CD

The Vandermark 5

2005

"The two discs are very different in mood and style with the latter being less, intense perhaps, but still looser, riskier, and genial. Bishop's solo on "Black and Crazy Blues," is pure hard bop-blues swinging. Suites Vandermark arranged are wonderful, full of surprise and great humor -- something you wouldn't expect from him, but you did from Kirk. If you didn't have a chance to pick these up on their original release, now's your chance. This set is not to be missed."

Akira Sakata & Chikamorachi

2009

"Makes the (re-)discovery of Sakata a real pleasure and joy for the ears. Let's hope it doesn't take another twenty years before his next album is available outside of Japan. -Free Jazz Collective"

Joe Morris • Agustí Fernández • Nate Wooley

2012

"Being perfectly aware that a trio featuring Joe Morris on guitar, Agustí Fernández on piano and Nate Wooley on trumpet can’t be, for an immanent reason connected to the mastery of the musicians, less than rewarding, my attention has instead been caught by the title of the album. Echoing and mixing several philosophical and scientific subjects it is, in my opinion, a brief and inspired description of some tendencies and paths sketched out in the compositions." - Paolo Casertano "Free Jazz Blog"

Wooley/Rempis/Niggenkemper/Corsano

2015

"Trumpeter Nate Wooley leaves no part of his instrument’s territory unexplored, utilising extended techniques and feedback to transform the horn from its traditional role into a far more alchemical and unclassifiable tool... The fully improvisatory yet traditionally rooted feel of the music has a lot in common with the work of Other Dimensions In Music. There’s a path in for more conservative free jazz listeners, but plenty of wilderness to get lost in, too. -Phil Freeman, The Wire"

Free Fall

2003

"With drummer-less clarinet trio named after a radical album by a drummerless clarinet trio, you have prolific Ken Vandermark’s latest collaboration, this with Norway’s Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass, and Havard Wiik on piano. Vandermark frequently shines a light on an elder, and this one points to the pioneering Jimmy Giuffre/Paul Bley/Steve Swallow trio. Additionally, Merce Cunningham, Frank O’Hara, Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, and Bley in particular get their due on this collection. As with past dedications, the music stands on its own and makes no attempt at imitation."

Queen Mab Trio

2018

"Galina U has been compiled from compositions that Henneman contributed to the Queen Mab Trio albums, See Saw and Thin Air, along with ‘Overtoom’, from a previously unreleased recording session. For See Saw Henneman contributed three tracks: ‘Marilyn L’, ‘Lori F’ and ‘Galina U’. The latter is an evocative ode to the Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya, in which Henneman endeavours to mirror Ustvolskaya’s idiom with ominous, compelling rhythms and piano chords hammered out with full force, and she succeeds in coming unmistakably close while fortunately retaining her own vocabulary. Marilyn Lerner – piano; Lori Freedman – bass clarinet / clarinet Ig Henneman – viola "

Tripleplay

2004

Magnus Broo & Paal Nilssen-Love

2008

""The 6 tracks are freely improvised, and move us across a broad landscape of jazz expressiveness : from rhythmic and melodic parts to very avant-garde excursions, from slow and bluesy sounds to staccato blasts, with the real focus on the interplay between the two artists. Through Broo's playing, other trumpeters come to mind : Lester Bowie, Don Cherry, Paul Smoker. One of the reason's I like the album a lot is that both musicians demonstrate that it's possible to be creative, innovative, avant-garde, free and still be deeply emotional. Despite the limited possibilities of the duo, they manage to captivate the attention from beginning to end. This is intense, direct and raw music, but beautiful ... Clearly, a very much underpromoted release." –Free Jazz Blog"

Fred Lonberg-Holm’s Fast Citizens

2012

"Fast Citizens continues to forge its own direction, reaching beyond formulaic conventions to embrace new forms. –All About Jazz"

Ab Baars Trio

2011

""The Ab Baars Trio embodies the heights improvisational music can scale. The trio glides effortlessly between delicately detailed and gently intricate work and the geometrically grandiose, but never falls prey to sneering gaudiness. The trio’s creations, when at their peak, are transcendent works created by true soulmates of sound." -Barb Stewart "

Tomeka Reid, Kyoko Kitamura, Taylor Ho Bynum, Joe Morris

2018

"The record also makes plenty of room for each of the musicians' individual strengths to emerge: Bynum is in especially fine form, with movement from lyrical beauty to pure abstraction and noise (just listen to his menacing growls on "Glowworm" as evidence); but Morris is also characteristically exceptional, whether offering prickly fragments or his patented scrapes, as he's continually seeking ways to advance the dialogue. Reid's relentless imagination leads her from chamber-like passages to motion-filled ostinato phrases that always possess compelling rhythmic energy; and Kitamura will be a revelation to those who haven't yet encountered her unique brand of vocal improvisation, turning in an instant from subtle to spasmodic." - Troy Dostert All About Jazz"

Kitamura / Bynum / Morris / Reid

2019

"The four musicians compose as one, weaving a kaleidoscope of unconventional textures and contrapuntal melodies, opening the door to a new sonic universe which only exists in real time composition."

Joe McPhee

2012

"Glasses was recorded in October, 1977, during a highly significant period in McPhee's work, as he was pioneering the transatlantic, collaborative spirit that has helped to define the last three decades of his career. Documented in Tavannes, Switzerland, the set contains sensational tenor work, including the title piece, which finds McPhee ringing out a rhythm on a half-full wine glass, from which he extrapolates a melody on the saxophone, as well as a stunning version of John Coltrane's "Naima.""

Ab Baars Trio & Ken Vandermark

2008

"This pairing is as comfortable as a reunion of grade school classmates. Recorded live at Amsterdam's Bimhuis at tour's end, Goofy June Bug finds both men splitting their time between tenor saxophone and clarinet (backed by Baars' regular rhythm section of Wilbert de Joode and Martin van Duynhoven) and both honor each other's musical traditions: Baars' compositions are as likely to carry a '60s free jazz influence as Vandermark's are to contain European classical elements."

Terrie Ex & Paal Nilssen-Love

2013

"It’s powerful, speedy, chaotic, but with a high degree of interplay and charm. Improvised, yes, but never out of focus. Although the two slow it down at times, they soon build up to the energies described, uncompromising, vibrant, hard, sonic, exploring their noisy palette of sound.” (FREQ)"

Andrea Neumann / Bonnie Jones

2012

""Four extended electroacoustic works from Berlin's inside pianist and mixing board artist Andrea Neumann and Baltimore's Bonnie Jones on electronics, minimal and edgy pieces of unusual and absorbing character." - Squidco"

Paal Nilssen-Love & Frode Gjerstad

2010

Sten Sandell / David Stackenäs / Evan Parker / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton

2004

""Gubbröra" (34 minutes ..) belongs to the complete quintet. The authority of Parker, Guy and Lytton enriches the vocabulary of the group and melts a magma of music whose rivulets run parallel, alternating quiet and fury." - All About Jazz Staff, Italy"

Bonnie Jones & Jeff Surak

2020

"A remarkable document of two musicians in their prime, Gymnastics is a split release from Baltimore based sound artist Bonnie Jones and veteran DC experimenter Jeff Surak."

Hairy Bones

2009