25 Feb
The Hot Days by Dietrich Eichmann Ensemble
Sunday, 25 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Keyboardist Dietrich Eichmann follows up his previous Leo Records duo outing with drummer Jeff Arnal. And with a dual-bass, sax, percussion and electronics based sextet,…
19 Feb
Release by The David Zoffer Differential
Monday, 19 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
This album is self-expression, self-defining, and often self-indulgent all in the same breath. David Zoffer’s Release is an uncharted map of creative juices. It…
18 Feb
Time Control by Hiromi's Sonicbloom
Sunday, 18 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
A native of the same country as the beloved Keiko Matsui, Hiromi has a style that’s quite different from that of the smooth jazz virtuoso, somewhat severe in its rock co…
17 Feb
Hidden Intentions by Jim Saltzman
Saturday, 17 February 2007
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Saxophonist Jim Saltzman and his band have hit new strides with their latest release Hidden Intentions. Produced by Saltzman and executive producer John Sutton, t…
16 Feb
2006 Duos by Terry Day
Friday, 16 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Recorded in 2006 at different venues, fabled British improviser Terry Days performs on various bamboo pipes and uses a toy amplifier in duo frameworks. And in the liners…
16 Feb
The All Seeing Eye + Octets by Harris Eisenstadt
Friday, 16 February 2007
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Raised in Toronto, this outing by young stalwart, drummer/composer Harris Eisenstadt signify the last recordings made during his residence on California's West Coast. No…
16 Feb
Connections by The Kevin Frenette 4
Friday, 16 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The Kevin Frenette 4 is the collaborative efforts of four like-minded, energetic musicians who approach the spontaneous inventions of Connections with a blank sla…
14 Feb
Willisau & Taktlos by Schweizer-Anderson-Drake
Wednesday, 14 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
When the history of jazz recording is written it will include a prominent section regarding the end of the twentieth century and the beginning, of the twenty-first. High…
12 Feb
Chronicle by Chicago Underground Trio
Monday, 12 February 2007
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For over a decade cornetist Rob Mazurek and percussionist Chad Taylor have been co-conspirators in the experimental Chicago Underground groups. On Chronicle, reco…
11 Feb
Primordial Soup by Carl Ludwig Hübsch
Sunday, 11 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Even if Primordial Soup doesn’t fit easily into the jazz genre, it certainly takes you on a ride through extreme improvisational forms. Carl Ludwig Hübsch and his…
08 Feb
Solo (Pisa) 1982 by Anthony Braxton
Thursday, 08 February 2007
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These recently discovered tapes offer more of Anthony Braxton’s solo alto sax performances witnessed on his Koln (1978) and Milano Volumes I & II (1979) li…
07 Feb
A Measure Of Vision by Alvin Fielder Trio
Wednesday, 07 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
A co-founder of the AACM - the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, drummer Alvin Fielder has aligned with the crème de la crème of progressive jazz: A…
06 Feb
Going To The Ritual by Henry Grimes and Rashied Ali
Tuesday, 06 February 2007
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Henry Grimes and Rashied Ali are Going To The Ritual. Join them on the new release by JazzNewYork Productions.Bassist Henry Grimes has joined drummer Ras…
06 Feb
Quintessence by Spontaneous Music Ensemble
Tuesday, 06 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
These newly reissued jewels from the Brit free-jazz/new music archives were initially found on LP (1988) and CDs (1997) and realigned for the advent of this two-CD set. …
03 Feb
Conspiracy Of Equals by Fulcher/Standon/Brandt/Anderson
Saturday, 03 February 2007
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
This U.K. based improvising quartet exerts unrelenting energy while shifting the musical parameters down to investigative dialogues, free-bop movements and more. They’re…
02 Feb
Hot N Heavy by Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
Friday, 02 February 2007
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April 2007 - Percussionist Kahil El’Zabar kneads his compositions with a penetrating "African sensibility" that connects with listeners on a communal as well as musical lev…
02 Feb
Oval by Sten Sandell Trio
Friday, 02 February 2007
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Recorded at a Swiss music festival, the music performed by this estimable trio must have given the audience its money’s worth, while offering the mind’s eye a hodgepodge…
29 Jan
Willisau & Taktlos by Irene Schweizer / Fred Anderson / Hamid Drake
Monday, 29 January 2007
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Here are three masters of improvised jazz from two continents, presented in one duo (piano/drums) and three trio contexts, live in Zurich 1998 & 2004. Irene Schweizer is…
24 Jan
Tuva - Irish Live Music Project by Sainkho Namchylak & Roy Carroll
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
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With loops prepared in advance to complement percussive effects, improvisation and other parameters, Tuvan vocalist Sainkho Namchylak aligns with Irish electronics ace R…
22 Jan
Reality Fandango by Adam Bohman & Roger Smith
Monday, 22 January 2007
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British improvisers/experimentalists Adam Bohman (prepared violin & objects) and Roger Smith (acoustic guitar), extract the Reality Fandango moniker from the seco…
11 Jan
Die Blaue Nixe (The Blue Water Nymph) by Gebhard Ullmann - Chris Dahlgren - Art Lande
Thursday, 11 January 2007
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German multi-woodwind artiste Gebhard Ullmann forges onward with his customary rendering of stylistic integrity and adventurism within his adored trio format. In the lin…
The Free-jazz trio lim, from Malmo, Sweden, display a proclivity for impromptu musical wanderings born from the imagination and bred through avant-garde techniques and M…
22 Aug
Hidden Fresco by Albrecht Maurer and Norbert Rodenkirchen
Tuesday, 22 August 2006
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
When Hidden Fresco arrived in the mail to me from Germany, I knew I would be in for some interesting contemporary German jazz. This CD collection perfectly blen…
15 Aug
Conceptual Rhythm by Chris Olsen
Tuesday, 15 August 2006
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Drummer, composer, and band-leader Chris Olsen hands us a trophy with Conceptual Rhythm; original free jazz material assembled by a highly skilled line up. The ar…
15 Aug
Ergskkem by Gianni Lenoci Giorgio Dini & Markus Stockhausen
Tuesday, 15 August 2006
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Italian artists Gianni Lenoci and Giorgio Dini as well as German virtuoso Markus Stockhausen strike souls with their release Ergskkem: a line of dashing framework…
12 Aug
re:ROOTED by The Miyumi Project
Saturday, 12 August 2006
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A native of Japan, bassist and composer Tatsu Aoki come to Chicago nearly 30 years ago and quickly established himself as one of the pre-eminent improvising bassists in …
12 Aug
Surrealistic Picnic by Lunch With Beardo
Saturday, 12 August 2006
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Hailing from upstate New York, Lunch With Beardo is a collective of musicians and sound artists with deep roots in the local punk-rock scene who were drawn together by a…
12 Aug
Hello The Damage! by Empty Cage Quintet
Saturday, 12 August 2006
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The Empty Cage Quartet - formerly known as the MTJK Quartet - is a longstanding collaborative project featuring trumpeter Kris Tiner in the front line along with saxopho…
12 Aug
Simon Toldam & Prügelknabe by Simon Toldam
Saturday, 12 August 2006
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An aural workout of free jazz, with snippets of melodic lines enmeshed in chaotic, open improvisation by an eclectic nine-piece orchestra. The music is sometimes hauntin…
11 Aug
Streams of Expression by Joe Lovano
Friday, 11 August 2006
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Joe Lovano’s ever-active imagination is such that predicting the nature of his next album becomes a guessing game, thereby heightening expectations. Even so, Lovano’s tenor…
07 Aug
Consequences by Dave Burrell and Billy Martin
Monday, 07 August 2006
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
It might be easy to forget that the piano is a percussion instrument because it is used as a solo instrument constantly and has a history that has made it untouchable as…
07 Aug
Trio/Live by Stew Cutler
Monday, 07 August 2006
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The latest endeavor from guitarist, Stew Cutler, is entitled Trio/Live. The CD covers a wide spectrum of styles from blues, jazz, and even veers into the avant-ga…
04 Aug
Breaking News by Simone Massaron
Friday, 04 August 2006
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Italian guitarist Simone Massaron is a new name to me. It turns out that "Breaking News" is is first recording as a leader, though the 36-year-old Milan native is alread…
04 Aug
Criminal Mastermind by Karl E. H. Seigfried
Friday, 04 August 2006
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Generally, I rarely listen to solo recordings. This is because almost everything that excites me about jazz and improvisation is centered around the interaction between …
04 Aug
Duets 1 by John Lindberg and Karl Berger
Friday, 04 August 2006
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The appearance of this duet set is cause for celebration. Pianist and vibraphonist Berger has been a major force in modern jazz and improvised music for at least 50 year…
04 Aug
Shakers n Bakers by Shakers n' Bakers
Friday, 04 August 2006
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The most unlikely and unprecedented musical endeavor I’ve come across since hearing Uri Caine’s amazing adaptations of Mahler, Bach, and Schubert, Shakers n’ Bakers …
03 Aug
Put A Finger On It by Ray Jozwiak
Thursday, 03 August 2006
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Free form piano jazz is a model that Baltimore, Maryland’s esthetically jovial pianist Ray Jozwiak is proficient at playing. His piano keys prance gracefully, gallop hap…
01 Aug
Monkey Dance by Tony Bianco
Tuesday, 01 August 2006
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Drummer Tony Bianco heads an avant-garde swamped band through eleven structured compositions. In the long run, Bianco manoeuvres the quintet through a perpetual state of…
30 Jul
Tales From 30 Unintentional Nights by Koch-Schutz-Studer
Sunday, 30 July 2006
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When Arnold Schoenberg and others first began their experiments in pantonality the musical community quickly became divided. Was this new music the natural outgrowth of …
27 Jul
Look by Ralph Alessi and This Against That
Thursday, 27 July 2006
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
As a modern jazz sub-genre, the M-BASE movement of the mid- to late-80s seems to have had a bit of a ripple effect beyond the music of Steve Coleman, who conceived the t…
19 Jul
Pav by Zlatko Kaucic
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
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Slovenian-born drummer Zlatko Kaucic who has made numerous musical contributions to dance, TV shows, films, poetry, and documentaries and collaborated with several jazz …
19 Jul
An Indefinite Suspension of the Possible by Michael Cooke Quintet
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
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On An Indefinite Suspension of the Possible, multi-reed player and composer Michael Cooke leads a quintet with a highly unlikely instrumentation through seven o…
17 Jul
Spring In Bangkok by Aki Takase & Lauren Newton
Monday, 17 July 2006
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Aki Takase and Lauren Newton, both raised in separate parts of the world (Takase in Japan and Newton in the United States) and then settling in Germany, have joined for an …
This album contains a richness of receptive interplay and intricate band interaction across seven pieces. Wergeld is the band and is composed by Domenico Caliri (electri…
14 Jul
Pequenas Flores do Inferno by Achille Succi & Salvatore Maiore
Friday, 14 July 2006
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Pequenas Flores do Inferno is the bloom of two great improvisers of the Italian music scene. Achille Succi is on bass clarinet and alto saxophone while Salvator…
11 Jul
La Balteuband by La Balteuband
Tuesday, 11 July 2006
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La Balteuband is the musical enterprise of pianist/composer/producer Emilio Teubal, an Argentinean musician who moved to New York City in 1999 to pursue his ambitions as…
09 Jul
Live at the Lithuanian National Philharmony Vilnius 2005 (DVD) by Ganelin Trio Priority
Sunday, 09 July 2006
Published in
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The ability to emancipate oneself from the confines of tradition, from subversive cultural expectations, while emphasizing hope, beauty and collaboration is the most dau…
09 Jul
Live At The Blue Monk by Joel Fetterman Felder Levin Trio
Sunday, 09 July 2006
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
This is indeed "independently creative music" according to the spokesperson for Charles Lester Music in Walnut Creek, CA. It's also a quite beautiful, if you give it the…
07 Jul
Live on the Vaughan Mall by Trio Encompas
Friday, 07 July 2006
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Trio Encompas - Live on the Vaughan Mall the second album by this post-bop trio has, this time out, captured a more energetic rhythm section. The band takes off from…
06 Jul
Trio Encompas by Trio Encompas
Thursday, 06 July 2006
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Trio Encompas have produced a self titled debut album, a studio recording with some nice playing by Thom Keith, primarily on alto saxophone and at times quite remini…