Lewis and Wolter Wierbos on trombones, Erns Clerum on bass, Evert Hekkema on trumpet, Ernst Reijseger on cello, Maartje Ten Hoorn on violin, and Maurice Horsthuis on viola – all working together in all these wonderful ways, as inventive as any of the best music you'd hear from Mengelberg or Bennink in other settings. The set features two long, loosely-structured suites – Mengelberg's "De Purperen Sofa", and "Ellington Mix" – which features extrapolations of Ellington themes greatly changed up by Misha. CD

A landmark record from the Dutch jazz scene – one that takes all the strong 70s years of free improvisation in that world, and helps it find a new sort of focus! As fans of the scene know, ICP stands for Instant Composers Pool – writing while improvising on the spot – a notion that's applied here to a completely amazing tentet, with a lineup that moves even beyond the core scene – to include Misha Mengelberg on piano, John Tchicai on alto and soprano, Gilius Bergeyk on alto, Peter Bennink on alto and sopranino, Peter Brotzmann on alto and tenor, Bert Koppelaar on trombone, Tristan Honsinger on cello, Alan Silva on bass, Han Bennink on drums and bass clarinet, and Michel Waisisz on the very cool "crackle box". The force of the individual players is already amazing – but the way they come together here is breathtaking – sometimes with a full blast that should be chaos, but which finds an amazing sense of song, thanks in part to the strength of Mengelberg on piano. Titles include "Valse Trovee", "Ludvig's Blue Note", "Dank", "Alexander's Marschbefehl", "Rumboon", and five "Tetterettet" selections. CD

An amazing document of this legendary improvising collective – material recorded over the span of many years – from 1967 to 2009 – and featuring some of the most important free jazz players on the planet! CDs include albums ICP 001 through ICP 050, and the set also features two DVDs as well – with performances by Han Bennink, Misha Mengelberg, Willem Breuker, John Tchicai, Maarten Altena, Theo Loevendie, Manfred Schoof, Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Steve Beresford, Ab Baars, Peter Brotzmann, Dudu Pukwana, and many others – all working in a variety of interesting combinations. The set comes with a huge booklet of notes, too – an amazing testament to the long-running project that is the Instant Composers Pool! CD

With Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink, Ab Baars, Michael Moore, Tobias Delius, and others! CD

Misha Mengelberg on piano, Han Bennink on drums, Mary Oliver on violin and viola, Tristan Honsinger on cello, Ernst Glerum on bass, Ab Baars on tenor sax and clarinet, Michael Moore on alto sax and clarinet, Wolter Wierbos on trombone, and Thomas Heberer on trumpet. CD

A landmark record from the Dutch jazz scene – one that takes all the strong 70s years of free improvisation in that world, and helps it find a new sort of focus! As fans of the scene know, ICP stands for Instant Composers Pool – writing while improvising on the spot – a notion that's applied here to a completely amazing tentet, with a lineup that moves even beyond the core scene – to include Misha Mengelberg on piano, John Tchicai on alto and soprano, Gilius Bergeyk on alto, Peter Bennink on alto and sopranino, Peter Brotzmann on alto and tenor, Bert Koppelaar on trombone, Tristan Honsinger on cello, Alan Silva on bass, Han Bennink on drums and bass clarinet, and Michel Waisisz on the very cool "crackle box". The force of the individual players is already amazing – but the way they come together here is breathtaking – sometimes with a full blast that should be chaos, but which finds an amazing sense of song, thanks in part to the strength of Mengelberg on piano. Titles include "Valse Trovee", "Ludvig's Blue Note", "Dank", "Alexander's Marschbefehl", "Rumboon", and five "Tetterettet" selections. CD

Michael Moore, Paul Termos, and Sean Bergin on alto saxophone, Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone, Ab Baars on soprano and tenor saxophone and clarinet, Ab Baars on soprano and tenor saxophone and clarinet, Garret List, George Lewis, and Wolter Wierbos on trombone, Toon De Gouw on trumpet, Larry Fishkind on tuba, Michael Moore on clarinet, Ernst Reijseger on cello, Maurice Horsthuis on viola, Misha Mengelberg on piano, and Han Bennink on drums. CD

Rare music from this legendary Dutch free jazz collective – all pulled from the earliest years of the project, when the ICP group were every bit as important to improvised music as combos in the German and French scenes! The core players here are Misha Mengelberg on piano, Han Bennink on drums, and Willem Breuker on reeds – but with all ICP recordings, the "pool" is the most important part – as the lineup shifts fantastically, always in pursuit of new improvising possibilities – spontaneous creation amidst musicians who also include Manfred Schoof on cornet and flugelhorn, Theo Loevendie on soprano sax, Piet Noordijk on alto, Frederic Rzewski on electronics, and Willem Van Manen on trombone. Some moments have even more unusual instrumentation – steel drums, electrified viola, accordion, toy instruments, and amplified recorder – and throughout it all, the sense of unified group action and individual improvisation is tremendous. Most of the work on the CD has been unissued before – save for one track from the 53CD box ICP, and three more from a rare Dutch Jazz Scene LP box set from Radio Netherlands. 2CD set features 17 tracks in all – and titles include "Piano Distance", "Adebar Der Geheimnisvolle", "Jump Italiano", "Viet Cong", "Session No 1", "New Alto", "ICP 4 14 Write Your Own Part", "Stch Shuffle", "Siep", "Angels", and "Trammermusik". CD

A fantastic slice of sound from the legendary Dudu Pukwana – not his work with the famous Blue Notes combo, nor his globally-styled projects – but instead this searing free jazz date cut for the ICP label with Misha Mengelberg on piano and Hank Bennink on drums, clarinet, viola, and trombone! Pukwana is always great, but here he comes on with an improvising force that's even more amazing than you might expect – really stretching out over long tracks on alto sax, with moments that echo his more familiar tones, but with a lot more intensity – really driven on by the fantastic piano impulses from Mengelberg, and all pushed to the brink by Bennink's boundless energy on all instruments. Titles include "The King Of Weasle Is Called Easle", "Yi Yole", and "Silopobock". CD

A landmark album from this groundbreaking free jazz ensemble – a record that's as important to improvised music as Peter Brotzmann's Machine Gun or Derek Bailey's solo albums! And no surprise, the group features Brotzmann on tenor and Bailey on guitar – alongside Misha Mengelberg on piano, Evan Parker on soprano and tenor, Peter Bennink on alto and bagpipes, Paul Rutherford on trombone, and Han Bennink on drums and percussion! Nearly every one of these musicians were emerging giants at the time – and together, they really live up to the promise of the title – moving fast and fiercely, with uncanny understanding of each other – as they maybe even blow away the famous American album-length improvisations with one of their own. CD

Mindblowing work from the Dutch jazz scene of the late 60s – duets between drummer Han Bennink and reedman Willem Breuker – delivered with an intensity that matches or beats anything the German, American, or British scenes had to offer! The sound is completely free, and often has an early FMP-like frenzy – with Breuker on soprano, alto, tenor, bass clarinet, and e-flat clarinet – and Bennink not just on drums, but also on a range of other percussion instruments, blocks, gongs, cymbals, sticks, and a heck of a lot of other implements too! Both musicians can evoke tuneful moments when they want, and move into fuller noise at others – shifting back and forth with the sensitivity we've always loved in Bennink's work, and displaying an energy we don't always hear on later records from Breuker. Titles include "Gamut", "Singing The Impalpable Blues", and "Music For John Tchicai". Amazing 2CD version – also features six more improvisations recorded at Jazzclub Podium in Essen Germany in 1968! CD

Titles include "Squitty Geshee", "Mary Contrairy", "A Camel's Kiss", "Waves", and "Restless In Pieces" – 8 tracks in all. CD

A landmark album from this groundbreaking free jazz ensemble – a record that's as important to improvised music as Peter Brotzmann's Machine Gun or Derek Bailey's solo albums! And no surprise, the group features Brotzmann on tenor and Bailey on guitar – alongside Misha Mengelberg on piano, Evan Parker on soprano and tenor, Peter Bennink on alto and bagpipes, Paul Rutherford on trombone, and Han Bennink on drums and percussion! Nearly every one of these musicians were emerging giants at the time – and together, they really live up to the promise of the title – moving fast and fiercely, with uncanny understanding of each other – as they maybe even blow away the famous American album-length improvisations with one of their own. LP, Vinyl record album

Voice by Alessandra Patrucco with musical and voice accompanyment by four members of the ICP Orchestra – Tristan Honsinger, Misha Mengelberg, Ab Baars and Han Bennink. CD

A fantastic slice of sound from the legendary Dudu Pukwana – not his work with the famous Blue Notes combo, nor his globally-styled projects – but instead this searing free jazz date cut for the ICP label with Misha Mengelberg on piano and Hank Bennink on drums, clarinet, viola, and trombone! Pukwana is always great, but here he comes on with an improvising force that's even more amazing than you might expect – really stretching out over long tracks on alto sax, with moments that echo his more familiar tones, but with a lot more intensity – really driven on by the fantastic piano impulses from Mengelberg, and all pushed to the brink by Bennink's boundless energy on all instruments. Titles include "The King Of Weasle Is Called Easle", "Yi Yole", and "Silopobock". CD

Very rare, very obscure material from this important free jazz trio of the German scene in the 70s – a set that features one long performance originally issued on the JG label, despite the FMP-like image on the cover – plus two more tracks from the same year that appear here for the first time ever! "Just For Altena" offers up the power trio at their best – very freewheeling piano from Fred Van Hove, drums from Han Bennink, and tenor from Peter Brotzmann – with intensity that may well surpass the Machine Gun years, and an understanding of each players strengths that means that there's almost no tentative moments at all in the improvisation! "Filet Americain" and "ICP No 17" are from earlier in 1971 – and showcase a different, more sonic side of the trio – some tones that are at the farther end of hearing, which ruminate then blossom into bolder statements, but still often with a very abstracted approach to each instrument. Great stuff – and every bit as essential as any of the better-known Brotzman recordings of the time! CD

A fantastic entry into the improvising orchestra genre – a set that's similar to classics by ICP and London Jazz Composers Orchestra – and which also features a bit of crossover in members with both groups! The lineup here features the cream of the crop of the European avant scene of the late 70s – all brought together with that special care that always makes Horo Records albums so wonderful! There's a beautiful balance between group sounds and individual solo voices – very important, given that the strong lineup features musicians who includes Roswell Rudd and Danilo Terenzi on trombone, Kenny Wheeler and Enrico Rava on trumpets, Steve Potts on alto and soprano, Evan Parker on tenor and soprano, Steve Lacy on soprano, Massimo Urbani on alto, Frederik Rzewski and Martin Joseph on pianos, Tristan Honsinger and Irene Aebi on cellos, Kent Carter and Roberto Bellatalla on bass, Paul Lytton on drums and percussion, and Noel McGhee and Roberto Gatto on drums. Phew – that's a long list, and if you know the names at all, you'll know the tremendous sense of creativity that goes into the record – on long improvised tracks that include "Tromblues", "La Quercia", "Vortex Waltz", "The Message From The Maine", and "Dialogando". LP, Vinyl record album

Very rare, very obscure material from this important free jazz trio of the German scene in the 70s – a set that features one long performance originally issued on the JG label, despite the FMP-like image on the cover – plus two more tracks from the same year that appear here for the first time ever! "Just For Altena" offers up the power trio at their best – very freewheeling piano from Fred Van Hove, drums from Han Bennink, and tenor from Peter Brotzmann – with intensity that may well surpass the Machine Gun years, and an understanding of each players strengths that means that there's almost no tentative moments at all in the improvisation! "Filet Americain" and "ICP No 17" are from earlier in 1971 – and showcase a different, more sonic side of the trio – some tones that are at the farther end of hearing, which ruminate then blossom into bolder statements, but still often with a very abstracted approach to each instrument. Great stuff – and every bit as essential as any of the better-known Brotzman recordings of the time! CD

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Tremendous new work from Arthur Verocai – the Brazilian legend who's best remembered for his sublime self-titled album from the 70s, but who sounds equally great on this contemporary release! The record has a really classic feel overall – warm, soulful, and filled with plenty of jazzy touches – the best of which are brought to the record by Azymuth, who help Verocai out on about half the album's tracks! But even without their assistance, the whole thing's still plenty darn great – a brilliant batch of original tunes that have a bubbling, mellow sort of majesty – a bit like Marcos Valle or Edu Lobo's best music of the early 70s, and with a similar sort of sophistication as well. Verocai plays acoustic and electric guitar, and vocals are by a variety of guest singers who really get the spirit of the album nicely (including Ivan Lins on one track.) Titles include "Tupa Tupi", "Sucuri", "Abertura", "Bis", "Amor Na Contra Mao", "Caminho Da Roca", "Tudo De Bom", and "Dona Das Meninas". CD