This LP features pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Barry Altschul during the brief period that, along with Anthony Braxton, they were members of the fine avant-garde quartet Circle. The music heard on this set is not quite as free as Circle's but often very explorative. Four of the six songs are Corea originals which, in addition to Holland's "Vedana" and Wayne Shorter's "Nefertiti," form a very viable set of adventurous jazz, recorded just a few months before Corea changed direction.

Artlessly Falling is the second album by Mary Halvorson's Code Girl. Its core remains Halvorson on guitar; Tomas Fujiwara on drums; Amirtha Kidambi on vocals, and Michael Formanek on bass. Trumpeter Adam O'Farrill replaces Ambrose Akinmusire, and Maria Grand is added on tenor saxophone and voice. The date also includes three vocal cameos by Robert Wyatt. A primary influence on Halvorson, she composed these songs especially for him. Her lyrics throughout reflect not only detailed attention but a methodology in which each poem strategically conforms to its accompanying musical construct. Artlessly Falling showcases deeply focused, expansively articulated, abstract musical languages that remain warm and welcoming, even amid dissonance.

There are few places you're likely to find classically influenced jazz compositions, Olivier Messiaen's "O Sacrum Convivium," and the Allman Brothers Band's "Whipping Post" side by side. Guitarist Joel Harrison's Search, his second date as a leader for Sunnyside, does exactly that. Harrison is accompanied by a killer band: saxophonist Donny McCaslin, pianist Gary Versace, violinist Christian Howes, cellist Dana Leong, bassist Stephan Crump, and drummer Clarence Penn. McCaslin and Penn truly stand out in this ensemble.

Unreleased material from Joe McPhee's archives, three live settings of the saxophonist and pocket trumpeter in upstate NY: a quartet with vibraphonist Ernie Bostic and the rhythm section of Tyrone Crabb and Bruce Thompson live at Vassar College; live in New Windsor with saxophonist Reggie Marks; and an outdoor concert at Poughkeepsie's Lincoln Centre.

Strut and Art Yard present another exclusive from the vast catalogue of cosmic jazz pioneer Sun Ra: a previously unreleased radio session most likely recorded at the WXPN FM radio studios in Philadelphia, 1974-5.

Strut presents the 4CD edition of Sun Ra's 'Egypt 1971', documenting Sun Ra's first trip to Egypt with his Arkestra in December 1971.

Mid-'80s release that established Horovitz among the prime composers and players on the contemporary improvising scene. He's not among either the traditionalists or the fusion/light jazz crowd, but is part of the New York "downtown" school that utilizes everything from hard bop to rock to contemporary classical. Guitarist Bill Frisell was also an important contributor to the date.

John Surman is an exceptionally versatile musician and his instrumental prowess has been showcased in many contexts. Yet his solo albums may be the best sources for insights into his melodic imagination. If you want to understand the wellsprings of his creativity, the solo albums are the place to go.

After debuting with his quintet on Rouge, reedist Louis Sclavis returned to ECM with French jazz violin phenom Dominique Pifarély to front this trend-setting session. Joined by guitarist Marc Ducret and bassist Bruno Chevillon, the so-called Acoustic Quartet snaps right into action with “Sensible,” the first of four pieces by Sclavis. It is, like every track that follows, an astute blend of composed and improvisatory elements that pairs instruments cleverly and with panache.

Hermeto Pascoal (born June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in Lagoa da Canoa, Alagoas, Brazil. Pascoal is a legendary figure in the history of Brazilian music, mainly known for his abilities in orchestration and improvisation, as well as being a record producer and contributor to many Brazilian and international albums.

Following on immediately, Dark Myth Visitation Equation might be better known to some as Sun Ra In Egypt Vol.1 or alternatively, Nature's God. It's an album based in part on a Cairo TV broadcast, and the general tone of the record tends to eschew electronics in favour of the Arkestra's more conventional cosmic shuffle. Finishing off the album is the highly surreal 'Why Go To The Moon?', Sun Ra's equivalent of a three-minute pop song, drawing on a weird gospel feel and the usual interplanetary subject matter.

Strut presents the original albums ‘Dark Myth Equation Visitation’, ‘Nidhamu’ and ‘Horizon’ released as individual LPs, documenting Sun Ra’s first trip to Egypt with his Arkestra in December 1971. In the years leading up to 1971, Sun Ra wrote many compositions and poems specifically inspired by the ancient African Kingdoms and many others with associated mythological and heliocentric connotations. As such, a visit to Egypt and the opportunity for the Arkestra to play there was a matter of necessity. Ra’s first ever concerts outside of the US had occurred in late summer and autumn of 1970 with performances in France, Germany and the UK and a second European tour was arranged for late 1971. At the end of that second tour, Ra caught wind of cheap flights from Denmark to Cairo.

The impact and significance of these few weeks upon Sun Ra can be measured by the growth and development of his output over the next few years; the immediate post-Egypt period included new studio and live recordings on the Saturn, Blue Thumb, Atlantic and Impulse labels and the ‘Space Is The Place’ movie. Ra also edited the three LPs of the ‘Live In Egypt’ series which were subsequently released on his Saturn record label and its affiliated twin, Thoth Intergalactic: ‘Dark Myth Equation Visitation’, ‘Nidhamu’ and ‘Horizon’. This 4CD set features these albums alongside previously unreleased material from the December 1971 recordings. All tracks are remastered from the original tapes.

Conventional wisdom has it that saxophonist Pharoah Sanders' signature, late-1960s astral jazz recording is "The Creator Has A Master Plan" from Karma (Impulse!, 1969). But conventional wisdom is rarely to be trusted. Clocking in at an unhurried and mesmerising 32:45, "Master Plan" is certainly definitive Sanders of the time; yet "Upper Egypt And Lower Egypt," from Sanders' own-name Impulse! debut, Tauhid, recorded in November, 1966, is arguably the finest statement in his astral oeuvre.

Music For Lying Still is Chicago based composer and percussionist Tim Daisy's latest solo release. Further developing methods and ideas explored by his two previous solo efforts: 'Relucent: music for marimba, radios and turntables' (relay 012), and 'Red Nation 1' (relay 018), MFLS is the first to utilize a multi-track, multi-layered recording process to develop and shape the composition. All the sound making devices were recorded separately and then assembled and edited into one continuous, twenty-five-minute composition. Music for Lying Still is the first in a set of three releases using the studio as an integral component of the music making process. -multi-layered, mystic metaphoric, ambient, experimental low-fi gamelan drone music for people who want to lay still.