Trost's stunning vinyl reissue of one of the greatest European Free Jazz records of all time!   One of the greatRecorded May 1968 at "Lila Eule", BremenPeter Brötzmann: baritone saxophone, tenor saxophonePeter Kowald: acoustic bassBuschi Niebergall: acoustic bassSven-Ake Johansson: drumsHan Bennink: drumsFred Van Hove: pianoEvan Parker: tenor saxophoneWillem Breuker: tenor saxophoneTHE european Free Jazz album finally re-issued on vinyl.

The first concert of Peter Brötzmann, Fred Van Hove, and Han Bennink in East Germany -- 4.11.1974, Deutsches Theater, Berlin. Recorded by radio for the series Jazz in der Kammer Nr 71. Liner notes by Bert Noglik, with translation by Jeb Bishop. Recorded by Radio GDR, Berlin. Produced by Brötzmann, 2021 mastering by Martin Siewert. Artwork/design by Brötzmann/Untiet. Personnel: Peter Brötzmann - alto/tenor saxophone; Fred van Hove - piano; Han Bennink - drums.

For the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the legendary Machine Gun recordings at the Lila Eule in Bremen, Peter Brötzmann put together a trio with the Berlin pianist, composer Alexander von Schlippenbach and the percussionist Han Bennink, who already sat on the drums 50 years ago. They were so pleased with the music that they decided to release it and continue to play gigs as the trio. Machine Gun was originally recorded in May 1968 by an octet consisting of influential musicians of new jazz and improvised music. The LP was repressed on Cien Fuegos in 2018 (CF 020LP). --- Peter Brötzmann / tenor saxophone, b-flat clarinet, tarogato Alexander von Schlippenbach / piano Han Bennink / drums

The quiet beauty of the improvised duets of legendary guitarist and composer Jim O’Rourke and saxophone player extraordinaire Mats Gustafsson finally pressed on extenisve double vinyl.  The 1999 recordings for Incus Records were taken in all their glory and remastered by O‘Rourke – now the full versions of the tracks plus some unreleased songs. --- Mats Gustafsson – tenor saxophone, fluteophone, flute, junkJim O´Rourke – guitar, accordeon, junkDedicated to Derek Bailey. Recording: 1999 by Jeremy Lemos at ACME Studios, Chicago Production: Will & Siegmund Mix: 1999 by Jeremy Lemos at ACME Studios, Chicago Re-Mastering: 2021 by Jim O'Rourke at Steamroom Artwork: Hanns Schimansky

At the beginning of 2017, Chicago vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz brought a quintet into the hallowed halls of Electrical Audio, Steve Albini's legendary studio. The project was intended as a session to wax music for a new film, Roy's World: Barry Gifford's Chicago (www.roysworldfilm.com), a documentary by Rob Christopher based on the Roy's World series of short stories by Barry Gifford. With Christopher producing and providing guidance in terms of imagery, but without a film to cut to, Adasiewicz wrote music aimed at creating a specific set of atmospheres, basically making a record before any footage was chosen. "In a way, it was always a record, since I didn't have anything to look at or to hamper me," says Adasiewicz. "I had to write the tunes, that was it." For the session, he brought together a crack team to bring the charts to life, a task they more than accomplished. Hamid Drake is one of the most storied drummers in creative music, here alloying with bassist Joshua Abrams, whose own Natural Information Society once included Adasiewicz in its ranks. Together, the rhythm section's momentum is unstoppable, and when they stretch out or dig into a sizzling swing, as on "Rudy's Basement," their thirst is unquenchable. Adasiewicz switches to balafon on "Blue People" and the groove bubbles and pops with the force of a Fela Kuti burner. On the front line, saxophonist Jonathan Doyle (now based in Port Townsend, Washington) brings a slinky joy to Jason's tunes, and cornetist Josh Berman adds his own tart inventions to the mix. Doyle, Berman, and Adasiewicz have worked together since the late nineties when they started An Diamo, a band that never released a proper record. Adasiewicz hangs back a bit in terms of soloing – it's really an ensemble effort, the spotlight on the gorgeous compositions and spacious sensibility, a perfect complement to Christopher's fascinating, beautiful film, which has a noir vibe set in a fifties version of the Windy City conjured by means of vintage found footage, narration by Willam Dafoe, Matt Dillon, and Lili Taylor, and Adasiewicz's score. Bluesy, swingful charts with elements that might recall the post-hard-bop Blue Note records of folks like Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, and Grachan Moncur III, Roy's World is more than a great soundtrack record, it's a killer program of new tunes played by a monstrously strong band recorded and mixed at one of the world's finest facilities. Add to this "The Recital," a never-published story by Gifford printed in the LP gatefold, and this puppy positively comes out swinging, landing a solid KO.  Jason Adasiewicz: Vibraphone, Balafon Jonathan Doyle: Saxophones Josh Berman: Cornet Joshua Abrams: Bass Hamid Drake: Drums All compositions by Jason Adasiewicz BMI Recorded and engineered by Greg Norman at Electrical Audio, Chicago February 17-18, 2017.

On their first stand-alone record as a duo, Ken Vandermark and Hamid Drake celebrate their 30+ year playing relationship with an electrifying live set of pieces, all featuring music composed by legendary free jazz musician Don Cherry. Restricting himself here to tenor saxophone, Vandermark has developed an almost telepathic understanding with Drake, whose masterful work on the drum kit has rarely been more focused and relaxed. The music was recorded in Corbett vs. Dempsey's main space on the closing day of the gallery's exhibition of work by Moki Cherry, Don's partner in the Organic Music Society, whose powerful tapestries and paintings were often key elements in the Cherry's performances. Drake and his family in fact lived with the Cherry family in their home in rural southern Sweden in the 1970s, and the drummer's personal experiences with her visual art added a special depth to the concert with Vandermark, diving into music from across the great trumpeter's songbook. The program, some of which runs as medleys of different tunes, comes from as far back as Cherry's groundbreaking '60s Blue Note LPs ("Elephantasy," "Complete Communion"), up through the title track of the killer 1975 A&M; side Brown Rice, and more culled from later LPs on ECM, including the band Old And New Dreams ("Guinea," "Mopti") and Cherry's beautiful duo album with drummer Ed Blackwell ("El Corazón," "Solidarity"). During the concert, mid-set, Drake stopped playing to tell the story of his time with Don Cherry, including his harrowing experience contracting malaria while playing in Africa; this stirring narrative is transcribed as the liner text in the LP's gatefold. Gorgeously recorded, with Moki Cherry's tapestry "Spirit" on the cover, Eternal River keeps flowing with the ease and wonder of two brilliant Chicago musicians at the top of their game, in their hometown, playing the music they love.

In the winter of 1980, Chicago tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson (1929-2010) brought his quartet to Milwaukee, where they were recorded live in concert. These tapes were first plumbed for The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 on the Unheard Music Series in 2000. Anderson's group featured his long-time trumpeter Billy Brimfield (1938-2012) as well as his protege and percussionist Hamid Drake, then known as Hank, and bassist Larry Hayrod. Finally, after another couple of decades during which both Anderson and Brimfield have passed, Corbett vs. Dempsey is proud to present The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 2, a full CD of previously unissued material from the same concert. Among the five tracks are four penned by Anderson, including his classic "3 On 2," as well as a rare composition by Brimfield, "He Who Walks Alone." The trumpeter is lithe and mercurial in this context, playing with his typical sense of mystery, while Anderson's huge tenor sound and unique approach to linear improvisation are in top form. Drake is, as always, the element that gets everything warmed up, his kit a veritable furnace, as propulsive as humanly possible. On The Milwakee Tapes Vol. 2, the influence of Edward Blackwell on the 25-year-old drummer is clearly audible, with intricate polyrhythms and a full head of steam. Recently rediscovered, this second half of the Milwaukee session fills out the picture completely, offering a glimpse of one of the great figures of AACM Chicago in his prime, with a simpatico working band on a great night. The package includes beautiful portraits of Anderson and Brimfield, the contemporaneous color shot of the leader never before seen. Fred Anderson - Tenor Saxophone Billie Brimfield - Trumpet Larry Hayrod - Bass Hamid Drake - Drums All compositions by Fred Anderson except where noted. Recorded live in Milwaukee, January or February, 1980

Repertoire for cello represents a little-explored niche of the greater jazz songbook. In 2013, cellists Tomeka Reid and Fred Lonberg-Holm turned their arrangerly and composerly attention to this terrain, assembling a selection of four originals (three by Lonberg-Holm, one by Reid) and four works by other composers. The latter include “Pluck It” by pioneering jazz cellist Fred Katz, member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet and soundtrack composer for Roger Corman films; “In Walked Ray” by intrepid hardbop bassist and cellist Sam Jones, who worked extensively with Cannonball Adderly; “Rally” by legendary bassist and cellist Ron Carter, who played with everyone from Miles Davis to Eric Dolphy to A Tribe Called Quest; and “Monti-Cello” by Harry Babsin, the least recognizable name in the group who played cello duets with Oscar Pettiford and recorded the first jazz cello solos with Dodo Marmarosa Trio in 1947. These new takes on old charts provide a storied backdrop and contemporary diving-board for Reid and Lonberg-Holm. By turns achingly beautiful – utilizing all the woody resonance of the twinned instruments – and probingly exploratory, they pay reverence to and also rethink their predecessors’ music. Alongside these historically-mined tracks are the player’s own deeply engaging compositions. Reid’s “Alla Mingus For La Bang” pays homage to one stringsman by way of another: bassist Charles Mingus to violinist Billy Bang. Lonberg-Holm’s “Fragile,” C’mon,” and “How Can We?” all investigate the bowed and pizzed cosmos of the celli with devilish relish. Gorgeously recorded direct-to-stereo sans audience at Chicago’s Logan Art Center, with a cover that sports a painting by Lonberg-Holm. Recorded at Logan Art Center, Chicago, direct-to-stereo by David L. Allen on September 21, 2013. Prepared for release by Gordon Comstock. Mastered by Alex Inglizian, Experimental Sound Studio.

Originally from Kingsport, Tennessee, New York-based Zoh Amba is a notable rising star in the avant-garde music scene. Growing up in the Appalachian mountains, Amba practiced saxophone to the forest that surrounded her home before she later traveled to study with David Murray in New York, and also at the San Francisco Conservatory Of Music & New England Conservatory in Boston. Today, her music is full of folk melodies, mesmerizing refrains, repeated incantations and powerfully executed Free Jazz reminiscent of Albert Ayler. Her sound is courageous and bold, commanding her instrument with a loving force that soars from muted hums to squeaky trebles, producing a confident sound imbued with spirituality.  On this project, Zoh Amba is joined by legendary artists William Parker (Bass) and Francisco Mela (Drums), who temper her daring saxophone with a lush percussive foundation and a reassuring bassline. On one of the album’s 4 tracks, Amba also opts for flute, cutting through the noise with a quieter, adventurous tone, and offering listeners a more exclusive look at her multi-instrumental prowess. The album, O Life, O Light, Vol. 1 will be released on CD (available 5/20/22) and on black and limited color vinyl editions planned to arrive late 2022 but available for pre-order now—the vinyl editions will also include an extra bonus track. If you enjoyed this album please look out for Vol. 2!

Brand new, LP full remaster of this iconic release by Slint Originally recorded by Steve Albini and released in 1989, tweez has been remastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service from the original analog master tapes. "Slint formed in 1986 as an outlet and pastime for four friends from Louisville, Kentucky. Their music was strange, wholly their own, sparse and tight. What immediately set them apart was their economy and precision. Slint were that rare band willing to play just one or two notes at a time and sometimes nothing at all… 1989’s “Tweez” LP hints at their genius..." - Steve Albini (Melody Maker, 1991)

As an American in Belgium, McCloud Zicmuse developed a deep love for some of the customs of his new-found homeland: a specific kind of archery (‘staande wip’), celebrating carnaval, aging geuze-beers, and not in the least: playing de ‘hommel”, the Flemish cousin of the apalachian Dulcimer. With the persona Linus Vandewolken, Zicmuse took a deep dive into these traditions. His love for the dulcimer is very real, yet he breaks out of the narrow framework in which the instrument is often handled. The additional use of homemade flutes, percussion instruments and some humming definitely add up to the experience.Zicmuse released a handful of tapes as Linus Vandewolken, and a double 10” on okraina records. But his musical curriculum is way longer than that. Under his own name, he did releases on ao Shelter press, with le ton mite on crammed discs, and contributed to a long, long list of releases by artists as diverse as Yume Bitsu, Maher Shalal Hash Basz or Singers.For this new opus, Linus Vandewolken provides some richly brewed compositions, with no added sugar or yeast. There is an elements of sourdough, the richness of earthy odors, the first song (Terugkeer van de Kudde) sounds like a smooth multi-tracked moment, but is actually a live multi-instrumental piece: a home-made double reed xaulos is played sparingly along the fingerpicked strings of the home-made hommel. Like the barley in the beer, the hommel remains the main ingredient of the disc. Multiple techniques are used to unleash its voice, from tapping to bowing, to all at the same time. A compilation of travels, residencies, desires… songs have been harvested from 2019-2024 in France, Poland, Sweden, England, moments of Vandewolken’s wanderings, evoking inspirations & collaborations in unlikely spots, like a pump organ cameo of Christo Wallers in a village chapel a short distance from Hadrian’s Wall. As borders change and move, the flute comes around to sweetly catch our attention, metal lines from a letterpress shop invade the hommel strings creating distortions & unlikely rhythms. Points of silence like small bubbles rising in the glass of a freshly poured geuze, an old gueuze from Niemandaal, »Oude Geuze uit Niemanddaal«.   Linus Vandewolken: hommel, blokfluiten, xaulos, rammelaars & geneurieChristo Wallers: traporgel (9)Anne Brugni: tekening

“Heavily influenced by 80's ambient & New Age music from Japan & Spain, (fans of Hiroshi Yoshimura, Finis Africae, Suso Saiz or Fumio Miyashita will feel at ease here) Iker Munduate presents 12 compositions of highly serene & contemplative minimal ambient music. Wind blowing through the trees, raindrops rolling down the windows, the sounds presented on this album are meant to complete the environment you are in. Filled with subtle textures and soothing harmonic content, the music blends into the patterns of day to day life, accompanying us within an already existing familiar landscape. Therefore, it is recommended to listen to this record on speakers allowing it to mix with the sounds already present in our surroundings.” Iker Munduate Thusberg is a Basque multi-instrumentalist born and raised in San Sebastian and with strong ties to Mikkeli in Finland, where half of his family are from. A fine arts student at Bilbao’s UPV (Basque university), his interest in sound, art and design has led him to combine all these different disciplines and convey them into his music and his work (LP cover is designed by Iker himself). After self-releasing various tapes and EP’s experimenting with minimal approaches to production and composition, “Argi Zantzuak” is Iker’s first solo album, and is a long departure from his previous outlets. Prior, He’s been actively involved running “Azkar Zintak” (punk/emo/hardcore tape label), playing in bands like Tenpera & Comic Sans (both aligned with the same style as the label) as well as taking part in the local Free Jazz/Improv & Noise scene performing as a drummer. Together with being present in the underground scene of San Sebastian (Distopia Mutante, Kontenedora…), He has performed at the international festival of experimental art MEM in Bilbao, and at the conference of video creation and sound experimentation Nokodek, in Hendaye, France. Limited edition of 250.

Reading Group is thrilled to announce a new album from the celebrated trio of Fred Moten (voice), Brandon López (double bass), and Gerald Cleaver (drums). Following the release of their 2022 self-titled debut album, also on Reading Group (RG23), the trio has been developing their improvisatory language in concerts across North America and the UK. While growing from their first album’s perpetually restrained simmer, their infamous live shows explore a propulsive, relentless, and massively energetic large-scale developing form. López and Cleaver’s rhythm section maintains a pulsating, animating, and evolving groove, Moten’s improvised lyricism weaves together threads from his radical poetics, critical theory, snatches of song, and more familiar but floating signifiers, all while carrying and/or being carried by the self-perpetuating energy of the trio that is more than the sum of its parts. Their dynamic is summed up best by a phrase of Moten’s in the maelstrom towards the music’s climax: “quantum-mechanical reproduction.” the blacksmiths, the flowers is a double-LP containing two live performances by the trio at 411 Kent in Brooklyn in the summer of 2023. Incendiary music for a burning world.

Fantasti new duo / trio 7" by Tori Kudo / Xu Shaoyang (River Stream Ocean)  Tori Kudo / Xu Shaoyang / Saiko Ryusui ( Boulder Stone Sand) Super limitted!

Black Truffle is thrilled to announce a major archival release from legendary American composer and live electronics innovator Richard Teitelbaum, centred around his soundtrack for Suzan Pitt’s cult 1978 animation Asparagus. Best known to some listeners for introducing Europe to the Moog synthesizer as a founding member of Musica Elettronica Viva in Rome, Teitelbaum’s extensive and radically experimental body of work includes collaborative recordings with master improvisers like Anthony Braxton, Andrew Cyrille and George Lewis, intercultural experiments combining electronics with non-Western instruments such as the shakuhachi, works for computer controlled piano, and large-scale multi-media operas. Recorded at York University, Toronto in 1975–1976, ‘Asparagus (European Version)’ sprawls across both sides of the first LP. Discovered by composer Matt Sargent in Teitelbaum’s tape archive, this is a previously unheard major work for Moog modular and Polymoog synthesizers, unique in Teitelbaum’s oeuvre for its lushness and gently melodic quality. The music unfolds slowly, submerging lyrical melodies and burbling arpeggios into uneasy, glacially shifting harmonic swells, the luscious texture thickened with subtle changes of modulation and phase, calling up the shifting layers of Costin Miereanu’s classic Derives or the kosmische Musik tradition more than any academic synthesizer exercise. Teitelbaum incorporated much of this material into his soundtrack for Suzan Pitt’s Asparagus, which receives its first official release here. Asparagus, famously paired with David Lynch’s Eraserhead for a two-year run of midnight screenings at New York’s Waverly Theatre, uses hand-drawn and stop animation to unfurl an oneiric succession of images, beginning with a sequence in which the female protagonist defecates two stalks of asparagus, which multiply and float out of the toilet bowl to form the letters of the title. Teitelbaum’s soundtrack interweaves delicate drifting tones from the ‘European Version’ with contributions from Steve Lacy and Steve Potts on saxophones, George Lewis on trombone and Takehisa Kosugi on violin. Edited closely to the film, even without images the soundtrack proposes a surreal journey through floating synth tones, squealing horns, propulsive arpeggios, distant chatter, and an old-timey waltz. The final side of the set presents a new realisation of Teitelbaum’s text score ‘Threshold Music’, performed at a memorial concert at Roulette, New York in 2022 by Leila Bourreuil (cello), Alvin Curran (sampler and objects), Daniel Fishkin (daxophone), Miguel Frasconi (glass objects) and Matt Sargent (lap steel). The piece asks musicians to match their instrumental volume to that of the sounds of the environment in which they play, sometimes with the addition of recorded environmental sounds, reinforcing frequencies they encounter in listening deeply to their surroundings. Here the players use a field recording taken at Teitelbaum’s home in Bearsville, New York, their long tones and shimmering, glassy textures delicately emerging from the white noise of the location recording. Released with the full approval of both Richard Teitelbaum and Suzan Pitt’s estates, Asparagus is illustrated with striking images from Pitt’s film and accompanied by detailed liner notes by Francis Plagne. These previously unheard pieces shed new light on the work of a key composer in the American experimental tradition, offering up some of Teitelbaum’s most beautiful and engaging music.

Black Truffle is thrilled to announce a reissue of Chico Mello and Helinho Brandão’s self-titled release from 1984, the first return to vinyl of this classic of Brazilian experimental music with its original cover art and complete track listing. An under-recognised figure whose work inhabits a singular terrain where radical new music techniques and music theatre meet musica popular brasileira, Mello has lived and worked in Berlin since the late 1980s. A student of Dieter Schnebel, Mello played in the 90s iteration of Arnold Dreyblatt’s Orchestra of Excited Strings alongside compatriot Silvia Ocougne, with whom he produced a radical and hilarious deconstruction of MPB classics on Musica Brasileira De(s)composta (an early and rather atypical release on Edition Wandelweiser). On this release, his only recording predating his move to Europe, Mello works with the alto saxophonist Helinho Brandão, who appears to be otherwise unknown outside Brazil. The record’s six tracks range from solo saxophone improvisation to densely layered ensemble works bridging minimalism, acoustic sound art and a plaintive melodic sensibility that calls up Edu Lobo or Milton Nascimento. Beginning with a dramatic, dissonant wind and string surge from which emerge ominously pounding piano chords, opener ‘Água’ slowly builds in intensity, a halo of clustered vocal harmonies gradually closing in on Brandão’s squealing sax until the piece opens up to reveal a gorgeous passage of melodic singing. The piano accompaniment reduces to tolling bass notes as the voice begins a repeated incantation, suggesting a ritualistic atmosphere reminiscent of parts of Xenakis’ setting of Oresteia. Dissonant, sawing tremolos on the strings climb to a crescendo before disappearing into the sounds of water being poured and splashed into metal vessels, presented not as a field recording but as a percussive element performed by the ensemble. A child’s voice then appears, singing to piano accompaniment the same melody heard earlier in the piece. After a brief solo alto improvisation from Brandão, working with the guttural pops and fleeting melodic gestures of Braxton or Roscoe Mitchell, the remainder of the first side is dedicated to the leisurely unfolding of ‘Baiando’ over the course of twelve minutes. A trio for Brandão on soprano saxophone, Mello on a very period-appropriate phased nylon string guitar and Edu Dequech on bongos, the performance eases its way hypnotically through subtle variations on a set of rhythmic and melodic patterns, almost derailed at points by Brandão’s wild forays into extended technique but held together by Mello’s droning guitar notes. The second side opens with another multi-part epic for a larger ensemble, ‘Matraca’, which makes use of strings, electric guitars and a wide range of South American percussion instruments. Rasping violin harmonics hover as drum hits, repeated guitar notes and triangle accompany a slowly descending bass glissando. A sudden change in direction introduces a thrumming, incessantly repeated bowed bass tone, beginning a series of episodes of minimalist phasing and pattern variation, the combinations of electric guitars and orchestral instruments giving the ensemble an ad hoc charm like the early Penguin Café Orchestra but with more percussive drive. Eventually the piece is overrun by a cacophony of the titular matracas (a kind of ratchet/cog rattle). Following a lyrical trio improvisation by Mello, Brandão and Gerson Kornin on bass, the final ‘Danca’ focuses entirely on Mello’s layered acoustic guitars and vocals, using this restricted palette to build up a haunting piece of almost orchestral density, reminiscent of the 70s work of Egberto Gismonti in how it thickens a folkish ambience with harmonic sophistication. Arriving in a starkly beautiful gatefold sleeve and sounding better than ever in its new remaster, one might call the stunning music contained on Chico Mello/Helinho Brandão ahead of its time. But what (other than some of Mello’s own work) produced in the years since its initial release has really touched the organic fusion of minimalism, free improvisation, radical instrumental technique and popular song achieved here? Forty years after its first release, Chico Mello/Helinho Brandão remains music of the future.

Latest in a standout line of collaborations between Japanese dynamo Haino, ingenious synthesist O’Rourke, and limitless shredder Ambarchi, was recorded on the night that Hideo Ikeezumi - a titan of Japanese psychedelic and experimental music, and long-term collaborator with Haino - passed away in February, 2017. In effect a bardo-like soundtrack of sorts, the results can’t help but remind us to Gaspar Noe’s use of Jean-Claude Eloy’s music in ‘Enter The Void’ as much as their own reference to David Behrman’s ‘Wave Train’ as the trio follow their nose along the axes of ‘Each side has a depth of 5 seconds A polka dot pattern in horizontal array A flickering that moves vertically’ to plumb deeply psychedelic, other dimensions and planes of existence. The album is dominated by the sidereal scope of its side-long ‘Introduction’, where each member elides their respective electronics into an insoluble fluid mass of roiling white noise and starscreaming timbre where it’s difficult, and unnecessary, to pick out who’s doing what. However Haino takes the lead on the other side’s three-part suite, proper; piping up with spine-tracing effect on the suona (a Chinese double-reed horn) over O’Rourke’s descending synths and Ambarchi’s Leslie cabinet amp hum in ‘Part I’ and steering them into shattered bleeps, before the more concise ‘Part II’ erupts with angular free jazz drum machines and wrenched guitar squall, and ‘Part III’ passes out into space music recalling Rafael Toral. --- Presented in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with artwork and design by Lasse Marhaug and an inner sleeve with live pics by Ujin Matsuo. --- Black Truffle, 2021