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JOACHIM KÜHN - Out Of The Desert (2009)
Boundary busting and inventive though it was, Kalimba (ACT, 2007)—the first album by German pianist Joachim Kuhn, Moroccan vocalist and guembri player Majid Bekkas, and Spanish drummer Ramon...
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BOBO STENSON TRIO - Cantando (2008)
Cantando marks the second time in as many albums that pianist and composer Bobo Stenson is making a personnel change in the drum chair of his trio. For many jazz artists this wouldn't even be a major...
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BILL BRUFORD with RALPH TOWNER & EDDIE GOMEZ - If Summer Had Its Ghosts (1997)
On If Summer Had Its Ghosts, a primarily acoustic trio recording, drummer Bill Bruford, bassist Eddie Gómez, and pianist/guitarist Ralph Towner create some lush, wondrous, spontaneous and melodic...
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MARION BROWN - Afternoon of a Georgia Faun (1970)
Difficult as it may be for younger listeners to believe, there was a time when ECM released adventurous improvised music. Back near its inception in the early '70s, the label issued a wide variety and...
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RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA - Codebook (2006)
Codebook is led by altoist Rudresh Mahanthappa but the quartet is very much a democracy, even if Mahanthappa contributed all of the selections. Bassist François Moutin and drummer Dan Weiss are both...
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ANTHONY BRAXTON - Performance (Quartet) 1979
An Anthony Braxton Quartet concert that took place at the Jazz Festival Willisau on September 1, 1979. The quartet on this release lasted only a short time. Besides Anthony Braxton on all things reed...
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MARC DUCRET - Le sens de la marche (2007)
Marc Ducret has gained a cult following for his virtuosic skills mainly in small ensembles and solo settings -- recordings during the 1990s and 2000s have featured the guitarist unaccompanied on...
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CHET BAKER - Daybreak (1979)
This follow-up to The Touch of Your Lips also has the trumpeter/vocalist joined by guitarist Doug Raney and bassist Niels Pedersen but differs in that the repertoire (Jimmy Heath's "For Minor's Only,"...
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NIELS HENNING ØRSTED - Those Who Were (1996)
Tracks1. Our Love Is Here To Sat (Gershwin)2. Derfor Kan Vort Øje Glaedes (Carl Nielssen/arr. NHØP)3. With Respect (NHØP)4. Those Who Were (NHØP/Liza Freeman)5. Friends Forever (NHØP)6. The Puzzle...
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Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen - Ambience (1993)
A virtuoso who mostly played in bop-oriented settings, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen was in great demand since he was a teenager. One of many superb European bassists to emerge during the 1960s,...
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DEREK BAILEY - The Music Improvisation Company (1970)
Derek Bailey is a seminal figure in the development of British free improv, and although this is one of Bailey’s earliest recordings, it houses much of what he would come to be known for: microscopic...
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DEREK BAILEY - Standards (2007)
In 2002 Bailey released one of his most unusual CDs, Ballads (Tzadik), a solo performance with him freely improvising on standards. This is a second installment, though this recording actually precedes...
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KENNY WHEELER - Gnu High (1976)
When Kenny Wheeler expatriated from his native Canada to England, it was not headline news. But upon the release of Gnu High, he became a contemporary jazz figure to be recognized, revered and admired....
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NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN & PHILIP CATHERINE - The Viking (1983)
After countless sessions for Norman Granz's Pablo label as a sideman (including with Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass), bassist Niels Pedersen finally had an opportunity to lead his own Pablo date in 1983....
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MUSIC INC. & BIG BAND (1971)
The remarkable Music, Inc. Big Band remains the apotheosis of trumpeter Charles Tolliver’s singular creative vision. Rarely if ever has a big band exhibited so much freedom or finesse, while at the...
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PETER ERSKINE, NGUYÊN LÊ, MICHEL BENITA - ELB (2001)
Guitarist Nguyen Le has become the Parisian equivalent of Bill Frisell: a "changes player" who is not averse to kicking on nasty effects pedals or playing simply and folksy when the tune merits. But on...
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JOE MANERI QUARTET - In Full Cry (1997)
"This is the stuff of legend", wrote Die Zeit of Joe Maneri's ECM debut Three Men Walking, released in 1996, and other journals were quick to echo the sentiment. Subsequently, the album - also...
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JIM HALL - In Berlin. It's Nice To Be With You (1969)
Jim Hall recorded this trio session with expatriate bassist Jimmy Woode and one of Europe's top drummers, Daniel Humair, during a 1969 visit to Berlin. At first "Up, Up and Away," a Jimmy Webb...
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JANE IRA BLOOM - The Nearest (1988)
If forced to choose between this eminently thoughtful soprano saxophonist's writing and improvising, I'd have to say it's her original tunes that might keep me coming back. Not that there's anything...
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PERICO SAMBEAT - Adamus (1995)
Perico Sambeat, an overlooked Spanish altoist and composer, recorded this album in 1995 with the help of future superstars Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Mark Turner. Michael Leonhart, the...
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