Digital

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"

Nate Wooley & Peter Evans

2016

"It is fascinating, bewildering, extraordinary. Even if Nate Wooley and Peter Evans are "jazz musicians", there is no jazz to be heard here. This is ambient music, dark and horrifying, solemn, majestic and overpowering. And uncompromising. -Stef, Free Jazz Blog"

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"

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"

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."

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"

Zu / Spaceways Inc.

2004

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."

Joe Morris, Ben Hall, Andria Nicodemou

2017

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."

Flow Trio

2009

""If there is a way—and there most certainly is—to feel music with all the senses, then Flow Trio, comprising saxophonist Louie Belogenis, bassist Joe Morris and percussionist Charles Downs, show how completely spectacular this can feel when it all comes together on a record such as Rejuvenation. The group, all seriously schooled in the poetics of sound, have literally mastered the way to fully explore the sound dynamic of saxophone, bass and drum, vertically- -for harmonic depth—and horizontally—to toy with the melodic elasticity." -Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz"

Tim Daisy

2016

"This music is playfully serious and seriously inspired. It is obsessed with sonic juxtaposition, yet it is highly melodic. It wears its influences openly, yet it is refreshingly new. Born of improvisations, shaped into compositions, Daisy has written pieces that are sturdy, finely crafted morsels of musical experiences that the listener will return to again and again. —Tom Burris, Free Jazz Blog"

Joe McPhee / Michael Bisio / Raymond Boni / Paul Harding

2005

"The gods were smiling, and Joe McPhee, Michael Bisio, Raymond Boni, and Paul Harding were caught in concert in tip-top shape, revealing the power of sensitive, quality blowing""

Ig Henneman Tentet

1995

""The Tentet lays out a silken, sumptuous ensemble sound, constructed from one composition to the next... which unfold at a leisurely pace into glorious peacock-feathers." –Erik van den Berg, Volkskrant"

Ken Vandermark & Fred Lonberg-Holm

2015

"Fred Lonberg-Holm and Ken Vandermark are like a small band on this album, tight, voluminous, ideally matched, often it seems as if the music was pre-composed (but all of it is freely improvised). The music is like a dance between a songbird (cello) and a belling deer (tenor saxophone), sometimes their energy literally collides. -Martin Schray, Free Jazz Blog"