CD

Kuzu

2019

"The music on Hiljaisuus is a game of recurring structures. Harmonic islands consisting of staccato and repetitive patterns are used as springboards and fixed points for further improvisation. -Martin Schray, Free Jazz Blog"

Lotte Anker · Pat Thomas · Ingebrigt Håker Flaten · Ståle Liavik Solberg

2018

""If you're a lover of energetic music, raw, fierce and fearless, if you enjoy the adventure of four musicians interacting with assertiveness and sensitivity, if you like the unexpected, even if you're acquainted with free improvisation, and still like to be taken off-guard, if you like sudden changes, if you can appreciate chaos as both a source and end-point for a journey that can be full of calm, respect and sophistication, if you like pounding chords as well as subtle harmonics, if you like screaming saxes as well as precious timbral vibrations, if you like powerful bass-playing and screeching bows, if you like hard-hitting sticks and refined cymbal touches, if you like to be overwhelmed and impressed and taken for a wonderful trip without having anything to say except to become part of the music, then this album is for you." —Stef, Free Jazz Blog"

The Ex

1982

"Musically, they sound like a rather more melodic version of Crass; politically, they are a lot harder and their lyrics are excellent... An unashamed political manifesto."

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten's Time Machine

2017

"Hong Kong Cab, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten's fourth solo bass album, is a different breed. Unconcerned with unadorned rhythm, the Norway-born/Austin-based jazz maverick uses his instruments as paintbrushes, expressing himself with slashing strokes and controlled splatter like Jackson Pollock. —Michael Toland, The Austin Chronicle"

Sylvie Courvoisier - Mark Feldman Quartet

2011

"It's full of an ethereal, non‑referential lyricism of the players' own – an affirmation of the power of pattern and audibly evolving relationships, even if very little of it resembles songs. - John Fordham, The Guardian"

Zu & Mats Gustafsson

2005

Baba-Oe MF

2003

Yong Yandsen / Christian Meaas Svendsen / Paal Nilssen-Love

2019

"Hungry Ghosts are beings who are driven by intense emotional needs, periodically roaming the earth’s surface in search for anything that can satisfy their cravings. Now they are here for you! The omnipotent living legend Paal-Nilssen Love clashes head to head with bass prodigy Christian Meaas Svendsen on bass, playing with 2-3 bows, cheek, voice, hands and feet. In the midst of the battle we find Yong Yandsen, a high- octane Malaysian sax virtuoso who virtually explodes on stage combining the best of Japanese noise and European free-jazz-or-whatever-you- wanna-call-it together with the aforementioned gentlemen. Are they the Hungry Ghosts, or are they here to exorcise them out of you? One thing is sure: Don’t leave the Hungry Ghosts hungry! "

Terrie Ex & Paal Nilssen-Love

2011

"Ex guitarist Terrie and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love met in the Jottem Studio in Wormerveer, NL, to record these 4 extended and rugged improvisations; rhythm vs strings with a skronky temperament."

Joe McPhee / Jeb Bishop / Ingebrigt Håker Flaten / Michael Zerang

2011

"The opener begins with a mournful trombone laying out thematic concepts. McPhee joins in the mourning against Zerang's slow rumble. Then it all gives way, Bishop becoming increasingly percussive, as if trying to match the drummer's off-kilter rhythms before this in turn disintegrates and McPhee, his tone reminding me of Charles Tyler, comes storming in. And so it continues, each track revealing just why they are regarded as amongst the greatest improvisers currently performing. -Alfie Cook, Free Jazz Blog"

Ibsen's Ghosts

2011

"The opener begins with a mournful trombone laying out thematic concepts. McPhee joins in the mourning against Zerang's slow rumble. Then it all gives way, Bishop becoming increasingly percussive, as if trying to match the drummer's off-kilter rhythms before this in turn disintegrates and McPhee, his tone reminding me of Charles Tyler, comes storming in. And so it continues, each track revealing just why they are regarded as amongst the greatest improvisers currently performing. -Alfie Cook, Free Jazz Blog"

Ich Bin N!ntendo & Mats Gustafsson

2012

Rempis/Stadhouders/Rosaly

2018

"Much of the time it's a three way enterprise, illuminated by inventive passages like the knotty interplay between circular-breathed alto, clanking percussion and scuttling guitar on "IIOII." -John Sharpe, All About Jazz"

Ken Vandermark feat. Bartłomiej Brat Oleś & Marcin Oleś

2005

Various Artists

2009

"The "Ililta" CD is a compilation of this new Ethiopian dance music, recorded with a new generation of singers over the last decade. A cross-selection of the production work of Mesele Asmamaw and some of his close colleagues. Play loud and go for it. —Terrie Hessels"

Joe Morris/Rob Brown Quartet

1993

""They go back and forth like this for long periods until the playing turns itself inside out and swings like old-school jazz -- as interpreted by Ellery Eskelin, not Don Byas. Morris and Parker use their strings to fluctuate the tempo back and forth while Krall triple-times the entire band until they virtually collapse at the tune's end. Some of the most enduring things are the flaws; they are worn proudly, as moments frozen on tape in the heat of group interplay. It's worth owning for this alone, but it's also a challenging and deeply satisfying set of music by a short-lived but gifted quartet." -Thom Jurek "All Music""

Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet

2004

Ken Vandermark's Topology Nonet Featuring Joe McPhee

2013

""Impressions of Po Music is a unique album completely dedicated to exploring the written material of Joe Mcphee. Vandermark has rearranged 8 of McPhee's pieces from the 1970s & 80s for a nonet that includes Jason Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Jeb Bishop, Tim Daisy, Kent Kessler, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Dave Rempis & of course, Joe McPhee. Vandermark features McPhee's tenor playing throughout in a contemporary set of arrangements inspired by the collaborations of Gil Evans & Miles Davis." — Okka Disk"

Jaap Blonk / Mats Gustafsson / Michael Zerang

1996

"Documenting a complete, unedited session recorded in Stockholm, there is a visceral excitement as each of the eleven cuts of this recording explores the extremes of the avant-garde. Blonk is found here in a startlingly original and totally improvised trio with free music stylists Matts Gustafsson and Michael Zerang. A departure from Blonk's other recordings, this is the first of two stunning interactions with some of the finest free-style musicians on the scene. For this CD, Swedish woodwind whiz Gustafsson brings his full arsenal of soprano, tenor, and baritone saxophones, flute, fluteophone, and french flageolet, while Chicagoan Zerang powerfully and gracefully fills the percussion slot. Blonk's voice is both horn and percussionist, and the three performers seem to enjoy the interactive flow of pings, pops, and scratches. Stimulating and ever-changing, this recording demands close listening, but the rewards are clearly there for the adventuresome. Not to be missed, this version of Improvisors is laced with humor, along with buckets of extraordinary noises/sounds.""

Jaap Blonk / Lou Mallozzi / Ken Vandermark

2020

""The eighth release in the Kontrans "Improvisers" series is a live recording from Elastic Arts, in Chicago in 2019 from the trio of Jaap Blonk on voice & electronics, Lou Mallozzi on turntables, cds, mixer, microphone & organ pipes, and Ken Vandermark on clarinet, bass clarinet, & tenor & baritone saxophones, in a uniquely quirky, exuberant and extraordinary set of improvisations." - Squidco"