In 1975, Steve Potts left Steve Lacy for a time to compose Musique pour le film d’un ami following the proposition from the film’s director Joaquín Lledó. With guest musicians of quality and from vairied horizons (Ambrose Jackson, Jean-Jacques Avenel, Frank Abel, Elie Ferré, Christian Escoudé…), the saxophonise recorded a soundtrack ranging from modal jazz to free funk and from dirty grooves, to java wah-wah with disconcerting elegance. Rather than blaxploitation, Potts and his group offer us their mixploitation made in Paris which would be recognised way beyond the boundaries of La Défense. Released October 1, 2020 Composed By Steve Potts. Musique from the film "Sujet ou Le secrétaire aux 1001 Tiroirs" by Joachim Noessi. Steve Potts - Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone. Joss Basselli – Accordion. Elie Ferré - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar. Keno Speller – Bongos. Gus Nemeth, Jean-Jacques Avenel - Double Bass. Donny Donable, Kenny Tyler – Drums. Christian Escoudé - Electric Guitar. Frank Abel – Piano.

Released in 1971, Gil Scott-Heron’s second album Pieces Of A Man is a stone-cold classic and rightly seen as one of the greatest albums of all time. There is a reason why a full album of songs did not appear as a follow-up. Both producer Bob Thiele and Scott- Heron’s writing partner Brian Jackson had been keen to move forward quickly with song-based material, but Scott- Heron saw himself first and foremost as a writer. A new novel, The Nigger Factory, would be published in 1972 and he also enrolled for writing seminars at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  Once the decision was made to combine poetry and song, sessions were booked for the 2nd and 3rd March 1972. The first session with Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie (drums), Hubert Laws (flute/piccolo), David Spinozza (guitar), Jerry Jemmott (bass) and Brian Jackson (electric and acoustic piano) recorded the songs with Horace Ott taking care of the arrangements. The second session was dedicated to poetry, recorded with Scott-Heron, Jackson, Eddie Knowles and Charlie Sanders from their college group Black and Blues. Free Will was released in 1972. The song side included the heart-rending Vietnam war commentary of ‘Do You Hear What They Said?’, the propulsive title track and the beautiful ‘The Middle Of Your Day’. The poetry side immerses you in the radical politics of the day via ‘No Knock’ and ‘The King Alfred Plan’, and ends with his heartfelt tribute to John Coltrane ‘...and then he wrote Meditations’. Like “Pieces Of A Man” it is a classic and a cornerstone of any record collection.

The first-ever album from Gil Scott-Heron – and a perfect bridge between the world of his writing and the years to come of musical transformations that would forever change the American scene! The set's not the warm, jazzy soul of some of Gil's later records – and instead, there's a really raw vibe, mostly with Gil speaking instead of singing – often with just heavy percussion at the core, and these really righteous words served out over the top! All the work is his own, and the album's a showcase for his brilliant protest poetry – the most famous example of which is included in "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", which leads off the album with an especially righteous groove! The set's a key link in the African American musical tradition of the 20th century – and proof that the underground, while not always afforded a good place in the broadcast markets of the US, could always burst forth in the "narrowcast" medium of recorded music. A landmark album – one we like even better than the early work by the Last Poets – and great all the way through! Tracks include "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", "Whitey On The Moon", "Who'll Pay Reparations On My Soul?", "The Subject Was Faggots", and "Brother".

Re-issue of the classic 1974 compilation originally released to capitalise on his success with the track 'the Bottle'. The CD version contains nine extra tracks, the original spoken word version of the title track and edited versions of some of his poems. The vinyl version is an exact replica of the original release packaged in a heavy duty sleeve.

Originally from Philadelphia, invited to New York by Miles Davis, playing at Antibes in 1960 with Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy, here is trumpeter Ted Curson in 1971… in Paris. With him, a legendary trio: Georges Arvanitas (piano), Jacky Samson (double bass) and Charles Saudrais (drums). A new transatlantic alliance in the service of jazz of all kinds: classic, modal, fusion and even free… Pop Wine is – between Coltrane and Miles with a nod to roots in the club the Caveau de la Huchette – an explosive cocktail but which leaves no stains! In 1960, trumpeter Ted Curson played with Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy on stage at the Antibes jazz festival. Eleven years later he was in Paris to record one of the gems of his discography, with a hard-hitting French trio: Georges Arvanitas (piano), Jacky Samson (double bass) and Charles Saudrais (drums). Arvanitas was also someone who had travelled widely. Originally from Marseille, he had accompanied visiting American musicians in Paris before moving to the States. It was when he came back that the charismatic trio was created with Samson and Saudrais and who recorded, in 1970 on Futura, the unforgettable In Concert and then, the following year, Pop Wine with Ted Curson. Pop Wine: don’t be fooled into thinking you are going to hear jazz musicians trying to play pop after uncorking too many bottles. For, although the album occasionally tends toward fusion, it is first and foremost a wonderful jazz recording; and a recording with enough fizz to make your head spin! There are five tracks in total: Quartier Latin reminds us a little of Olé Coltrane (Curson, like the saxophonist, is originally from Philadelphia), Flip Top where the trumpet and piano play out a chase scene through the streets of Paris, Pop Wine where funk and cool jazz meet on the barricades of black and white, L.S.D. Takes A Holiday which breaks out in a style close to free jazz, and finally Lonely One, with the impression that ends this unclassifiable album. Unclassifiable, unless we decide to elevate Pop Wine to the rank of a great vintage.

This is the debut solo release of Benju maestro, Ustad Noor Bakhsh, from the Makran Coast of Balochistan. The album is named 'Jingul', after a bird that often frequents Noor's house, and whose songs inspired the last track on this release — an original by Noor. The album was recorded live on location, over a memorable sunset on the Shadi Kaur creek, close to Noor's village, near Pasni, Balochistan. Noor plays an Electric Benju, amplified using an old pick up and Phillips amp that he found in a market in Karachi three decades ago. The Benju, is said to have once been a Japanese children's toy called the Taishōgoto. At some point in the 20th century, it was modified and naturalised by Baloch musicians who made it in to a refined folk instrument for themselves. Balochistan straddles the space between modern day Pakistan and Iran but its music, particularly that of Makran, evokes the well documented migrations and seafaring; historical intimacies with Africa, Persia, and Arabia, via the greater Indian Ocean world. It is this world that Noor's music wanders through.

A dense collection of intricate close-miked small object improvisation, homemade instruments and slippery tape music wirr and skrong. All held together with a skilled sense of pace and humor.While many of duo’s recordings revolve around collages of voice, Room Service sets aside the deadpan humor of some of their earlier works and gets down to an intense tape collaged funhouse of squeaking spring, resonating wine glass, clattering bric-a-brac and bowed whatsit.Adam Bohman and Jonathan Bohman have been recording together since their early teens and playing live since 1984.   Their repertoire includes a combination of sounds created in the moment and distinct compositions including songs. They use unconventional instruments, household objects, dislocated text from found, literary and commercial sources and collaged layers of recordings.

Ever unpredictable, Drumm this time takes the fellow time-traveller through what sounds like an electronic field recording, a journey through an electronic soundscape of luminescent textures that invites immersive listening.

It's hard to imagine how this record -- and it's mate, Outspan No 2 -- managed to remain more or less out of circulation from the CD era onward. Outspan No 1 is nothing less than an ideal distillation of the broad approach to sound creation utilized by the three-ring circus that is Brötzmann, Van Hove, and Bennink, here with the added bonus of Mangelsdorff. Two short numbers, two long, too perfect.

McPhee on 7 inches of pure loving vinyl! Features two versions of the 1970 classic "Cosmic Love." McPhee rocking the cosmic wavelength on space organ and tenor sax. 7-inch, 33 1/3 rpm, single CvsDS001 Cover Artwork by Dick Higgins Recorded in Poughkeepsie, NY, 1970 Produced by John Corbett Vinyl Project Coordinated by Marc Bonadies Design by Sonnenzimmer

A classic mid-1970s outing from the Schlippenbach Quartett. Partially released on CD (tracks 2 & 3 only) as part of the massive FMP retrospective box, this is the only in-print edition of this crucial LP. "On all 3 'live' pieces, one experiences the unrelenting intensity (even during quiet sections) that this quartet exudes. Schlippenbach is in sublime form, his two-fisted attacks pushing the pianos to their limits. Parker rips, tears and growls. His feature piece, 'Black Holes,' being an early example of his circular breathing techniques on soprano sax, which he uses to create piercing split tone walls. And Kowald and Lovens thrust and push, laying down textures as well rhythms." - Milo Fine, Sweet Potato --- Evan Parker / soprano & tenor saxophoneAlexander von Schlippenbach / pianoPeter Kowald / double bassPaul Lovens / percussion --- Side A (track 1) recorded live by Michael Krause on June 2nd, 1974, at the 3rd New Jazz Festival Moers. Side B (tracks 2 & 3) recorded live by Jost Gebers on February 2nd, 1975, at the Quartier Latin in Berlin.

Peter Brötzmann Chicago TentetUltraman vs. Alien Metron12 inch, one-sided LPCvsDLP002In the first years of its existence, starting in 1997, the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet worked as a collective, inviting all and any of its participants to contribute compositions to the band's repertoire.  Eventually, the Tentet would jettison scores and pre-planned structures altogether, opting for free improvisation, but on their early tours and initial recordings they played pieces written by the various band members.  A marathon set of summer studio sessions in 2002, just off a U.S. tour, yielded material later featured on two CDs for Okka Disk, Images and Signs.  Of two Mars Williams compositions from the session, one was recorded but never issued...until now.  Featuring the original lineup of the band, which combined seven stellar Chicagoans – Williams, Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Kent Kessler, Michael Zerang, and Hamid Drake – with Mats Gustafsson, Joe McPhee, and the band's namesake, the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet was a sensationally versatile free music ensemble, capable of going into all sorts of unexpected territory.  The group sports a four-saxophone frontline, with twin trombones (McPhee is on valve trombone here), two strings, and a ferocious drum section featuring Zerang and Drake, who had already worked together intimately for more than 25 years at this point.  Recently rediscovered in his vaults by Williams, newly mixed by original engineer John McCortney, Ultraman vs. Alien Metron is a lost classic of improvised music by one of the premier improvised music bands of its era.  With preposterous juxtapositions of mood, from mostrous lurching heavy rock (underpinning the Japanese Godzilla-esque theme) to hard-swinging freebop and even an incredibly delicate, poignant ballad section, this feature-length track (18+ minutes) is chock full of rock 'em sock 'em goodness.  For the maiden vinyl voyage of Ultraman vs. Alien Metron, Corbett vs. Dempsey has prepared a special package, with artwork and design by Brötzmann.  The format is a one-sided LP, with music on the A-side and the B-side featuring a silkscreen of artwork by Brötzmann.  Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet Ultraman vs. Alien Metron (Mars Williams/18:25) Peter Brötzmann, tenor saxophoneMars Williams, tenor and soprano saxophonesKen Vandermark, baritone saxophoneMats Gustafsson, alto saxophoneJoe McPhee, valve tromboneJeb Bishop, tromboneFred Lonberg-Holm, celloKent Kessler, bassMichael Zerang, drumsHamid Drake, drums

Emerging incognito, with synthesizer and powerbook under arm, Mr. Socket takes an excursion into outer now-ness. Reveals a poet in the making, a tone poet, that is. Here's the essential info for all of you persistent code-crackers: Mr. Sockett plus synth and powerbook = melancholy electronics! The LP version available in hi-fidelity pink vinyl. Dig it!

The future is a flash-back! Having dynamited the end of the 70s, in the next decade, Philippe Doray was still alive and kicking. With Laurence Garcette, he juggled with keyboards and all their simulations to begin the “second period” of the Asociaux Associés (the Antisocial Associates). Labyrinthine programming lead to songs which go crazy: electro, pop, krautrock, no wave…? In a word, French chanson as it was never heard before or since. “Nobody Move!”, so says Philippe Doray and his Asociaux Associés (the Antisocial Associates)! Having dynamited the end of the 70s with two radical albums – Ramasse-Miettes Nucléaires in 1976 & Nouveaux Modes Industriels in 1978, both reissued by Souffle Continu – Doray still hadn’t finished singing. Throughout the next decade he began his Composant compositeur which would document the “second period”, as he calls it, of his Asociaux Associés. The record includes new schizo-electro songs which make the most of his association with Laurence Garcette, who also plays any and all sorts of keyboards. A prolongation of the first period of the Asociaux Associés, the duo updates Doray’s poetry: in reaction to the current overcast atmosphere, here are some hallucinatory fantasies to the rhythm of an infernal circle dance (« Le petit géant ») or an ecstatic waltz (“Bombés fluo”) or even coded messages stuffed into bottles and thrown into space (“Secoue le flipeur”, “Choc d’amour”). On the bonus CD there are further iconoclastic examples: rare recordings (unpublished or even “inaudible”) of the Asociaux Associés but also by Crash, a duo that Doray formed with Thierry Müller (Ilitch, Ruth). At the controls of their experiment-bending machine the musicians multiply the possibilities: peripheral rock, arias in orbit, broken swing, industrial mantras and other joyful falsities. Enough to make you lose your mind ? No… as Philippe Doray promised: it is the “jackpot qui frissonne” (the shivering jackpot) which is there to excite.

Hive Mind and Sing-A-Song Fighter are delighted to present to you their first collaborative release, the amazing solo guitar album from legendary Congolese guitarist Kahanga Dekula aka ”Vumbi”. At last, Mr Dekula is finally releasing an instrumental solo guitar album after more than 40 years of playing lead guitar in numerous great bands and orchestras. Vumbi, who now lives in Sweden, is one of Europe's greatest ambassadors for Congolese music, has got a special story to tell and he uses his magnificent, infectious guitar playing to do so... Vumbi and the guitar go back a long time. Born with polio in the Kivu province of North Eastern Congo, Vumbi grew up in a Swedish missionary home and picked up the guitar at an early age. Listening intently to the radio, he learned the style and rhythms of Rumba and Soukous from the giants of the Congolese guitar sound, Dr Nico and Franco. "Listening and playing Soukous music makes you feel happy to be alive and you just have to dance to it no matter what". In the early 80’s Vumbi emigrated to Tanzania where he successfully auditioned to play lead guitar for the legendary group Orchestra Maquis. He toured extensively with the band, and from them he earned the nickname Vumbi, his solos being one of the main attractions of Orchestra Maquis' live shows. He moved to Sweden in the early '90s and played in numerous bands including the Makonde Band with Ugandan artist Sammy Kasule and Ahmadu Jarr's Highlife Orchestra. In 2008 Vumbi put together his own group, The Dekula Band, playing his beloved rumba and Soukous every saturday night to an eager crowd of dancers in a worn and faded restaurant in Stockholm called Lilla Wien. Vumbi has since taken the group's infectious and hypnotoic sound to Stockholm Jazz Festival, Face Z in Geneva and festivals and shows around Europe. Swedish producer Karl-Jonas Winqvist (founder of Sing-A-Song Fighter and member of Senegalese/Swedish act Wau Wau Collectif) has been a longtime fan of Vumbi Dekula’s artistry which led to him releasing The Dekula Band's debut album ”Opika” in 2019 with the Dekula Band. While watching the band perform was always a blast, says Karl Jonas, his desire to hear Vumbi play on his own, without the thunderous drums, wailing saxophones and chanting vocals grew in his mind, “Because, in a way, Vumbi’s guitar playing is like an orchestra on its own. And the idea of just concentrating on all the amazing riffs and beautiful, uplifting melodies was just so appealing”. Karl-Jonas proposed the idea of producing a solo album to Vumbi, and within a week the production process began Recorded in two days during lockdown at the Helter Skelter Studios in Stockholm, Karl and Vumbi allowed the music to guide them. Vumbi was inspired to play 2nd guitar adding some harmonies and melodies here and there, and on the final track (”UN Forces Get Out of the DR of Congo”) he introduced a banjo into the world of ”Congo guitar”. Karl Jonas started up his old rhythm box machine to some of the songs to see how Vumbi and his playing would react to it. Elsewhere, wordless backing vocals from Karl-Jonas and Emma Nordenstam were added to Maamajacy, bass melodica by Karl-Jonas appears on Weekend, and a little piano tinkering from Emma adds some sparkle to Zuku. But clearly, Vumbi's virtuoso playing remains the star of Congo Guitar.

On Braintrust of Fiends and Werewolves the Buenos Aires-based AlanCourtis—composer and artist, Reynols mainstay, prolific collaborator heads to the studio in Brooklyn with David Grubbs, himself in unprecedented form after a wild run of duos with Ryley Walker, Manuel Mota, and Jan St. Werner.Anyone who’s scratched the surface of Alan’s discography knows he’s a monster guitarist (dig, for example, his duowith Tetuzi Akiyama), a sensitive monster guitarist and a monster of sensitivity, period. Evidently those endless hours of playing guitar while watching television in 2020 and beyond did Grubbs good—like Erik Satie deciding in middle age to study medieval music Alan Courtis: electric and acoustic guitarsDavid Grubbs: electric and acoustic guitars Cover image: Graham Lambkin, Silk Lion (2018) released September 8, 2023

NTS presents European Primitive Guitar, a compilation of instrumental guitar compositions, mapping out European analogues of the American Primitive Guitar movement, spearheaded by John Fahey in the 1950s. European Primitive Guitar spans works directly influenced by and responding to Fahey’s approach to composition, alongside works by artists that arrived at similar conclusions independently. The music is, at once, both starkly traditional and contemporary. This is no more evident than with the opening song on the compilation, Spanish guitarist Albert Giménez’s 1982 composition Conte Xinès. The song draws on numerous idioms of music - flamenco, jazz, ambient music, and guitar soli - within its shimmering arpeggios, culminating as a decidedly Spanish music that has collected the ephemera of the guitar’s travels before returning home. The compilation also explores wider ideas around experimentalism happening in Europe during the time of this anthology. German composer Hans Reichel not only developed new ways of playing the instrument, but also new ways of building guitars - pushing the boundary of what a guitar could be and how it could sound. Ahead of its full release, listen/download material from Maurizio Angeletti (Italy, 1983), Albert Giménez (Spain, 1982) and Peter Finger (Germany, 1974). The physical release is accompanied by an extended essay from The Hum’s Bradford Bailey.

Multi-instrumental master McPhee and his longtime colleague, French saxophonist and clarinetist Jaume, joined forces for this studio recording in 1979 that was prepared but never released. It is primarily structured around pairs of tunes by Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and Duke Ellington (or Billy Strayhorn), adding Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" for good measure. The results are stunningly intimate and show the twosome's capacity for creative interplay at a fairly early stage in its unfolding. Mingus's "Pithecanthropus Erectus," which was performed by a larger group on Topology, gets pared down to its essential walking-bass-ness, while Monk's "Evidence" is taken apart, and solo spots by both men are riveting as one would expect. Part of CvsD's ongoing historical effort to unearth and reissue McPhee's important discography, this previously unknown recording will delight existing fans and make new ones. Joe McPhee, alto and tenor saxophones, pocket cornet, adapted pocket cornet André Jaume, alto and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet