Roscoe Mitchell & Michele Rabbia – in 2 (RogueArt, 2025)

By Guido Montegrandi

In May 2024 Roscoe Mitchell (bass and sopranino saxophones, percussions) and  Michele Rabbia (percussions, electronic) played a series of concert in Italy (here is a fragment of the concert at the Angelica Festival in Bologna https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icgq6ojsJIU ) and on the occasion, between May 9th and 11th they recorded this album.

The result is an exploration of sound in its most elemental traits – breath and noise resonances and echoes and silence. There is something quite organic and alarming in the opening piece A day in a Forest as my cat (who is used to a wide range of strange and unusual sounds) was restless and alert for the whole piece, the same atmosphere can be heard in the counterpart piece A night in the Forest, a sort of environmental collection of dripping noises, electronic echoes and deep percussion. It’s a raw sound that emerges from this album and the moments in which Mitchell plays the bass sax (Low answer as an example) seem to dive deep into sonic substance of the world itself. In Two starts as a more traditional free jazz sax piece but then the drumming opens a different horizon with deep drums and subtle cymbals. 

All through the record, the way in which Rabbia uses electronics and percussion perfectly draws a net of connections and disconnections (to quote the liner notes) for the two of them to make their statements, to dialogue or to go astray. Interaction is a powerful example of the way they think about music - every sound matters, every breath and every move are music until it all fades in the last second of Polyndrome (the closing piece).

in 2 is an emotional record, fragmented sounds and broken melodies and rhythmic textures that dissolve into 39 minutes and 06 seconds of good music.

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Tim Berne’s Snakoil - In Lieu Of (2025)

By Charlie Watkins

I have been a massive Tim Berne fan for years now. I’ve seen him play a handful of times and his composition technique has been a big influence on my own. He might be considered an auteur – you instantly know if you’re listening to a Berne album – and yet each of his ensembles manages to present something fresh.

This year Berne has released a couple of archive recordings from his band Snakeoil, with Matt Mitchell on piano (of course), Oscar Noriega on Bb and bass clarinets and Ches Smith on percussion. Both were briefly reviewed last month by Gary Chapin, who hits the nail on the head by describing Snakeoil as ‘knotty’. The complicated lines weave carefully in and out, and the compositions move between the compositional cells that have become so synonymous with his music. The complexity of the compositions gives this music a lot of momentum. The album was recorded at ‘Carnegie Hell’ (sic) in 2012, so it is relatively early Snakeoil material, but these musicians exude nothing but ease with each other.

The first track, Son of Socket, is the longest track at just under 29 minutes. It showcases some excellent interplay between all four musicians, who merge seamlessly between the cells and the improvisations, and about halfway through the intensity reaches a brief peak that is wonderfully furious, before opening up some space out of which another knotty compositional cell suddenly bursts forth. These kind of moments show the telepathic connection this ensemble has developed. But I think the band is at its strongest when it emerges from the improvisational chaos and settles deep into a groove, as it does towards the end of the track, when Smith swings hard whilst the other instrumentalists get their fingers round the difficult figures. Holding together improvisational chaos with avant-garde swing is what makes Snakeoil such an enjoyable group to listen to.

The second track, Spectacle, is the shortest of three tracks, and is the sparsest as well. It features Smith on various percussion instruments and then Noriega and Mitchell in a subtle and intimate duo together. When Berne finally swoops in, with Mitchell and Noriega introducing the next cell underneath, it all magically comes together, in a really special moment on the record.

The amusingly titled Sketches of Pain rounds off the album on a real high. Texturally, it is the most inventive of the three tracks, with Mitchell playing with a force that wasn’t so evident on the first two tracks, and Smith really pushing the band forward with his driving rhythms. There is also a good solo bass clarinet improvisation from Noriega, although he never quite reaches the same extremes that Berne manages across the record. The track has a delicate touch that demonstrates the full scope of Snakeoil’s musical range, and the last few minutes are a touching conclusion to an otherwise raucous record. This album really does manage to show all of Snakeoil, from their most complex and intense to their most sensitive and beautiful.

My only complaint about the record is that the piano sits a little too low in the mix. I was having to strain to hear Mitchell’s playing and the recording felt slightly hollowed out at points as a result. So I would recommend it for Berne fans rather than newcomers to his music; if you want an introduction to Snakeoil, I suggest The Fantastic Mrs 10 (Intakt Records, 2020). But as always with Berne, every subsequent listen of this record provides more and more to get your teeth into, and there really are some fantastic moments of inspiration throughout.

Available from Bandcamp:

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Makoto Kawashima - Arteria (Relative Pitch, 2025)

  

By William Rossi

A continuation of saxophonist Makoto Kawashima's exploratory journey that I loved in his previous solo works Homo Sacer and Zoe, Arteriais an album that requires patience and active participation from the listener. The two new pieces that constitute this record further highlight the importance that Kawashima places on silence and his penchant for meditative build-ups that give equal importance to the quietest of sounds, like the clacking of the keys or the buzzing of the reed and the loudest overtone blares, delivered with his signature theremin-like vibrato and unrelenting force.

There's a real flow to both tracks, they're deliberate and thorough in their development. The unexpected bluesy lines, the slowly and painfully ascending melody on the title track and the emotional bursts of energy feel even sweeter after the listener has been taken on a journey from an almost imperceptible hum to a single note, almost as if to show them how sound itself is created, painstakingly carving catharsis from a stone. 

 

The ability of an unaccompanied improvised performance, on a monophonic instrument no less, to conjure entire worlds the listener can get lost in is testament to how talented Kawashima is and how good his musical instincts are.

Like all great improvised music there's a sense of danger to the material on this record. Each daring leap and each strained altissimo note make me hold my breath. Will he make it? Will the next note even come out? This thrill makes the listener an active party in the music and the very tactile and raw recording, making every inhale, footstep or movement audible, contributes to the illusion of being in the room with Kawashima, turning this solo album into a moment for connection and collaboration in the same way that concerts are. I love music like this.

Available digitally and on CD from Relative Pitch , don't miss out on it. 

 

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Philipp Eden/ Frantz Loriot/Matina Tantanozi – And Raw, Lift My Eyes (Inexhaustible editions, 2025)

 

 

By Fotis Nikolakopoulos

The very latest release from Inexhaustible editions is another foray into the gap, the bridge maybe, between improvised sounds that are created in certain environmental surroundings and a certain cinematic atmosphere shaped by their interdisciplinary efforts. By the latter I’m trying to find connections between different audio excursions, more concentrated into “traditional” sound making, and this trio.

Eden plays prepared piano and utilizes several objects, Loriot plays his viola in many different ways, while Tantanozi is more responsible for the acute atmospheres of the CD with her flute and bass flute.

Ranging from the droney, melodic atmosphere of the opening 'Kaiki' (which in another, one of the many, turn in this CD it resolves into a request of the dynamic interplay between the instruments) up to the aggressively, but not in volume, experimental like the second track 'Curiosities,' or the fifth, Still Swirls, the glue that keeps all tracks together is their interplay.

Many times playful, quit a few times aggressive and full of energy, all the tracks in this CD are adventures into the unknown territories that border between experimentation and improvisation. There’s nothing to be said before hand and this CD needs a lot of listening, but if you are eager to find the aforementioned roots of their practice, you shall reap the fruits of another great release from the label. Only two hundred copies are made, so be quick.

Listen here:

@koultouranafigo

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Peter Evans & Petter Eldh – Jazz Fest (More is More Records, 2025)

By Don Phipps

Invigorating, like a splash of early morning cold water on one’s face, a wake-up call to get your mind and body moving, trumpeter Peter Evans and bassist Petter Eldh’s Jazz Fest is chock full of adventurous soundscapes that fascinate and amuse. Sunrise, sunset, traffic, road music, bluesy mornings, loneliness - the moods and shapes of the tunes run a gamut of feelings in unique and unusual fashion.

The duo is backed by a large array of musicians, led by free jazz luminary Dave Liebman (soprano saxophone). Contributors include Alice Teyssier (vocals, flute), Immanuel Wilkins (alto saxophone), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Andy Berman (guitar), Nick Joz (keyboards), Michael Shekwoaga Ode (drums), Mazz Swift (violin), and Ryan Muncy (saxophone). Given the various instruments used, one can quickly understand why the palette is so diverse.

“The Berm” is illustrative. Listen to the funk, guitar riffs, drum smacks, and Eldh’s roll abouts on electric bass. Evans plays high atop Ode’s funky, syncopated, and polyrhythmic beats, and Berman rips it on guitar – his fingers lightning fast. On “Waves,” Ode uses the trap set to generate a heartbeat effect and Evans paints a solitary figure with his trumpet. It’s amazing how he can slide so easily to the top of the trumpet register. Liebman contributes a bluesy trippy rejoinder over Ode’s pattern. The electronics are sci-fi, giving a weird other worldly feel to the vibe. And you can hear smacking and breathing above the guitar chords.

On “Tony Tony Tony,” Liebman opens with dreamy floating phrases over the keyboard chords. Ode plays loose and yet controlled. His rapid pacing contrasts with the lilting, graceful Liebman lines and the chordal abstractions. The piece continues this dichotomy – fast and quick underneath – agile and flowing overhead. Teyssier adds surreal vocals to the effort in the wind down. And the album’s last number, “HIME,” feels like travel music – spaceship or land vessel – creating a visual pattern out of rolling surprise as if transported across an audio multiverse.

What Jazz Fest adds up to is a robust and colorful experience - fascinating through its audacious creativity and entertaining voicings. This one will keep you smiling. Enjoy.

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Henri Herteman, Claude Parle, Michel Kristof, Makoto Sato - FISHEYE (s/r, 2025)

By Richard Blute 

“Music is about people for me…it’s about putting people into challenging situations. And for me, challenges are opportunities.”  
- John Zorn

I often think of this quote from John Zorn when I come across a surprising combination of instruments. It’s an opportunity to hear something genuinely new. On Fisheye, it was the combination of Henri Herteman’s trombone and Claude Parle’s accordion that I found so intriguing. (I was already familiar with Michel Kristof’s electric guitar and Makoto Sato’s drums. The two put out a very good duo album in 2022 called Wasabi Lullaby.)

I never thought much (honestly, at all) about the accordion as a viable jazz instrument until I happened to catch a duo concert with Michel Portal on saxes and clarinets and Richard Galliano on accordion, which produced a wonderfully rich, almost orchestral sound. Since then, I’ve always kept an eye out for the accordion occurring in free jazz, where it doesn’t seem to be very prominent. Rüdiger Carl used an accordion extensively both in his solo work and with his band, the COWWS Quintett. Sven-Åke Johansson used an accordion frequently as well. Much more recently, Charlie Watkins just published a review of Suzann Peeters album Cassotto, a very different (and exciting) take on free jazz accordion.

Part I of Fisheye is a textbook case of how good free improvisation can be. It begins with a rush of sound before the musicians settle into their respective roles and begin a conversation. Herteman’s trombone has an almost vocal quality to it, and he has some important things to say. Parle’s accordion is frequently laying down a drone, but will jump in with a flourish of notes at opportune moments. Sato’s drums propel the music forward but will slow things down as the situation warrants. There’s a moment in the middle of Part 1 where it’s just trombone and accordion with the drums only playing softly in the background and we’re listening to two musicians who know each other well. I suddenly realize Kristof is making quiet scraping sounds and then he and Sato come to the forefront. Kristof frequently has a rock-guitar quality to his playing but he is equally adept at doing Derek Bailey-style improvisation. This piece is 26 minutes long and not a moment is wasted, there’s no aimless noodling or repetition.

Part II is more frenzied. It begins with Kristof and Sato in duo covering some of the same ground as their duo album. And then there’s a pause. And then Herteman jumps in. And then Parle. The four musicians are all on the same page as they steadily build up the intensity of the piece. I’m always excited to hear this sort of energy coming out of free improvisation.

All four pieces are full of beautiful little moments. Some loud and intense, some quiet and simple. This is an album made by four master musicians and improvisors, highly recommended.

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Paul Rogers - Abbaye de l'Épau (Self-Released, 2025)

By Stef Gijssels

We're always in high expectation for a new solo release by British bassist Paul Rogers, and when we get two new albums in one year, we can only rejoyce. Not surprisingly, all his solo albums since the creation of this blog were reviewed: "Heron Moon" (1995), "Listen" (2002), "Being" (2007), "An Invitation" (2010), "This Is Where I Find Myself" (2021). Rogers has of course released many more albums with his follow countrymen Paul Dunmall, Phil Gibbs, Mark Sanders, Tony Levin, or with free jazz icons such as Ivo Perelman, Frode Gjerstad or Joe McPhee. 

Yet each solo album is a treat. The sound he produces on his custom-made seven-string bass is unique. My favourite this year is this wonderful concert in the Abbaye de l'Épeau on the outskirts of the city of Le Mans, where Rogers resides. "Founded in 1230 by Berengaria of Navarre, widow of Richard the Lionheart, it is one of the most beautiful Cistercian gems in France. It was acquired by the Department of Sarthe in 1959."

This performance ranks among his finest—grand, majestic, and magnificent. Perhaps it’s the venue, the acoustics of the room, or the presence of the audience, but everything about the sound feels perfectly aligned. His deep tones resonate and linger in the open space of the chapel. You can hear the audience itself—the occasional cough, a shifting chair—adding to a powerful sense of unity and responsiveness, of shared concentration between the artist and every listener.

I greatly admired his 2007 album Being, released on the sadly defunct Amor Fati label, and this performance reaches the same remarkable level. At times, the music recalls Bach, with repeated phrases subtly altered to avoid exact repetition; elsewhere, raw improvisation emerges, followed by passages of delicate, sensitive bowing or jazzy plucking. Despite these shifts and eclectic influences, the whole remains coherent and fluid.

The performance unfolds as a single, uninterrupted piece lasting more than fifty minutes—after all, why divide it into separate works when everything is improvised? The audience’s enthusiasm is well deserved, and they reward him with a standing ovation and a five-minute encore.

It's one of those albums that you listen to again and again. And that's a real feat for a solo bass album. 

Listen and download from Bandcamp. 

Paul Rogers – Peace And Happiness (Fundacja Słuchaj!, 2025)

Recorded by in the summer of 2023 in his garage at Le Mans, "Peace and Happiness", is a more composed, structured and controlled album, yet as virtuosic. 

Most tracks have a pre-conceived voice and structure, with recurring themes interlaced with improvisations. Despite the power of his playing, this album is more intimate, more restrained, with British folksy melodies. Some pieces sound as if they were dubbed, but that is the result of his incredible skills on the seven-string bass, including plucking the strings beyond the bridge. 

It's excellent, but my preference still goes to the live performance reviewed above. 

Listen and download from Bandcamp.

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Gayle Young and Robert Wheeler – From Grimsby to Milan (Fairpoint Recordings, 2025)

By Nick Ostrum

A mysterious bass hum slithers into a series of fluttering beeps and stutters and creaks. Twangy strings, resembling a muted and detuned sitar, then chimes pierce the background, a long with a choice selection of swipes, beeps, and tweaked nobs, or tuning keys. Sine tones, echoed pixilations, a heavy buzz join for a while. It turns out, this delicious computerized nature walk all comes from two musicians: Robert Wheeler on EML ElectroComp 101 and Gayle Young on her own invention, the amaranth .

From Grimsby to Milan captures the duo on six compositions like that described above. The density runs from sparse to moderate and the elements remain discrete, evoking tightly angled collage-work. It begs and rewards close listening. Rarely do the pieces fall into anything resembling a groove or melody, or even clear movements. Still, the cuts cohere, even as they wander from incidental and acousmatic sounds to glitchy electro ambience and string-entangled-ring tones and scratches of various haptic and synthetic origin. This makes those moments when semblances and hints at melodic progression, frequently derived from the amaranth, develop for a few seconds to, in the 16-minute finale Constant Harmony, several minutes. In places like this one can hear the best of Young and Wheeler’s playful rapport. Young seems intent on drawing out more “music” from the collaboration. Wheeler seems intent on making her stumble, but in the process feints toward, then embraces stretches of rhythmic scratching and tonal dispatches from his ElectroComp. They even fall in (and out of) line, flirting with a sort of harmony toward the middle of the piece, before Young leans into a droning rhythm and Wheeler returns to his role of agitator.

What is remarkable about this duo is the fine line they walk between cacophony and quiet. From Grimsby is neither. Noises rarely overwhelm, leaving them open to textural listening. They also persist at moderate levels. Never does this dip too far into lowercase territory. But the energy is harnessed and, in all its curiosity and exploration, the duo never really break that energy in either direction. Young and Wheeler clearly were on the same aesthetic page on this one and exercise considerable self-restraint to remain there.

From Grimsby to Milan is available as a CD and download here.

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Ivo Perelman and Wadado Leo Smith - Duologues 5 (Ibeji, 2026)

By Sammy Stein 

Ivo Perelman continues his ‘Duologue’ series, this time teaming up with trumpet player Wadada Leo Smith, who needs little introduction to readers of this column. These are players with contrasting voices, and instruments with which either player could dominate, but that never happens in this recording, because, as ever, Perelman chooses those with whom he communicates carefully.

This recording is a statement of intent from the opening with Perelman ringing out repeated, then varied phrases, over which Smith enters with trumpet, adding a subtle, then less subtle voice into the mix. Perelman may have set the tone, but Smith changes it, as only he can, and Perelman willingly changes his take to suit. Gone is the melodic tone, and Perelman replaces it with breathy tones reflecting the intonations of the trumpet. The track is spacey in that each musician has room to develop lines, and the texture remains light and conversational.

The second track sees each musician entering the flow of the music, as full-throttle improvisational sequences segue into occasional melody, largely from the sax but also from the trumpet. Smith creates the path toward intentional musical mayhem, and Perelman slots his sax melodics and harmonies in. At times, there is a competitive air, but at others, there evolves that wonderful sense of two musicians entranced by and listening to each other. The dynamism is intense, with both instrumentalists finding space to free solo, and support – the intensity can be almost tangibly felt.

Track 3 sets off at a pace, with Perelman introducing melodic phrases, under which Smith trips off reflective phrases in response to Perelman’s voice. Later, the roles swap, and Perelman is reacting to Smith. Toward the final phrases, Smith excels and raises his trumpet sounds in melodic triumph – well, almost melodic.

Track 4 is a different kind of beast, with lashings of sonic texture provided by both musicians, with an energy that increases as the track progresses. The art of listening is aptly demonstrated here, as Perelman's musical motifs are picked up, changed, and thrown back at him by Smith, who seems to relish the changes Perelman introduces and adds some of his own. Perelman's gentleness in the midsection is tempered by the delicacy of Smith’s delivery, and when Perelman develops a thematic section, Smith simply drops out and lets him have the space.

Track 5 is a wonderful conversation between sax and trumpet, each instrument's tone and range explored and developed, with the topsy-turvy nature of the sonic landscape further tilted as Smith leads Perelman along musical pathways not explored before, which Perelman gleefully follows. Track 6 is lively and energetic with a dancing mode created first by Smith, then Perelman, who picks up the theme, not in phrases but insertions of notes perfectly placed to intercept the rise and fall of Smith’s phrasing with uncanny accuracy. Like a magician producing yet more magical delights from his pockets, Perelman just keeps delivering, and Smith responds. Noisy, full- on improvisation at its best.

The final track celebrates both instruments from the trumpet’s opening blast to the final harmonics. One recording, two instruments, two masters. You really can’t ask for more than that.

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GoGo Penguin – Necessary Fictions (XXIM Records, 2025)

By Don Phipps

What is it about GoGo Penguin? While neither art, sound experiment, nor cerebral exercise, the music of Necessary Fictions is enjoyable. Call it a guilty pleasure - like popcorn while watching a movie – a comfort food for the ears – delivering a sense of wellbeing inside grounded reality (structure). The trio of Chris Illingworth (piano, synth), Nick Blacka (double bass, bass guitar, synth), and Jon Scott on drums are backed on some numbers by a small string ensemble and guitar, and guest vocals courtesy of violinist Rakhi Singh and guitarist Daudi Matsiko.

The tunes on Necessary Fictions do not generate heat. Instead, they lollygag along – more akin to giant blossoms in a pond responding to the day’s elements – wind blowing them about, rain pouring down, and on sunny days with slight breezes, floating gently on the water. There’s a subtle head nodding vibe to many of the numbers – propelled by syncopated rhythms, delicate synth patterns, and minimalism.

None of the pieces feature piano virtuosity. Illingworth prefers to dwell on single notes and avoid tonal clusters, notes that present a unassuming lyrical odyssey that rotate around a center. And he’s not afraid of repetition. Listen to his piano on “The Turn Within,” “Naga Ghost,” and “State of Flux” for textbook examples.

Scott’s drums provide a galloping yet grounded push to the effort. And he works in some variation. For example, he uses his hands to tap on the drums on “Luminous Giants” and his use of the tom tom provides a bounce on “Silence Speaks.” There’s also his tap-filled brushwork on “Fallowfield Loops” and the interesting syncopation he employs on “Living Bricks In Dead Mortar” and “Naga Ghost.”

Like his bandmates, Blacka’s bass work lays down straightforward lines. There’s nothing free form –just a solid bottom with enough emotional heft to keep the music flowing. Listen to his counterpoint on “Fallowfield Loops.” Or the select fingerings he chooses for his bass solo on “Naga Ghost.” Or the foundation he provides on “The Turn Within.”

The album might have a miss or two. For example, the poppish “Forgive the Damages” might have been omitted. This same poppish approach is evidenced in “What We Are And What We Are Meant To Be.” But in the latter, the piece is planted more firmly in its ethereal effects -the synths providing a drifting background behind the development while Scott’s scattered drumbeat delivers.

Still, despite the highly structured arrangements, many of the rotating motifs create a dancing, hovering aura – an embrace of the beautiful aspects of our world – wind in hair, warm ocean spray on skin, distant vistas, and circular rainbows. Who can begrudge happiness? And, maybe, these are necessary fictions. Enjoy.

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