Ernesto Diaz-Infante and his partner Marjorie Sturm offer a captivating improvisation featuring flute and guitar. This session unfolds at a slow and relaxed pace, allowing the mind to wander effortlessly to the soothing sounds of strumming and blowing. It’s a perfect accompaniment for a quiet Sunday.
Free Improvisation
George Christian – IMPROVISTOSURTOSCIRCUITOS
I enjoy the improvisational guitar playing of George Christian, but this release takes a different direction. It feels less like a complete improvisational album and more like demo tapes from a band inspired by the Velvet Underground. There are psychedelic elements throughout, giving it a primal quality.
Darja Kazimira (ft. Dagmar Gertot) – Ο θάνατος του Ταύρου (Death of The Bull)
Darja Kazimira’s music is among the most frightening and brutal I have heard in many years. Her work compares favorably to that of vocalists like Meredith Monk, Hatis Noit, Ute Wassermann, and our dear friend Anna Homler. However, Darja’s strength lies in her ability to combine haunting vocals with ritualistic Continue Reading
Li Song / Zhao Cong / Zhu Wenbo – Tangerine and the Invisible
Though I will be leaving China in a week from yesterday, I will not stop exploring what the country has to offer musically. From traditional and pop music to jazz, classical and avant-garde, there’s something for every taste here, and it’s generally done quite well. From the Ftarri Bandcamp site: Continue Reading
Petyaev-Petyaev – Отсутствие
The Petayev brothers create avant-garde jazz that defies the typical reputation of the genre. While their music has a dark undertone, it retains a playful spirit. Picture a band similar to the avant-progressive rock legends Art Zoyd, but with a greater sense of humor.
Jun-Yang Li,Xiao Liu,DJ誠意重,Buddha Tiger Dog – 樹 Sù Vol.3
We have a unique recording from Taiwan featuring DJ 誠意重, a turntablist in the style of Christian Marclay, Philip Jeck, and Otomo Yoshihide. He collaborates on this album with the band 神仙老虎狗 (Buddha Tiger Dog), which includes Jun-Yang Li playing self-made instruments and objects, and Xiao Liu on saxophone. This project showcases free improvisation with an interesting twist.
Jane in Ether – Oneiric
Jane In Ether is a trio composed of Miako Klein on recorders, Magda Mayas on piano, and Biliana Voutchkova on violin, who also utilizes her voice as an instrument. Their improvisational skills are remarkable, reminiscent at times of a more contemporary AMM or MEV. The sounds they create have an organic quality that swells and recedes Continue Reading
Lao Dan (老丹) – 逐雲追夢 Going After Clouds and Dreams
Lao Dan is one of the most interesting improv artists operating in China at the moment. This release comes from Modern Sky World Music, based in my current home, Beijing. Going through their catalog, there is going to be more than a few releases getting featured on the blog soon Continue Reading
Vesna Pisarović – Poravna
What an album this is! The mixing of Sevdah, one of Bosnia’s most melancholic and romantic forms of music, with free improvisation is not something I expected to work, but with the vocals of Croatian singer Vesna Pisarović, Noël Akchoté on guitars, Tony Buck (The Necks) on drums, Greg Cohen Continue Reading
Anthony Braxton – Quartet (Bristol) 1985
One of America’s foremost saxophonists, Anthony Braxton, collaborates with Marilyn Crispell on piano, Mark Dresser on double bass, and Gerry Hemingway on percussion. This music is as free as it gets, but has a slight film-noir soundtrack feel in parts. Impressive.