CD

Circulasione Totale Orchestra

2011

"Madness erupts again, with screeching electronics, disrupting every notion of possible comfort, to be altered by steady rhythm and great soloing, "electric Miles"-like at moments. -Stef, The Free Jazz Collective"

Henneman String Quartet

2002

""Spolia" is a term that comes from architecture and refers to construction sites that are repurposed from previous buildings. Similarly, the Dutch violist borrows this term for a title on her sixth album and thus also describes one of her typical methods of working. Musical fragments, on the present album taken mostly from the Italian Renaissance and folklore, are processed into new pieces and serve as the basis for improvisational excursions. This approach pays off numerous times. The tension between composition and improvisation, and between tradition and innovation creates uncommon music in the world of contemporary jazz music.” --Emanuel Wenger Jazz live - magazine for contemporary music February 2002 credits "

Olle Bonniér

2005

John Butcher / Tony Buck / Magda Mayas / Burkhard Stangl

2013

"These two high profile trios are all inventiveness, and this is reflected in the way they were formed, as much as in the music itself. There is a tangled web of connections at play between the four improvisers, through a history of past collaborations, one to one or in larger formations, some occasional, some more structural; the trios on this CD were chosen for their potential, for the not-knowing as much as the knowing, and that’s what we hear; accomplished and profoundly involved music in the making, pushed forward by an ever renewed and intense ability to connect. -Unsounds"

The Ex

1985

"The Ex, with 'Pokkeherrie' have produced a masterful killer weapon of raw power that rattles up the spine into numbed pink brain cells and fills the vacuum with social issue"

Gunwhale

2016

"Albert Wildeman is Gunwale's secret weapon. He propels the group with roly-poly stabs on his bass, all accents and rhythmic tumble, that bring unfailing allegiance from drummer Ryan Packard & inspiration to saxophonist Dave Rempis. -Tom Burris, Free Jazz Blog"

Jaap Blonk

"...certainly invites itself to be played again and again, which I think is what music on a physical release should be all about, so I would prefer this one over the previous. Blonk has successfully re-invented what he is doing, and explores new roads here. - Vital Weekly, Netherlands"

Mats Gustafsson / Kurt Newman / Mike Gennaro

1999

Joe McPhee / Dominic Duval / Michael Bisio / Raymond Boni

2006

"Port of Saints describes an epic journey whose main character is the saxophone. A guitar acts as the saxophone's alter ego. Two basses supply avuncular guide posts for traveling to an unknowable but certain destination. The journey is rife both with fantasy and human spirit. -Lynn Horton, All About Jazz"

Ikue Mori, Satoko Fuji & Natsuki Tamura

2020

""While this is not the first collaboration between Mori, Fujii, and Tamura, Prickly Pear Cactus manages to raise their game to new levels of abstraction even while containing nods toward more conventional notions of musicality. Well done." - Avant Music News"

Made to Break

2013

"If Made to Break’s album “Lacerba” deals with futurism, “Provoke” picks up the thread as to musical structure and philosophical references. Although the music is composed “the material is modular and parts can be combined spontaneously by the various members of the band, so the structure is improvised as well as the solos,” Ken Vandermark said. The three titles of the tracks make up the sentence “Further presentation of the facts” and they are dedicated to influential geniuses of the 20th century – John Cage, Buckminster Fuller and Marshall McLuhan."

Paul G. Smyth & Chris Corsano

2016

"We're up to our knees in duo and small group improv discs, so it takes something special to stand out. This one's a genuine keeper. —The Wire"

Kuzu

2020

"As Coltrane drew from jazz, gospel, and Eastern music, Kuzu do too, updating their approach with rock, metal and the tools of free jazz. We hear Rempis' patented rip, tear, crunch sound, but also there is a tranquility about this music not found in most free jazz. - Mark Corroto, All About Jazz"

Barry Guy London Jazz Composers Orchestra feat Irene Schweizer

2009

""After her riveting prelude-like solo, Schweizer applied her pan-stylistic approach to Guy’s challenging, playerempowering score. Though Guy retained the form’s traditional utility as a soloist’s showcase on “Radio Rondo,” he expanded the scope of the rondo’s back and forth to feature Schweizer in several subgroupings – a pummeling quintet passage with Guy, bassist Barre Phillips, and drummers Paul Lytton and Lucas Niggli – as well as encounters with the full force of the 17-piece contingent. A magisterial theme set up the piece’s final tutti blast.”"

Rara Avis

2015

"Here, Ken Vandermark is joined by Italian musicians Stefano Ferrian (tenor saxophone), Simone Quatrana (piano), Luca Pissavini (double bass), and SEC_ (Revox tape recorder, instant sound treatment). This album was recorded live on May 5th, 2013, at the Dragon Club in Poland, and it highlights the superb interplay and improvisational skill of the Rara Avis quintet."

Steam

2000

"With such a diverse number of projects to his name Vandermark’s output can be kind of intimidating. Proper points of ingress into his work are highly subjective and dependent on what side of Vandermark’s multifarious personality you want to explore. Few if any of his releases capture all of his interests, but this one comes close to showing off all of his major traits as a player and it does so in a highly accessible setting."

Joe Morris / Ken Vandermark / Luther Gray

2007

"One moment will have you holding your breath and the next will spur you to relax and slowly let your breath go. These three players never choose the highways when there are other roads to travel; you never know in which direction they’re going to turn. When the trio arrive at its destination, you’ll want to make the journey again: back to the first track. Another listening, another impression of this detailed recording’s nuances."

Red Nation

2017

"Where a collagist would add and subtract in a studio mix, Daisy creates these sounds, amazingly, without overdubs. The scratchy dream-state wobble of "Concord Citizen" floats as lightly as a cloud with ghost voices as musical seasoning. —Mark Corroto, All about Jazz"

Joe McPhee & Paal Nilssen-Love

2013

""Red Sky comes from folk lore of sailorsill and farmers predicting or forecasting weather. I use it here as a metaphor for looking backward and forward at the saem time, remember the past (lest we be doomed to repeat it) but with an eye to the future. [...]" -Joe McPhee, from the liner notes."

Bradford / Gjerstad / Håker Flaten / Nilssen-Love

2009

"Free jazz in the best tradition. And the audience is enthusiastic too. - The Free Jazz Collective"