Relative Pitch Records
Relative Pitch Records is a vital New York-based label dedicated exclusively to avant-garde and free improvisation. It’s known for its high-quality recordings of both legendary pioneers and crucial emerging artists in the genre, serving as an essential document of the international creative music scene.
What Hasn’t Come Here, COME!
What Hasn’t Come Here, COME!
“The single long track that makes up the recording begins with harmonica, vocalizations… [and] grunts. Captured in stereo you can hear the staggering clip-clop of the artist stalking the stage, allowing his performance to dictate his next move in real-time. The following snatches of breath are hissed across the reed of his alto, contrasted against the near-silent creak of the assembly. Gradually the hiss becomes a throaty shriek, like a bullfrog thrown into a pot of boiling water. Reverberations multiply, disseminate. The low rumble of exterior conveyance, the clearing of a throat, all engage within the amalgam. Paint-peeling sirens steeped in passages of clairvoyant blues, split into movements by dint of silences that trace the setting like a plaster cast. A photographic negative. Muttered monosyllabic pleas, scrapes, movement obscured by time and distance. Long removed from concrete existence, an incidental carbon transfer. It’s the sound of a ghost dragging its chains.” -Nick Metzger
“Often compared to Japan’s other harrowing, insistent solo performer Kaoru Abe, the pair do show similarities in “style” as well as instruments deployed (sax, harmonica, sometimes guitar), but their performance modus differs greatly. Where Abe tended to stand still and squeeze out rusty blasts of music shards, Urabe places strangled blasts and short, melodic fragments into a framework of near silence. Long stretches of it. … Here we are provided only with Urabe’s sparse but intense sax, harmonica and chains (!), with the added occasional vocal interjection. It’s puzzling at first, but sink in and you’ll soon be taken on a harrowing ride. … Consider this then a postcard from the subtle realm where complete commitment meets shades of madness in a near silent space. A small whirlwind in a box.” -Jeph Jerman
We met – and then
We met – and then
Comprised of tracks recorded in Münich and Oslo, this is the debut of this collaboration between improviser and doyen of the double bass Barre Phillips, British saxophonist John Butcher and Norwegian drummer, percussionist and improviser, Ståle Liavik Solberg.
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Barre Phillips: double bass
John Butcher: saxophones
Ståle Liavik Solberg: drums
Triplicates
Triplicates
Triplicates is a series of improvisations between Zeena Parkins, playing her singular electric harp, and Jon Leidecker, aka Wobbly, playing an instrument that generates electrical feedback. Their outputs are routed to a series of simple listening devices, machines designed to sing along with the melodies they believe themselves to be hearing, although they are often fascinatingly wrong. It quickly becomes difficult to determine the boundaries of each participant’s contribution: acoustic source, electronic conductor, or triplicate.
Trasluz
Trasluz
Amidea Clotet’s Trasluz is the result of research into the sound and textural possibilities of the electric guitar treated as a source of sound amplification. Clotet creates spontaneous, raw and vivid soundscapes, which call for the importance of the present moment, of knowing how to listen to what surrounds us and to ourselves.
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Amidea Clotet – electric guitar and objects
Recorded between September and October 2021 by Amidea Clotet at La Sexta Baja, Barcelona.
Mixed by Luis Erades
Mastered by Jon Lipscomb.
Original paintings by Adrian Johnson
threshold
threshold
“New York violinist gabby fluke-mogul is unabashedly experimental on this solo album recorded last summer. Employing extended techniques (rubbing, scraping, sawing, tapping), they extract a full spectrum of unconventional sounds from this conventional instrument. Coupled with occasional vocals, threshold is an exhilarating ride.” -AMN reviews
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gabby fluke-mogul is an improviser/composer living in New York. They exist within the threads of improvisation, the jazz continuum, noise, & experimental music. Their playing has been described as “embodied, visceral, & virtuosic.”
This is their first release for Relative Pitch Records recorded at GSI studios August 19, 2020.
gabby fluke-mogul – violin
The Zookeeper’s House
The Zookeeper’s House
Alto Saxophone – Jemeel Moondoc
Bass – Hilliard Greene
Drums – Newman Taylor Baker
Trombone – Steve Swell (tracks: 2, 3)
Trumpet – Roy Campbell (tracks: 2, 3)
Recorded 10/26/13 at Park West Studios, Brooklyn NY.
The Recursive Tree
The Recursive Tree
The Recursive Tree features a rather remarkable trio consisting of John Blum on piano, tenor-saxophonist David Murray, and Chad Taylor on drums. Although the three musicians had never before recorded together, they sound very much like a working trio. The title is inspired by a concept in mathematics that explains the architecture in nature arising from systematic growth over time. This algorithmic expression also illustrates the growth of Jazz through the art form’s incremental expansion of ideas and influences. Scott Yanow
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John Blum – piano
David Murray – tenor saxophone
Chad Taylor – drums
The New Favorite Thing Called Breathing
The New Favorite Thing Called Breathing
“After listening to the album I was interested to find out that the improvised pieces were actually open compositions, with each piece seemingly providing a sonic structure or context for the players to explore, whilst apparently providing enough ‘instructions’ (however the ‘composed’ element was written) to keep the group sound wedded to a particular idea.” -Chris Haines, Free Jazz Blog
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Out and unusual compositions from drummer Ben Hall and his sextet with Mick Dobday on electric piano & organ, Anthony Levin DEcanini on electronics, Ronnie Zawadi on percussion, John Dierker on reeds, Mike Khoury on viola & violin, and joined by Joe Morris on guitar, for 6 “Spines”, free compositions using odd compositional structures leading to superb solo and group playing. Each Spine presents a unique sonic world, from aggressive playing to abstract and sonically fascinating interludes, with performers extending their instruments or taking non-traditional approaches to each. The pacing of these Racehorses is unpredictable and inspired, leading the listener on a wild and unexpected journey, presenting a great cross-section of modern creative improv and territory uniquely belonging to Hall.
Electric Guitar – Joe Morris
Electric Piano, Organ – Mick Dobday
Electronics – Anthony Levin-Decanini
Executive-Producer – Kevin Reilly (4), Mike Panico
Percussion – Ronnie Zawadi
Percussion, Percussion [Trapset] – Ben Hall
Reeds – John Dierker
Viola, Violin – Mike Khoury
The Mouser
The Mouser
Tomeka Reid is a Chicago based cellist, composer and free improviser, versed in classical and jazz contexts, here in a duo with Italian drummer Filippo Monaco recording in his studio in Milano, a lively conversation of extended acoustic improvisation using diverse techniques and approaches with an arsenal of percussive instruments; impressive and engaging.
The Industry of Entropy
The Industry of Entropy
‘Not’ finds the group beginning slowly, with Nelson creating aural knots via slow multi-phonic trilling while the rest of the group rustles and comes to life underneath. Lopez and Cleaver provide a busy linear pulse over which the increasingly intense sax passages and ringing vibe tones hover. The album’s centerpiece is the excellent ‘Now’ which builds from a near whisper. Cleaver’s percussive rustling and chimes engage in dialogue with Nicodemou’s vibes until Nelson and Lopez enter into the fray simultaneously with flat sax tones and arco glissandos.
All of this gradually increases in intensity with Cleaver building layers of percussion around Lopez’s sturdy bass thrum whilst Nicodemou lays down fantastically sympathetic patterns that linger somewhere between percussion and melody, opting for neither exclusively but filling in the open spaces in the music as necessitated. Nelson plays with a very muscular Evan Parker-esque character on this recording, producing his phrases in a variety of timbres. At around the 14 minute mark he discharges a roar that sends the dynamic of the group into another direction. The rhythm quickens and the playing increases in intensity.
Nicodemou’s vibes take on a pointillistic quality, racing with the drums as Cleaver goes into full octopus mode and Lopez keeps the monstrosity grounded with his gradually evolving repetition. The track winds down in intensity over the last several minutes before reducing down to a simmer, again driven by the Lopez’s grunting bass bow. ‘Again’ is an understated affair of low intensity aural potpourri. The quartet is fantastic here, listening and responding to each other’s playing, like a conversation where everyone is heard without anyone raising their voice. ‘Yet’ begins with a thumping pizzicato bass line accompanied by Lopez’s barely audible vocalizations which give the piece a dark ambience before the rest of the quartet joins in. Again, a fantastically understated piece that rewards close listening as the engagement and interplay between the performers is as good as it gets.” – Nicholas Metzger
Brandon Lopez: double bass
Matt Nelson: tenor saxophone
Andria Nicodemou: vibraphone
Gerald Cleaver: drums
The Glass Changes Shape
The Glass Changes Shape
“These three artists don’t need volume or soloing to get their message across. Their message is inscribed in elegant lower-case and rarely used aural fonts. You will find yourself leaning forward because not a note or whisper should be missed (…) ” -Brian Morton
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John Butcher – saxophones
Florian Stoffner – guitar
Chris Corsano – drums & half clarinet
Recorded September 16th 2023 at The Loft, Cologne, Germany by Christian Heck
Mixing and mastering by John Butcher
Front: “Finished Painting – 2023” by Joe Williamson
Inside: Trio photo by Ingrid Bruant
Back: “Light” by Maxi Schmitz
All compositions by Butcher, Stoffner and Corsano
Supported by Popkredit der Stadt Zürich
Spring Road 15
Spring Road 15
Michel Doneda recently lost one of his most faithful friends and musical companions, the double bass player Tetsu Saïtoh. Relative Pitch now offers us a superb album recorded on April 16, 2016 on Radio-France bringing together the two improvisers and the remarkable piano explorer Frédéric Blondy. Spring Road 16 is comprised of two collective improvisations under the title of No Road part 1 and No Road part 2. The name Spring Road has been part of their peregrinations as a duo since the first recording Doneda / Saitoh (Spring Road 01 / Scissors 01), because, without a doubt, it was a spring enterprise just like this new album recorded at the beginning of spring when nature and emotions are reborn, the title No Road is quite relevant, as their sound investigations bring together a multitude of paths, reflections, sounds: we are in an unknown territory even if these artists have been exploring continuously for years. There is no starting point and destination road. An intrinsic quality of their collective approach is the avoidance of the virtuosic “solo” syndrome for a complementary, extremely free, pooling of extreme-specific sounds that aggregate, combine in a wild state, float and rise in space defying gravity, notions of musical forms, a possible concept of improvisation,… This is not an album demonstrating knowledge that artists make on their instruments, sax, piano and double bass, not even a “clearing” or the slightly superficial idea of soundpainting. The three musicians seek the rarest sounds, incredible sound resources, vibrations and frequencies in the moment which prove to be the most apt to maintain their mysteries. – Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg
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Tetsu Saitoh – double bass
Frederic Blondy – grand piano
Michel Doneda – soprano and sopranino saxophones
Hyokichi Onari – cover painting
Sound the Alarm
Sound the Alarm
Sound the Alarm is a large ensemble founded for the explicit task of responding musically, socially and culturally to the genocide in Palestine. It is a warning, a recognition and a fundraiser.
Instigated by Clayton Thomas, the music is a composed improvisation, a sonic allegory and a simple way to collect human energy in the right place for the right reasons.
This recording captures our second live performance, recorded and livestreamed by Johnston Street Jazz, at the Annandale Creative Arts Centre, June 27, 2024 – the 264th day of the ongoing genocide.
The artists have donated their time and fees for this concert, with all money raised by your purchase going to support humanitarian organizations working on the ground in Gaza.
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Music composed and directed by Clayton Thomas
Sam Gill, sopranino saxophone
Jack Stoneham, alto saxophone
Matthew Ottignon, baritone saxophone and clarinet
Peter Farrar, c-melody & alto saxophone
Megan Alice Clune, clarinet
Simon Ferenci, trumpet
Phillipa-Haste Murphy, bass clarinet & viola
Freya Schack-Arnott, cello
Julia Magri, double bass
Clayton Thomas, double bass
Novak Manojlovic, piano
Niki Johnson, cymbals and percussion
Holly Conner, drums and percussion
Hayley Chan, drums and percussions
Lauren Tsamouras, electric organ
Hilary Geddes, electric guitar
Recorded by Peter Nelson
Mixed by Richie Belkner at Free Energy Device Studios
Mastered by Michael Lynch
with thanks to the Johnston Street Jazz community:
Andrew Lorian, Peter McCracken, Peter Woodbury, Stephen Poole, Ashley Asphodel, Keiran Hogan and Antonella Sterrantino.
Solo Bimhuis
Solo Bimhuis
Acoustic Guitar – Joe Morris
Recorded October 18th 2013 and October 2nd 2014 Live in Amsterdam at the Bimhuis.
Tracks 1, 4, 5 and 6 recorded October 18th, 2013 – Engineered by Marc Schots
Tracks 2 and 3 recorded October 2nd, 2014 – Engineered by Micha De Kanter
Mastered and Edited by Jamie Saft, Potterville International Sound, Kerhonkson, NY
Front Cover by Rob Miller
Back Cover by Francesca Patella
Design by Anne Marcotty
Thanks to Huub Van Riel and everyone at the Bimhuis, Rob Miller, Francesca Patella, Pedro Gomes
Shock Axis
Shock Axis
From the opener, “Hurricane Point,” you’re reminded of the Betty Davis quote from the 1950s movie All About Eve, “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” Morris’ guitar shreds notes against the wall of rumbling bass and crush of battered drums. This opening salvo signals a take-no-prisoners session, or what Myles Boisen of Splatter Trio used to call, “club clearing music.”
As intense as it is, the inner workings retain the undiluted Joe Morris guitar sound. His unique “language” persists here, it’s just that he has turned his amp knob to max. The tracks remind us of Derek Bailey’s experiments with drum ‘n’ bass. Like Bailey, the hardcore aspects may draw you in, but if you stay, it’s for the musicianship.
Imagine Joe Morris playing with Napalm Death and you get an idea where we are. Morris fevered guitar on “Red Vision” invites Cretella to pattern his notes on the same pursuit and Parmelee’s drums give chase, too. This version of fast and furious leads to an exhausting endpoint. Finally, after six exhausting tracks and nearly one hour of music, “Lift” opens with a quiet drum solo and some intricate scattered bass (with thunder intact), then Morris perambulates his guitar over the lumpy terrain, precipitating sparks of energy and inciting his trio into a tsunami of sound. Glorious sound. – Mark Corroto
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Drums – Dave Parmelee
Electric Bass – Chris Cretella
Guitar – Joe Morris
Recorded June 27, 2015 at Dimension Studios, Jamaica Plains, MA.
Produced by Joe Morris
Engineered and mixed by Joe Stewart
Mastered by Nick Lloyd
Photo Illustration by Dylan Morris
Shamanism
Shamanism
This is free improvised music with two saxophones and two drum sets. The theme of the music is about identity that is linked to the region and culture, especially a specific folksy and indigenous characteristic in the Korean peninsula from long ago. The whole album describes a ceremony and its atmosphere and each track follows each step that is named by an ideogram.
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Jung-Jae Kim – tenor saxophone
Sunjae Lee – soprano & alto saxophone
Junyoung Song – drums
Sunki Kim – drums
Shakkei
Shakkei
These duets exemplify a compelling musical interplay, characterized by symmetrical encounters and an organic, intuitive dialogue that seamlessly weaves together elements of core improvisation, contemporary classical influences, and jazzy choruses, resulting in a rich tapestry of sound that is captivating in its spontaneity and depth.
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Alexandra Grimal: tenor and soprano saxophones
Giovanni Di Domenico: acoustic grand pianos, celesta, pipe organ
recorded by Peter De Smedt in Zaal Miry, Gent, January 14th 2023
mixed and mastered by Giovanni Di Domenico
Print (dry point) by Sophie Curtil (2013)
thanks to Benny Claeysier, Ruben De Gheselle, Sophie Curtil, Kevin Reilly and Naoto Yamagishi 山㟁直人
Scree
Scree
We hear harp, electronics, piano, cello and percussion convene in clash and collusion, setting forth a dazzling array of sound and expression. Plains of disarticulation and misdirection are cut by moments of inextricable entanglement, where we hear discrete sounds fuse, instruments bleeding into one another, at times taking on the warp and weft of a companion. The recording is of an extraordinary performance of improvisational prowess by four musicians working at the very limits of their technical and expressive capacities.
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Zeena Parkins: harp
Chris Brown: piano/electronics
William Winant: percussion
Ben Davis: cello
Salt Task
Salt Task
“The inventive trio wisely plays with textural agitations and composures, arranging them with freedom, responsibility, and an evident musical insight that makes them first-rate avant-gardists.” -Jazz Trail
Chris Corsano – drums
Sylvie Courvoisier – piano
Nate Wooley – Trumpet
Recorded at Studio LULU Brooklyn, NY, September, 2015
Mixed and Mastered by Chris Corsano, August, 2016
Executive Producers: Kevin Reilly and Mike Panico/Photo by Veronique Hoegger & Bruno Conti Wuilloud
Retrato años después
Retrato años después
This is the first recording of this guitar/clarinet duo from Uruguay. These nine frenzied tracks display an intensity and passion developed over 9 years of playing. Their listening and anticipation of each other is telepathic. The results are edgy and invigorating.
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Santiago Bogacz – Guitar
Emiliano Aires – clarinet
All music by Emiliano Aires and Santiago Bogacz
Recorded on September 15th 2021 by Martín Tavella in 4Tavella, Montevideo, Uruguay
Mixed and mastered by Nicolás Demczylo
Art by Zelmar Borrás
Replace the Population
Replace the Population
“I had the privilege of meeting Wadada Leo Smith after a show, ‘Everyone thinks the trumpet is made out of brass — it’s really made out of air.’ This recording is my exploration of that concept.”
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Lemuel Marc – trumpet
Recorded by Jason Rostkowski at GSI studios 5/25/2023 and 1/26/2024
Mastered by Weasel Walter
Reid/Edwards/Coudoux
Reid/Edwards/Coudoux
We maneuver through woody sounds created by individual movements and decisions. Our cello playing is free from classical patterns, a real achievement! It is not natural to develop one’s own approach to this high culture instrument. In this trio there are three multi-layered variations of personal expressive will and power.
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Tomeka Reid – Cello
Isidora Edwards – Cello
Elisabeth Coudoux – Cello
Recorded in Wiesbaden, Germany, on August 27th, 2021.
Redshifts
Redshifts
Redshifts marks the debut collaboration between artists Zeena Parkins and Cecilia Lopez. Recorded in January 2025, the album features a striking interplay between two singular instruments: Parkins’ self-invented electric harp and Lopez’s RED—a large-scale, handwoven electronic instrument made from speaker wire. This collection of pieces captures a vivid sonic dialogue between Parkins’ masterful, expressive performance and López’s sculptural approach to sound and instrument design. These are one-of-a-kind instruments performed by their creators
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Zeena Parkins: electric harp, acoustic harp, ebow piano
Cecilia Lopez: RED, electronics, synthesizers
Recorded at Roulette Intermedium in January 2025 by Andrea Schiavelli
Mixed by Owen Mulholland at 35st Studio in NYC
Mastered by Tom Hamilton
Artwork by Ian Kornfeld
Session photos by Jeff Preiss
With support from: The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts.
Quand Fond La Neige, Où Va Le Blanc?
Quand Fond La Neige, Où Va Le Blanc?
“”Below The Hull” pairs moisture and thumps, and “The Mended Lid” displays Morse code wind and head-high squeal in high speed discourse. When the pair do eventually resort to more “normal” sounding sax/drum interplay (“Sitting Still While the House Next Door Burns”), it comes as a surprise, another facet of their constructions. Turn the diamond in your fingers and listen to the the light dance.” – Jeph Jerman, Squid’s Ear
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Recorded at AudioCue, in Berlin, Germany, on August 5th, 2017, by robin Robben.
Christine Abdelnour-alto saxophone
Chris Corsano-drums, slide clarinet
Painted
Painted
“The Norwegian experimental band MoE, comprised of bass player and vocalist Guro Skumsnes Moe and guitarist Håvard Skaset, teamed up with Danish, Trondheim-based sax hero Mette Rasmussen and legendary Japanese drummer Ikuru Takahashi to record «Painted» at Black Snowflake Sound in Sapporo in April 2019. Takahashi’s freestyle drumming propels the in-your-face, intense attacks of this quartet, with Skaset, completely blurring the distinction between raw punk energy, pure noise, and free jazz meets free-improvisation. Rasmussen injects a loose sense of coherence into the free-associative, kind of freak-out pieces like the opening «Favourite lungs breath out your tar complete the warriors heart testify if sound hits you», and transforms immediately Skumsnes Moe’s fierce wordless shouts, chants, and thunderous bass slaps into ecstatic eruptions as on «cuts your heart out I run so fast» and «my stones». Rasmussen also injects brief gentle and melodic gestures in pieces like «I can’t carry my heart soul arrest the giant», contrasting the thorny attack of Skumsnes Moe, Skaset and Takahashi.” -Eyal Hareuveni
“Norwegian experimental rock band MoE and alto sax virtuoso Mette Rasmussen have since their first musical meeting in 2018 already toured Norway, Mexico and Japan together. Their 2019 album «Tolerancia Picante» sent them on a long and intense Japan tour where they collaborated and played with several important figures from the Japanese improv scene. In Sapporo they teamed up with legendary drummer Ikuru Takahashi. MoE and Mette Rasmussen continue to explore the boundaries between improvisation, composition and other conceptual crossover genres.”
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Bass, Voice – Guro Skumsnes Moe
Guitar – Håvard Skaset
Saxophone – Mette Rasmussen
Drums – Ikuro Takahashi
Oracle
Oracle
Joanna Mattrey & gabby fluke-mogul, two of the most radical & revolutionary New York-based improvisers, join forces in the birth of Oracle. Rejoicing in the strange magic of sound, the duo weaves together new worlds while simultaneously destroying the ones that no longer serve them. Oracle is a declaration, a remedy, and a revelation.
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Joanna Mattrey – viola, stroh violin
gabby fluke-mogul – violin
Old Smoke
Old Smoke
“The image on the cover says it all, a blast furnace exploding with elemental energy and heat. And it doesn’t take long for the music on Old Smoke, a live release that represents the first recorded collaboration between saxophonist Steve Baczkowski, bassist Brandon Lopez and drummer Chris Corsano, to reach astonishing peaks of fiery intensity. This is a trio not to be trifled with, on a single=minded pursuit of powerful free improvisation in its most uncompromising form.
Of the three musicians, Corsano is the unquestioned veteran, having released dozens of albums just since 2010, although his recording career began in earnest in the 1990s with frequent collaborations with saxophonist Paul Flaherty. He represents a bridge of sorts between the free jazz tradition and avant=garde and experimental rock, being just as comfortable working with Thurston Moore or Bill Orcutt as he is playing alongside Joe McPhee or Evan Parker. His partners on this release are quickly establishing their own reputations; Lopez has teamed with musicians such as Ivo Perelman, Dave Rempis and Peter Evans, while Baczkowski is a Buffalo-based multi-instrumentalist whose specialty is the baritone sax and whose previous work with Corsano has often included the like on minded iconoclastic guitarist Bill Nace.
As for the music here: it’s definitely not for the faint-hearted. With seemingly limitless stamina, Baczkowski is intent on extracting every available ounce of energy from each note he plays, and on tracks like “Steel Wind” and “Smoke Creek” he pushes his torrid phrases to the brink with manic abandon. He will take a fragment of an idea, or even a single note, and attack it repeatedly, eventually breaking it down to its core before seizing on another one and doing the same all over again. Sometimes he takes a drone-like approach, as on “Blast Furnace,” where he merges with Lopez’s swelling arco and Corsano’s steady pulse to create a hypnotic wall of sound. He uses a number of saxophones on the album, with his pile-driving baritone on “Iron Ore” and “Blast Furnace,” his keening soprano on “Open Hearth,” and what sounds to be his formidable tenor on “Steel Wind” and “Smoke Creek.” Regardless of the particular horn, however, Baczkowski wrestles mightily with his demons on each, looking for some possibility of redemption, or at least release, by the end of each cut.
Lopez and Corsano certainly keep pace with and complement Baczkowski’s relentless ferocity. Lopez’s deep, thunderous sound fuses well with Corsano’s waves of percussive power, providing the inexorable momentum needed to sustain Baczkowski’s most tempestuous bursts. There are brief respites here and there where things settle into temporary calm, before once again reaching incendiary fervor. It’s during these moments, interestingly, that Lopez and Corsano coax Baczkowski into a somewhat more jazz-inflected spirit. The tail end of “Bend in the Shore” is a case in point, with some soft-hued bluesy licks emerging from Baczkowski’s baritone; and “Steel Wind” allows Baczkowski to go into bop mode for a minute while Lopez and Corsano tease out a swinging rhythm behind him. But fleeting moments of tranquility are not what will draw fans of this music to this record. Unbridled, unyielding fury is what matters here; and there is more than enough of it to satisfy even the most demanding free-music enthusiasts.” -Troy Dostert, All About Jazz
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Contrabass – Brandon Lopez
Drums – Chris Corsano
Saxophone – Steve Baczkowski
Recorded live at Hallwalls, in Buffalo, New York, on March 7th, 2018, by Bill Sack.
Mastered by Weasel Walter.
Executive producer: Kevin Reilly
NYC 1978
NYC 1978
Evan Parker made his first trip to North America as a performer in the fall of 1978 touring solo in the US and Canada. His landmark solo record Monoceros had been recorded in April. This is a recording of his first solo performance in New York City. While it may lack the sonic fidelity of Monoceros, its raw passion makes a statement to the New York audiences lucky to have been at Environ that October evening.
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Evan Parker – soprano saxophone (1,3,5,6) tenor saxophone (2, 4)
NYC photo by Thomas Struth
New Spells
New Spells
Ava Mendoza plays these songs. She makes them sing. Her technique is impeccable, but her playing is astonishingly expressive. She doesn’t just bend blue notes; she wads them up into a ball and throws them up against a wall. She manipulates raw lightning, giving us a sound that is fluorescent and powerful enough to leave a trace of ozone in the air. Mendoza knows what she does better than almost anyone else on the planet, which is tell stories with her guitar.
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Ava Mendoza – guitar
Artwork by Dylan Marcus McConnell / Tiny Little Hammers
Recorded by Ava Mendoza
Mixed by Eli Crews and Ava Mendoza
Mastered by Mikey Young
Tracks 1 and 2 composed by Ava Mendoza (BMI)
Track 3 composed by Trevor Dunn (published by Convulsive Beauty Music, ASCAP)
Track 4 composed by Devin Hoff (Jessie the Dog Songs, ASCAP)
Track 5 composed by John Dikeman (Buma Stemra)
Nada sagrada
Nada sagrada
Brandon Lopez leads his septet through an electrifying set recorded live at the Vision Festival. Mixed and mastered by David Torn and polished into a gem.
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Brandon Lopez – Bass
Zeena Parkins – Electric Harp
Mat Maneri – Viola
Cecilia Lopez – Electronics
DoYeon Kim – Gayageum
Gerald Cleaver – Drums
Tom Rainey – Drums
Moten/Lopez/Cleaver
Moten/Lopez/Cleaver
Lopez and Cleaver have been improvising together as a duo for a number of years, over which they’ve developed a secret, unspoken language of organically growing repetitive figures in a wide range of sonic palettes. Lopez and Cleaver have long been recognized as some of the most vital voices in contemporary experimental improvised music, each with dozens of recordings and frequent performances in New York and abroad. They are joined here by Fred Moten, the inimitable poet, theorist, critic, and 2020 MacArthur Fellow. Moten’s presence, voicing poetry in an improvisatory syncopation with the instrumentalists, raises the music to third plane, putting the record in a broader collection of legendary spoken-word jazz records from Gil Scott-Heron and Amiri Baraka to the contemporary energies of Moor Mother and Irreversible Entanglements.
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Fred Moten – words
Brandon Lopez – contrabass
Gerald Cleaver – drums
recorded by Jason Rostkowski at GSI Studios, 2020
mixed by Cecilia López
mastered by Matt Bachmann
cover image: Renee Gladman, “Untitled Score (orange yellow)”, pastel and ink on paper, 2020
Morpeth Contemporary 2024
Morpeth Contemporary 2024
Exceptionally virtuosic and sensitive, South African harpist Jacqueline Kerrod is perfectly at home across multiple genres. This is her first recording with American guitar maverick Joe Morris. These are sublimely adventurous improvisations for pedal harp and guitar.
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Jacqueline Kerrod – harp
Joe Morris – guitar
All tracks by Joe Morris (Riti pub ASCAP) and Jacqueline Kerrod (BMI)
Recorded live in concert May 18, 2024 at Morpeth Contemporary in Hopewell, NJ as part of Jacqueline Kerrod’s improvised music series.
Recorded by Briann Dixon
Mixed and mastered by Nick Lloyd, Firehouse 12 Studios
Cover photo: Jacqueline Kerrod
Graphic design: Anne Marcotty
Produced by Jacqueline Kerrod and Joe Morris
Special thanks to Ruth and Mike for the use of their beautiful art gallery to share improvised music with the local community.
Memories of a Tunicate
Memories of a Tunicate
“This meeting, recorded in studio in June 2019, is a raw, muscular, and brutal one, a natural atmosphere for both Brötzmann and Lonberg-Holm, and the titles of the pieces, all named after obscure sea creatures, intensify this spirit. Brötzmann and Lonberg-Holm sound energetic, charged with a ton of fresh, urgent ideas and eager to comment on each other’s gestures. The dirty, distorted electronics effects and pedals of Lonberg-Holm, often sounding like a battered electric guitar or some out-of-tune industrial machine, with his aggressive cello playing fit perfectly the anguished wailing and shouts of Brötzmann. Lonberg-Holm knows how to avoid sliding into sentimentality when Brötzmann tries one of his angry, lyrical cries, especially on the last piece “Stolidobranchia”.
Brötzmann takes in this tough and rough meeting the role of the responsible adult, maintains a strong and clear voice, sometimes angry and sometimes gentle and openly emotional. Lonberg-Holm is the wild and anarchistic card here, injecting subversive noises, ironic tones of a haunted guitarist or simply enjoying the role of an experimental sound artist. But these contrasts and this kind of nervous tension generate the best out of Brötzmann and Lonberg-Holm, as both feed each other’s moves and ignite many intense, explosive moments.” -Eyal Hareuveni, Free Jazz Blog
“Together, Brötzmann and Lonberg-Holm have released two excellent prior duos … This latest CD, Memories of a Tunicate, may be the jewel in their crown. … Credit is due to Lonberg-Holm’s liberal use of electronics. Against Brötzmann’s muscular saxophone, the cellist can bring a saturating wall of sound to parry that machine gun attack. This music is, though, not a face-off but a flow. Blasts of sound are tagged and escorted rather than opposed. Like the individual track titles, which are names of obscure sea creatures, the music is designed (actually, improvised) to be shrouded and a bit surprising. Brötzmann often draws from melancholic extended technique with an old soul’s blue feel. For his part, Lonberg-Holm bows and plucks his cello, expanding it into a violin, bass or an electric guitar sound, accented at times with shards of industrial noise. This is one entertaining and exhausting recording.” -Mark Corroto for All About Jazz
Recorded on June 12, 2019 at GSI Studios, New York City
Peter Brötzmann – tenor saxophone, B♭ clarinet, tárogató
Fred Lonberg-Holm – cello, electronics
Matanzas
Matanzas
“Brandon Lopez (contrabass), Steve Baczkowski (saxophones), and Gerald Cleaver (percussion) freely play propulsive grooves drawing as much from heavy metal aggression as free jazz freakouts. Baczkowski’s reeds with their acoustic distortions impart a crunch to the music and their snaking lines dance over the sinister and doomed romp of the rhythm section. Lopez and Cleaver are most often locked into a martial groove, assembled and disassembled, sometimes faltering and reeling from their own displays of low end power, aggressive not in tempo or even volume but heavy force and presence, the physicality of gestures revealed in Brandon Lopez’ voicings like exhalations. Cleaver might play variations on the same rhythm, freely shifting from its plodding beat to dizzying Hecatoncheires frenzies.” -Adapted from Keith Prosk’s review of Live at Roulette at Free Jazz blog
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Brandon Lopez – bass
Steve Baczkowski – saxophones
Gerald Cleaver – percussion
Recorded by Randy Thaler
Mixed and Mastered by Jon Lipscomb
Cover art by Don Dietrich
LOVE SONGS
LOVE SONGS
“The most striking sound in improvised music in years…”
LOVE SONGS by gabby fluke-mogul is a record of seventeen violin compositions for improvisation devoted to the multitudinous hues of intimacy.
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GABBY FLUKE-MOGUL – VIOLIN
RECORDED BY JASON ROSTKOWSKI AT GSI STUDIOS IN MANHATTAN, NY, ON JULY 22 2021
MASTERED BY ADAM HIRSCH
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER : KEVIN REILLY
DESIGN : KIM NUCCI
DEEP GRATITUDE TO:
AVA MENDOZA
ALEJANDRA PIZARNIK
NAVA DUNKELMAN
FRED FRITH
JULIAN KAWAMURA-WALLACE
Live at Roulette
Live at Roulette
Lopez works at the fringes of jazz, free improvisation, noise and new music. This collaborative powerhouse never lets up with underground sax hero Steve Baczkowski and Gerald Cleaver who is among the most agile and wide-ranging first-call musicians on the 21st century jazz scene.
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Brandon Lopez – bass
Steve Baczkowski – saxophones
Gerald Cleaver – percussion
Cecilia Lopez – synthesizer track 5