★Relative Pitch Records
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At the crossroad of different worlds, Hubbub comprises five musicians with activities in various fields. Together, they work on the sound matter to create a moving electro-acoustic space inhabited by layers, distensions, imbrications, pulsations, dots and lines. Thanks to the longevity of the group, Hubbub has developed its own universe, which is more than just the sum of its parts.
The Depression Tapes
Jim Hobbs and Timo Shanko were founding members of the Fully Celebrated Orchestra in 1989. This is their first duo record. Their decades of playing together can be heard in these pieces.
Nada Sagrada
Brandon Lopez leads his septet through an electrifying set recorded live at the Vision Festival. Mixed and mastered by David Torn and polished into a gem.
Morpeth Contemporary 2024
Exceptionally virtuosic and sensitive, South African harpist Jacqueline Kerrod is perfectly at home across multiple genres. This is her first recording with American guitar maverick Joe Morris. These are sublimely adventurous improvisations for pedal harp and guitar.
The Life And Behavior
A compelling collaboration between guitarist Fred Frith and innovative harpist Shelley Burgon — known for her work with Anthony Braxton, Trevor Dunn, and Okkyung Lee — in a series of concise and precise improvisations recorded in Oakland, CA, in 2002 and 2005, as Burgon blends seamlessly with Frith's acoustic guitar to create seemingly telepathic synchronicity and an expansive sonic palette.
Temple of Muses
Norwegian guitarist Stian Larsen joins London-based musicians Colin Webster (alto sax), Andrew Lisle (drums), and Ruth Goller (bass) for an exciting collision of energetic free jazz, post-rock and noise that is dynamic, playful and hard-hitting.
Shakkei
These duets exemplify a compelling musical interplay, characterized by symmetrical encounters and an organic, intuitive dialogue that seamlessly weaves together elements of core improvisation, contemporary classical influences, and jazzy choruses, resulting in a rich tapestry of sound that is captivating in its spontaneity and depth.Alexandra Grimal: tenor and soprano saxophonesGiovanni Di Domenico: acoustic grand pianos, celesta, pipe organ
Ugly Euphoria
Maranata is Dag Stiberg on alto and baritone saxophones, and Jon Wesseltoft on electronics. They have have been a long-standing part of Oslo's underground scene for over 20 years. At times enlarging the core duo to expand the instrumentation they have invited various performers over the years to participate in the project. This time they brought the exceptional Mexican and L.A. based, alto saxophone player Martín Escalante on board. Escalante himself a prolific player, brings his crushing sound …
Old Adam on Turtle Island
The Amsterdam based improvisers quartet performs a song cycle composed by John Dikeman reflecting on colonisation, and the double edged sword of religion which can lead to transcendence or tyranny.
Draw Bridge
"Sophie Agnel and Michael Zerang are relentless on every surface and in the diving pit of improvisation. You've got to hear it to see it to believe it: it's a water lily drum set in the soundboard of a pond piano. At times, it seems as if a single instrument is being played by two people, with razor-sharp clarity" - Alexandre Pierrepont
The Foreign In Us
After a wonderful concert at the Elastic Arts Foundation, Chicago, the ES Trio (Kwan/Zerang/Steyer), decided to record their music to document this inspiring collaboration. In their trio work they focused on sound oriented pieces, that were nurtured by the individual approaches to their instruments. The duo works of Zerang and Steyer also reflect the work of Steyer concerning instrumental ornamentation, that is inspired by the multi-ethnic, mostly near eastern sounds of the streets in Berlin.
Scree
"We hear harp, electronics, piano, cello and percussion convene in clash and collusion, setting forth a dazzling array of sound and expression. Plains of disarticulation and misdirection are cut by moments of inextricable entanglement, where we hear discrete sounds fuse, instruments bleeding into one another, at times taking on the warp and weft of a companion. The recording is of an extraordinary performance of improvisational prowess by four musicians working at the very limits of their techni…
Desatornillándonos
"This record has stark aesthetic shifts, going between bluesy and abstract territory. After the first two pieces, which “set the ends of the spectrum”, the others move between these two languages. What’s cool is that this allows you to pay close attention to textural qualities of Luciana’s playing. She gets good snap on her pull offs and picking. There is a personal quality to this record that comes out of the juxtaposition of these sounds. As someone who started with rock music and now improvis…
Hammer, Roll and Leaf
The saxophonist Sakina Abdou follows up her first solo album with this trio release, which has all the freshness of a very first encounter.The album is the fruit of an improvised, closed session of several days in her home, punctuated by two concerts, and offers an arc of 60 minutes that retraces a musical itinerary that is intimate and acoustic. We have previously heard Toma Gouband with Evan Parker and the pianist Marta Warelis with Dave Douglas and Andy Moor. Sakina Abdou first played with Go…
The Days
We are living through the same time. The worst day ever for someone might be a happy day for someone else. "The Days" are solo saxophone pieces of drama from someone's life.
Promise of Faithfulness
Promise of Faithfulness was created during a winter in Brussels, between the search for new sounds and the interest of what we might call spirits in music. This debut solo album is a tribute to the last words of Albert Camus's speech for the Nobel Prize : "It remains for me to thank you from the bottom of my heart and to make before you publicly, as a personal sign of my gratitude, the same and ancient promise of faithfulness which every true artist repeats to him/herself in silence every day."
The Psychic/Body Sound System
Tip! Dan Blacksberg’s Psychic/Body Sound System takes a gutsy leap into a set of otherworldly sub-bass drones, fiery free jazz declamations, and melancholic sonic stories. This fully improvised album, recorded live with no effects or overdubs shows Blacksberg wielding his trombone like a seer across varied sonic environments, real and imagined. Woven together by poetic fictionalizations by Alex Smith and stunning artwork by James Dillenbeck, Psychic/Body Sound System is a trombone-driven reverie…
Entwined
Avant-garde bassoonist Karen Borca's first proper leader record is a series of duos with drummer Paul Murphy who she first played with in Jimmy Lyons group.
Carne Vale
Foster, Wick and Bennett each subvert the traditional expectations of their instruments in favor of a timbrally rich palette of unconventional sounds. The interplay on these improvisations is sympathetic; they communicate fluently in their own collective language.
Dam Against The Spring Tide
Composer/Performer Zeena Parkins announces the release of two multi-part compositions, inspired by discoveries she made combing through the Walter Benjamin archives in Berlin. “Past Turned Space” features virtuoso players William Winant/percussion and Brett Carson/keyboards navigating a set of vignettes, flickering in response to Benjamin’s intimate descriptions of childhood memories. “Dam Against the Spring Tide” is graced with an all-star band of composer/performers, including: Zeena Parkins/a…