![S.O.S. [John Surman, Mike Osborne, Alan Skidmore] – Looking For The Next One](https://musicyouneedtohear.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/a3485509043_2.jpg)
Last week, Cuneiform Records offered one of their half-price releases, and this recent one was a free jazz diamond in the rough. S.O.S. featured John Surman, Mike Osbourse, and Alan Skidmore, all masters of British improvisational music, and the record shows them at their peak.
Avant-Jazz
Michael Gibbs & the NDR Bigband – In My View
From the Cuneiform Records Bandcamp site: “Gibbs’ intermittent relationship with Germany’s NDR Bigband, one the world’s longest-running jazz ensembles, dates back to the early 1970s and has provided a particularly valuable vehicle for his vivid musical imagination. “I feel I know the individual players so well, that I write for Continue Reading
Reverso – Shooting Star – Étoile Filante
Avant-jazz trombonist Ryan Keberle collaborates with fellow New Yorkers Frank Woeste (piano) and Vincent Courtois (cello) on an exploration of new jazz influenced partially by the legendary Lili Boulanger, a favorite of my great-grandmother’s. From Ryan’s Bandcamp site: “The music of this album is inspired in various ways by the Continue Reading
Michał Aftyka Quintet – Frukstrakt
Though there are only two tracks currently available to listen to on this album, Frukstrakt, a new ethno-jazz album by Polish bassist Michał Aftyka and his quintet is as cool as anything ECM Records has released that would qualify as Nordic jazz.
Ulaan Passerine – Dawn
Ulaan Passerine is one of many aliases used by Los Angeles-based guitarist Steven R. Smith. This latest album is a shimmery walk into guitar instrumental territory. Smith produces an elegant kind of instrumental music that would sit well with both post-rock fans and those into a more mellow psychedelic vibe. Continue Reading
Denny Zeitlin with George Marsh & Mel Graves – The Name Of This Terrain
American pianist and psychiatrist Denny Zeitlin has a body of work that is second to none, including winning several jazz awards and scoring films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but this album was hidden away at Zeitlin’s insistence, which is a shame, as it blends avant-jazz, funk, rock and Continue Reading
Noël Akchoté – J.(B.)B. (For Jaimie)
The avant-garde music scene lost an incredible talent in the form of Jaimie Branch, who passed away on August 22nd at the age of 39. The blog’s friend, Noël Akchoté offers a lovely tribute album by transcribing the trumpeter’s work into works for solo acoustic guitar. It’s a raw album Continue Reading
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic – The Iridium Controversy
Cuneiform Records offered this album as a half-price release this weekend, and though I already had the album, I thought it would be good to note what an amazing album this was back in its prime. Birdsongs of the Mesozoic are a band from Boston, Massachussets who have been active Continue Reading
The Hauchzart Ensemble – Hauchzart Momentum Vol. I
What a remarkable work this is. The Hauchzart Ensemble includes our dear colleague Wilfried Hanrath, who plays guitar, bass, drums, beats, synth and electronics on this album, along with Matt Getchell, who also provides electronics, synthesizer and beats. This album takes quite a journey, starting off with a track that, Continue Reading
Anna Michaels & Yordan Kostov Quintet – Abstract Attitude
Anna Michaels is not the Toni Morrison-kind of poet I can’t get into. Rather, she has the power of a street storyteller, the sort of person who you can engage at a New York or Los Angeles coffee shop talking about her experiences across the world, her observations of American Continue Reading