★Emanem
Conceits (1987/1992)
A reissue of the first LP by the exceptionally fine improvising trio of John Russell (guitar), Phil Durrant (violin and trombone) and John Butcher (saxophones). This group came into being in 1984 after Russell and Durrant had spent the previous two y…
Solos (1998-2010)
Marcio Mattos has been an important member of the free improvisation and free jazz scenes since moving to London in the early 1970s. This, however, is his first solo album. There are six short solos on cello, three of which also use electronics, and …
Cycles (1976-80)
Solo saxophone performances of three of Lacy's rarest cycles. The eight-part SHOTS (Moms / Pops / The Kiss / Tots / The Ladder / Fruits / Coots / The Wire) comes mostly from a 1977 Roman concert, with a couple of missing pieces taken from other conte…
Oliv & Familie
The 1969 Oliv session was the third Spontaneous Music Ensemble LP to be issued, following on from Challenge (1966) and Karyobin (1968), currently awaiting reissue. Familie appears to be the earliest recorded example of a large Sme group. This music i…
Avignon and after - Volume 1
The 1972 Avignon concerts were Steve Lacy’s very first solo concerts, although he did make an excellent overdubbed solo record for Saravah the year before. (For ‘solo’ read ‘alone’ or ‘unaccompanied’ rather than the usual music business meaning of ‘v…
The Sun
It is a disturbing fact that most of the major disputes throughout history have been settled by physical fighting involving killing. Have we really risen much above the rest of the animal world? On the contrary, many animals do not kill members of th…
School days
“In 1962 I went to New York for the first time. My father had worked for Boac for so long that the flights were free - I had only to pay 7/6 (=37½p) airport tax. I stayed in NY for two weeks, only leaving Manhattan to take the standard tourist boat t…
Tandem (remastered) (1979/82)
"All of two exceptional Worcester (Massachusetts) and Los Angeles concerts: clarinet and cornet duos and solos in improvisations on original compositions. Even those who know Carter and Bradford's work in larger groups will be astounded. The origi…
White String's Attached (1979)
Violinist Coombes explains things perfectly in his hilarious liner notes. Beethoven, he says, realized that the piano and violin sound horrible together, the instruments literally hate each other, and gave up after ten sonatas. "For us to try and …
Archiduc Concert : Dansaert Variations
Paul Hubweber, trombone. Philip Zoubek, prepared piano. The whole of a duo concert on trombone and prepared piano, recorded at L'Archiduc in Brussels - a bar whose art deco interior is featured on the cover. This is the second CD by this duo followin…
Bare Essentials 1972-3
A definite set of bare essentials from the Spontaneous Music Ensemble – especially given that at this point, the group was stripped down to just the duo of John Stevens on percussion and cornet, and Trevor Watts on soprano sax! The material was a…
South on the Northern
Two concerts from an eight-year gap in the published recordings of the Iskra 1903 trio of Paul Rutherford (trombone), Philipp Wachsmann (violin & electronics) and Barry Guy (bass & electronics), masterful improvisation blending acoustics and electron…
New surfacing
"Two recordings from the beginning and the end of the longest-lived version of the SME - the trio of John Stevens (percussion, cornet or mini-trumpet, voice), Nigel Coombes (violin) & Roger Smith (guitar). The 1978 Newcastle concert was considered…
Challenge
Available again SME reveals their free jazz roots with only hints of what was to come. "Pure pleasure is the way one might react to this glorious recording, which lays the foundation for Spontaneous Music Ensemble's more radical works to come. In p…
One four and two twos
John Stevens, batterie et voix. Paul Rutherford, trombone et euphonium. Evan Parker, saxophones ténor et soprano. Barry Guy, contrebasse et électroniques. Londres, août 1978. Un quartet initialement sorti en vinyl chez View en 1980 et en CD chez …
Bouquet
Both Charlotte Hug (viola and voice) & Frédéric Blondy (piano) use extended techniques on their respective instruments making their duo sound like no other. The feeling varies from agitated and fast to calm and still, and the sound world from a…
Sitting on your stairs
Lol Coxhill and Michel Doneda started playing soprano saxophone duets together in 2008. This improvised concert, recorded at Les Instantes Chavires near Paris in 2011, turned out to be their last musical meeting. Two musicians who manage to be the…
Daylight
Following on from their highly acclaimed appearance on the Treader Duos, here is a whole CD devoted to the highly compatible and innovative duo of saxophonist John Butcher and percussionist Mark Sanders. Their varied improvisations are heard at two a…
Gratuitous Abuse
The London based improvising string trio Barrel of Alison Blunt on violin, Ivor Kallin on violin & viola, and Hannah Marshall on cello, all members of London Improvisers Orchestra and performers at the 2007 Freedom of the City. "These three musician…
Fast Talk
The London improvising scene duo of vocalist Kay Grant, a former Downtown NY arists, and clarinetist Alex Ward, have been playing together for decades, here recorded in four live performances and a studio session."Singer Kay Grant left the Downtown N…