Amor Celestial is the latest album by Bay Area guitar improviser Ernesto Diaz-Infante, release on Rambutan Records out of New York. The album reminds me of waves gently crashing into the rock of the Pacific Coastline, ebbing and flowing as clouds of feedback surround each bend of the strings. From Continue Reading
Improvised Music
Senyawa – Istana (Live)
Today is a workday for us in Beijing, so there is no review today, but I did want to point you to an Indonesian band called Senyawa, who is featured on Rafaelle Pezzella’s incredible Unexplained Sounds Group‘s digipak retrospective called the Far East Music Collection. It is a reissue of Continue Reading
RKS Trio – Live at Bab-Ilo
Thanks to the ever-consistent Muteant Records for bringing this album to my attention! I’m familiar with both Michel Kristof and Makoto Sato’s work, as both as masters in the improv world, but Quentin Rollet is a new name for me. His sax playing and sound manipulation are expertly underpinned by Continue Reading
Saadet Türköz – Urumqi
Saadet Türköz is an international treasure. Born to Kazakh and Turkish parents in Istanbul in 1961, she has developed a style that comfortably blends Central Asian traditional music with free jazz. A very pleasant listen.
Mohammad Syfkhan – I Am Kurdish
A very pleasant release from Mohammad Syfkhan, a Kurdish musician currently based in Ireland. From the Nyaah Records Bandcamp site: “Mohammad’s own brand of ecstatic music takes elements from Middle Eastern and North African music to create an atmosphere of joy, love and happiness. The songs on ‘I am Kurdish’ Continue Reading
[Podcast] La Montaña Rusa 49.2023. Kurt Rosenwinkel. Borderlands Trio. Tomasz Stańko Quintet. Jovan Milovanović Quartet. Greg Spero.
La Montaña Rusa 49.2023. Kurt Rosenwinkel. Borderlands Trio. Tomasz Stańko Quintet. Jovan Milovanović Quartet. Greg Spero. Today there will be no reviews as we are having to prepare for Christmas at the school and time is limited, so I share with you the ever-wonderful La Montaña Rusa podcast and a Continue Reading
Eclectic Maybe Band – Bars Without Measures
With the exception of Christian Vander, I cannot think of too many people whose name would be so heavily associated with zeuhl and avant-progressive rock in general than Guy Segers. The former bassist of the legendary Univers Zero has collected some of the finest names in avant and progressive rock Continue Reading
Szilárd Mezei Trio – Inkább (Rather)
Serbian-Hungarian multi-instrumentalist and composer Szilárd Mezei is perhaps the most adventurous musician coming out of Hungary these days, and that’s saying a lot, considering the great quality of improvisers who have come from that country (think of the legendary A.E. Bizottság, for example). This is a trio album from 2008 Continue Reading
Jeff Gburek – The Art of Prepared Guitar Volume One
Jeff Gburek’s recent instrumental guitar album is a a wonderfully disjointed trip around his sonic weapon of choice. It’s a truly wild work, but Jeff weaves his vast musical influences together with hints of a broken kind of blues, free jazz, improvisational skronk and psychedelic rock. In Jeff’s words, which Continue Reading
Axel Dörner – Brixia
German trumpeter Axel Dörner recorded this interesting one-track album 13th of March 2022 in Brescia, Italy, mixing electronics with a very ethereal trumpet sound.