Saxophonist Gebhard Ullmann might be the German equivalent of Chicago's Ken Vandermark. Both players are influential composers and both maintain multiple creative ensembles in Europe and the United States. Like Vandermark, Ullmann's catalog is vast. Hat And Shoes is his 50th release as a leader or co- leader, and this band Basement Research have put out seven titles. Similar to the now defunct Vandermark 5, Basement Research's quintet features a smart balance between composed and improvised music. Ullman's choice of sidemen has included saxophonists Ellery Eskelin, Tony Malaby, and now Julian Argüelles, with trombonist Steve Swell, bassist Pascal Niggenkemper and drummer Gerald Cleaver.

Named in tribute to late trumpeter Kenny Wheeler (after a Wheeler tune from the album Angel Song), Kind Folk has grown into a formidable force. Trumpeter/flugelhornist John Raymond, alto saxist Alex LoRe, bassist Noam Wiesenberg and drummer Colin Stranahan have diverse credits as leaders, sidepeople, arrangers and teachers, and though scattered around the country, were able to come together in Brooklyn and cut second album Head Towards the Center in a single day. Unsurprisingly, given the level of talent and experience involved, nothing here sounds rushed despite the tight turnaround.

Amaryllis is a sextet which filters Halvorson’s compositional explorations of melody, harmony and counterpoint through the lens of six master improvisers, arranged in a way that allows for the music to unfold differently every time. The brand-new sextet features Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Nick Dunston (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums). The Mivos Quartet joins for half of the music, forming a unique tentet and making this Halvorson’s largest project to date. The music bridges many musical influences and genres from jazz, experimental, new music, and beyond.

Belladonna is a set of compositions written specifically for Halvorson on guitar plus The Mivos Quartet: Olivia De Prato (violin), Maya Bennardo (violin), Victor Lowrie Tafoya (viola), and Tyler J. Borden (cello). This is Halvorson’s first time writing for String Quartet. Six through-composed compositions for Mivos spin Halvorson’s compositional voice in a fresh context, and the music is augmented by Halvorson’s guitar throughout, adding elements of chance and improvisation to the music.

Guitarist Bill Frisell has become well-known for his eccentric and highly versatile style. Able to sound like Jim Hall, a heavy metal player, or a Nashville studio guitarist at a moment's notice, Frisell has created sounds on the guitar that have never been heard before. This CD uses a rather unusual instrumentation, a quartet comprised of Frisell, trumpeter Ron Miles, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes and Eyvind Kang, who doubles on violin and tuba. Ten of the 13 Frisell originals on the release were originally written for films (including one for Gary Larson, "Tales from the Far Side," and one for a Buster Keaton movie "Convict 13"), and the resulting music is tightly arranged yet spontaneous, episodic, and sometimes a bit nutty, but also strangely logical…

On his second release for ECM New York-based saxophonist Oded Tzur introduces a heightened sense of urgency and a conceptually augmented approach to his distinctive voice, weaving one underlying musical idea through a series of elaborate and impassioned designs. The quartet’s lineup is unchanged from 2020’s Here Be Dragons and the group’s interplay has grown even more expressive in the meantime. Throughout Isabela the saxophonist and his collaborators – pianist Nitai Hershkovits, Petros Klampanis on bass and rhythm conjurer Johnathan Blake – apply their subtle dialect in a more intense space, exploring the nuances and colors of Oded’s self-fashioned raga in a suite-like sequence of quiet meditations and powerful exclamations. The remarkable session was captured in Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo in September 2021 and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick (Portico Quartet) launches new collaborative project with saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands).

This compilation taken from two seminal albums in the history of Eastern European jazz - particularly in what used to be Yugoslavia - is a welcome find in the bins of the United States and England. Saxophonist Tone Jansa is a giant of a man, and a saxophonist who has much in common with both Pharaoh Sanders and the giant who influenced him, John Coltrane. This quartet made a total of five records, and one in quintet and sextet settings. But the two that are referred to here should be reissued in their entirety. Oh well, what can ya do? The first two tracks of this outrageously beautiful, spiritually motivated open modal jazz is from the Tone Jansa Jazz Kvartet disc on RTB in 1976, and the last four are from the Tone Jansa Kvartet disc on the same label from 1978…

Jazz is often at its best when musicians come to a live performance without preplanning a set, which is the case when David Liebman recorded this trio set at a Belgium club called De Singer in 2008. With the strong support of bassist Marius Beets and drummer Eric Ineke, Liebman tackles five blues either written or recorded by John Coltrane, starting with a breezy, playful version of Miles Davis' "All Blues" that swings like mad, with the soprano saxophonist making great use of space and taking the piece far beyond its usual horizon. Liebman's free-ranging exploration of Coltrane's infrequently recorded "Village Blues" is a welcome addition to his discography, as the leader shows a bit of the master's influence in his powerful, avant-gardish soprano solo…

2 Blues For Cecil features three legends of modern improvised music, trumpeter Enrico Rava, bassist William Parker and drummer Andrew Cyrille. Rava and Cyrille are among the elders of improvised music with their careers going back to the 1960s whereas Parker rose to prominence during New York's loft jazz era of the 1970s. The three musicians share one major link in their respective careers. Namely, they all have, at various times, been members of Unit or other ensembles of another legend, the late pianist Cecil Taylor. Enrico Rava, William Parker and Andrew Cyrille first performed together as a trio in tribute to Cecil Taylor, with Taylor himself present, at the Whitney museum in April 2016 as part of an exhibit/program under the heading "Open Plan: Cecil Taylor." 2 Blues For Cecil was recorded on February 1 and 2 at Studio Ferber in Paris following the trio's concert on December 31, 2020 under the heading "Tribute to Cecil Taylor" as part of the Sons D'Hiver festival in Paris.

“Who Do You Love The Most?” is the young trio’s third album in just over four years, and continues in the tradition of their two previous efforts; beautiful and evocative melodies, rich on harmonies, often rhythmically complex textures and a typically folk-like Scandinavian character with the occasional gospel feel. The album’s 10 songs are all Mulelid originals, except for a gripping cover of Judee Sill’s The Archetypical Man. Two of the originals are the trio’s versions of songs that first appeared on the pianist’s much lauded solo piano album (“Piano”) from last year. Kjetil André Mulelid (31) comes across as an exceptionally mature pianist and composer. The trio’s 2017 debut “Not Nearly Enough To Buy A House” received wide international acclaim, with writers most typically mentioning Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans. The praise continued for 2019’s follow-up “What You Thought Was Home”, with the Jazz Journal giving it a 5/5 rating and calling it “some of the most captivating music I´ve heard in quite some while”. All About Jazz noted the maturity of the work, feeling like coming from three well-seasoned pros.

The strength of these pieces by American composer Keeril Makan is that they fall outside the boxes of minimalism, abstract electronic music, and world-influenced styles. The word visceral keeps coming up in his descriptions of his own music, which revels in sheer sound and proceeds in large, physical gestures with, Makan says blithely, "no formal logic other than careful attunement to what the ear and body dictate." Paradoxically, though, it's full of surprises. The three works on the album all fall loosely under the chamber music banner and are all recognizably by the same composer, but each has a different method.

To commemorate the 10th year since the passing of esteemed British jazz composer, bassist and bandleader Graham Collier, My Only Desire Records presents this 1975 recording of his previously unreleased suite 'British Conversations'.