Attempts to mingle man made music and the music of nature is nothing new. Field recordings like Emil Klotsch can meld the sounds of nature with electronics effect nicely to make interesting ambient recordings. More organically, Paul Winter ’s duets with whales and wolves are fascinating new age experiments hinting that the organizing of tone and rhythm are not exclusive to humans.

Matthew Lundy, a member of Children of The Drone and recording here under A Tiny Window does something similar to the Winter experiments. BeesBirdsSaz is a collection of recordings performed in a East Kent meadow along with the sound of birds and the swarming of bees. They are delightful pastoral improvisations whether alone or accompanied by chickens. Occasionally human generated sounds like planes or cars intrude but it only emphasizes the interconnectedness of the music and the environment. Matthew’s instrument of choice is the saz, a form of Persian lute. It is an intimate sounding instrument. The birds seem to have liked it.

BeesBirdsSaz is available from the Internet Archive in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis format.

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Un Reve Nu is a new netlabel that specializes in experimental improvisational music. Their first album titled Running Away features eight tracks by Ivory Coast bassist Guillaume Viltard. These are solo efforts on the upright bass but there does appear to be some electronic effects on a few tracks. However the main attraction is Viltard’s clear virtuosity in getting a wide range of emotion and sounds from this sometimes unwieldy instrument. Another interesting musical experiment that you will never hear from the commercial music concerns.

Running Away is available in 160kbps MP3. If you like the music support the artist and netlabel by buying the limited edition CD.

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I recently reviewed Ben Stephner’s Sleeping In The Forest, an above average ambient album with ethereal guitar and electronic effects. Since then he has released a number of other albums all just as good or better. As Ben Stepner is primarily a jazz pianist I was especially excited to see two piano albums available. Music fans can now get a more rounded perspective of this talented musician.

Ben Stepner is joined by Bassist Dan Durham and drummer Matt Rousseau on Ode to NEC. This is a jazz trio album that ranges from Bill Evans-ish flourishes as heard on the ironically titled “Cecil Taylor” to more Taylor styled dissonance on “The Nature of Sound”. This is excellent jazz throughout with both Durham and Rouseau right with Stepner every step of the way.

Nineteen Pieces for Piano is also excellent and spotlights the pianist on 19 original solo piano compositions. Both albums features all original material by Stepner. Again there is a variety of sounds ranging from the blues influenced “The Cosmic Lesson” to an impressionistic “Shower”. The pianist has an impressive pallet of colors and tones. This is another excellent album and one of the best piano efforts I’ve featured on Free Albums Galore.

Lucid Dreaming and Reflections returns to ambient guitar and electronics. The albums are more in line with the earlier Sleeping In The Forest. If you looking for ambient styled soundscapes or meditative music these may be what you are looking for. As for me, I have been playing those two piano jazz albums a lot in the past few days.

The albums are in MP3 format. You can either directly download them from the links below, which were provided by permission of the artist, or you can go to the Pure Potentiality Records web site and not only download these albums but other good jazz and ambient offerings by Stepner and other artists.

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Ode To NEC
Nineteen Pieces For Piano
Lucid Dreaming
Reflections

Children of The Drone is an Exeter based musical collective of musicians devoted to totally improvised music. They have placed almost all of their sessions on the internet. Their music is pretty much unclassifiable, using all sort of instruments, traditional and modern acoustic, while borrowing from all genres. If I had to classify the music I could throw around terms like ambient, psychedelic, and psych-folk but this is the kind of music that is best listened to with no expectations. It does tend to get under your skin. There are seven compilations of sessions to choose from simply numbered one to seven. The lower numbered albums are the earlier ones. You can also download a collection of even earlier attempts at improvisations called Opthalmologist Frogspawn and a set of dub based improvisations titled Sort-Of-In-Dub. Any of them make for adventurous listening.

The COTD web site has a music page from which you can access all of their albums or you can use the links below to access them separately from The Internet Archives. Enjoy!

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Compilation 1
Compilation 2
Compilation 3
Compilation 4
Compilation 5
Compilation 6
Compilation 7
Opthalmalogist Frogspawn
Sort-Of-In-Dub

Violinist Yael Bat-Shimon’s first free and legal online album was a beautiful collection of solo improvisations released by the ARTsomerville foundation. Her second album is an equally beautiful set of solo improvisation and duets with guitarist Ariel Burger. Again, these are melodic gems highly influenced by traditional music. Burger’s classical stylings are quite complementary to Bat-Shimon’s emotional violin. The four duets are “Andalus”, “Wheat Grass”, “Improvisation in G” and “Closing”. The rest of the tracks are solo improvisations, some being very personal take-offs on traditional music including Chinese, African-American and Hebrew. This is a well-recorded live album that is well worth the listen.

You can download these exquisite tracks at Jamendo or from The Internet Archive thorough the link below. The internet archive page will give you the choice of FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, or VBR MP3 formats.

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I have always found Emil Klotzsch’s manipulations of field recordings mesmerizing but this new online album from the 12rec netlabel caught me totally off guard. Klotzsch is joined by bass clarinetist Ruediger Krey for some exquisite improvisions on the album titled Through All These Years of Trying To Belong. Klotzsch’s beautiful nature samplings goes well with his minimalist keyboard playing while Krey alternately whispers and soars over the soundscape. Some may call this ambient but it is also mindful of chamber classical music and its close cousin chamber jazz. This album dares you to sit quietly to catch all the subtleties of the music. Vocalist Frits Kitzmueller joins the duo on the last track, “I See My Own” for a stunning and surreal ending to this exceptional recording.

The album is available in 256kbps MP3.

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Trio Argentino de Bajos (The Argentine Bass Trio) is an unusual Latin jazz group for the fact it consists of three electric bass guitars. I expected a rather narrow sound but instead I was surprised by the range and the fluidity of the playing on their online album titled El orden de los bajos no altera el producto. “Baile del sol Mediterraneo” sounds as if it is two guitars and a bass rather than three basses. “Domino” is a nice jazz track while “Utopia” uses a string bass and relies on a more post-classical approach. My favorite track is the boogie jazz “Como Rata por Tirante”. By the time you listened to all 12 tracks you will have heard pretty much any type of bass and any possible way to play it. This is a talented trio that deserves more recognition.

The album is available in 320kbps from the Clinical Archives netlabel.

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While I enjoy exposing the unwitting public to experimental music, I occasionally get strange e-mail that basically states “”WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?”. I understand that music created solely from rubber bands or chaos may not be some people’s idea of the perfect concert. However I often find this extreme music quite intellectually challenging and even entertaining. Experimental music opens the ears and minds.

I said all that just to say this. Not all experimental music need to “hurt the ears” as one perplexed person stated, or even challenge your limits. Take the Italian music collective Zero Gravity Toilet as an example. ZGT is certainly experimenting but their sound is quite melodic and easy on the ears. It also is flooded with imaginative ideas, odd time signatures and other things that tells you this is no ordinary band. The three “Toilet Jams” (I’m sure the pun was intended) are the best examples of this casual improvisatory journey. Actually I’m not really sure how much is improvised and how much is structured which I consider a compliment for this type of music. This is not easily classifiable music borrowing from rock, jazz, and even the avant-garde (see Toilet Jam #3) yet there are very few “fillers” and very little waste (pun is intended). “Morning Comes” is the track that I tend to play over and over. If there is any minor complaint it is that I find some of the playing and especially the vocals a bit tentative at moments but this may just attest to the exploratory style. Overall the musicianship is strong and creative.

Antidotes for imaginary Friends is available from Jamendo in VBR MP3 format.

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The music of Zeptosound doesn’t sound all that well structured or thought out and it appears that is the way the artists like it. Described as “an informal group, producing music that’s not put together that carefully”, these musicians still place a lot of love and energy into the tracks of their self-titled album. There are many influences here: new age, jazz, classical and ECM styled improvisation a la Jan Garbarek or Carla Bley. Still, they have a casual style that should please those who like easy-going but intelligent improvisation. The oddly titled “If I Scream Will You Hate Me?” is a highlight as saxophone wanders over a repeating piano riff. This is followed by a softly played piano ballad titled “On This Day”. The music tends to be pastoral in the style of Oregon. As far as just beautiful music you can look no further than “Space + Light”. The band members are simply known as Neil, Ben, Chris and Isobel and I would have loved to known what instruments they were playing so I could give them credit, especially regarding some sensitive and moving work on woodwinds and piano. If you like your jazz and new age cooked up fresh and on-the-spot, this album will be to your liking.

The album is available in 128kbps MP3 from the band’s web site.

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This single track improvisation titled Extensions features Rafal Mazur on acoustic bass guitar and Michal Dymny on electric guitar. As with most of the Insubordination net releases, this is music that border between the jazz avant-garde and the post-modern. Both Mazur and Dymny are exceptional musicians who clearly know each others’ talent enough to have a intuitive sense of interaction bordering on the supernatural. Michal Dymny’s improvisatory excursions remind me a lot of Derek Bailey. The over 30 minutes performance stays fascinating throughout. Listeners into improvisation and exploratory music will enjoy this album.

Extensions is available in VBR MP3 around 192kbps.

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Squadra Omega is an Italian psychedelic free-form jam band that knows how to bend your ears. From the first onslaught of sax, guitars and drums on Tenebroso I was spellbound. The 20 minute single track album was recorded in one live take with an intensity that few artists can keep going for that duration. This is a free improvisation spree complete with all the mistakes and risks that make this form of live art so…well…alive. The tracks starts in full throttle and continues with an almost shamanic dedication, a full volume free jazz chant. It is The Grateful Dead, Sun Ra and Coltrane all rolled together in one night of all joy and dread abandoned. If you haven’t guessed, I love this album. This is some of the best free improvisation you will find in avant jazz and rock. This gem of a live session is brought to you by The Clinical Archives net label and is available in 320kbps MP3 format.

Rennes Le Chateau from the Vuoto net label didn’t send me waxing poetically like the former album did but it did verify my first perception that Squadra Omega is an unique and exceptional ensemble of musicians. Like Tenebroso It is a 20 minute long free-form jam that keeps your interest throughout. There’s a lot of 70s jam rock influence in this album but I find the way these artists interact and mix their influences together totally 21st century. There are traces of The Dead, electronic sampling, mid-east tonalities, free jazz, and even the ghost of Link Wray’s guitar in this jam and all of it makes sense in some musically chaotic definition of normality. I’m hooked on this band. Rennes Le Chateau is available in 320kbps MP3.

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Rennes Le Chateau
Tenebroso

Pianist Eve Risser and acoustic bass guitarist Rafel Mazur play a 22 minute piece titled Elan Vital on their same titled EP from Insubordinations. This experimental net label is always reliable for fascinating avant-garde improvisations and Elan Vital is no exception. With the work being totally acoustic, the two artists delicately weave a pattern of fragmented phrases, staccato lines, and soft tones into a fairy tale piece of art. The two musicians pluck through the session on bass and piano strings for approximately two thirds of the time, then change to bow and keyboard for a decidedly more tense interaction. It is a very interesting work that shouldn’t be too odd for the avant-garde music novice. This is another highly recommended online album from the always exploring Insubordinations net label.

Elan Vital is available in 256kbps MP3.

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One of the most exciting net labels to show up recently is Clinical Archives. There is a huge amount of music on this label which is described as the “independent netlabel for eclectic and illogical music”. Their release Clinical Jazz may be of some help in defining the music of this label but it may not be too helpful because the anthology album itself is so huge! It has over 10 hours of music and is the equivalent of 9 CDs. Once you get past the size of this collection, you will find an exceptionally consistent quality of music that is either in the jazz genre or outside the genre of jazz but beholden to the the influence of this improvisatory music. Not everything here fits my definition of jazz but that is not the point. Clinical Archives is about expanding the definition of music and that is certainly the intent in these 94 tracks from all over the globe.

This mammoth collection gets off to an astounding start on CD 1 with “Asphodel” from France’s Strings of Consciousness. This collective’s music has the feel of a soundtrack for a David Lynch film. The second track by The Black Hakawati comes a bit closer to nu-jazz with an almost weeping tenor sax solo. Model Of The Invisible’s “Bluffing The Archons” is somewhere between jazz fusion and tiki lounge while “Popsong” by Broken Quartet ends the first CD with a minimalist melody.

There ’s just too much to go through on each CD but the variety of music as well as the high quality of the artists is extremely impressive. This page from the Clinical Archives website will give you a rundown of each track. Most of these artists do not have albums on Clinical Archive which is a shame but their web sites are listed for further exploration. Here are just a few of the tracks that stands out for me. Benzolnye Mertvecys’ “V Mast” on CD 2 has a neat bit of Zappa-like chaos through it while the following “First Meeting Took Place in a Tram” by BF is crime jazz waiting to be used in a vintage Polanski film. The Greek trio of Outward Bound is one the best examples on CD 2 of more mainstream jazz yet still manages to go off in new directions.

On CD 3, Pianist Cedric Piromelli also explore mainstream jazz with a firm nod to bebop on “Bye Bye Blues” and I love the playfully teasing quality on “Satan i Uppsala” by The Stoner. CD4 has tracks from artists like BLOB, Wozzeck, and Konstrukt which could be called free jazz and the CD primarily stays in the avant garde. Much of CD 5 is also avant-garde improvisation but sounding more post classical than jazz. Check out guitarist Tony Renner’s “Irk Bee Delay” which is a nice Derek Bailey styled improv. Yuri Yaremtchuk’s “fragment ?1″ for prepared piano, Bb clarinet, tenor sax and percussion offers a bit of a Cagian perspective. By the time CD 7 begins, most of the music has gone far beyond the normal definition of jazz and is also beyond categorization but there is still a lot of exceptional music ahead. Christopher Hoffman’s avant-shredding on “Dissipative” (CD 7), Vortex’s untitled track of industrial sound on CD 8, and Joe Frawley’s meditative but sometimes disquieting “Mistress of Ceremonies”(CD 9) all attest to variety of unusual sounds to be found on this collection. It is impossible to single out every good track so if you find something you really like, feel free to mention it in the comments.

This huge collection of music is available in 320kbps MP3. If you find something you like, please use the Clinical Archive website page mentioned above to explore the artists more thoroughly and support them by buying their CDs.

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For the most part, the musical project S.N.O.W. is a quiet affair. Sound artists Federico Mosconi and Mauro Graziani creates sculptures of tones and noise. They describe the music as “sonic representations of experience and dream, expression of a moment, through life memories and towards an imaginary future” which gives a good idea of the complexity and drama that these seven tracks can deliver. Most of the music is ambient in nature but occasionally a track like “Crashing in The Snow” provides a good amount of industrial-like tension. This is an exceptional example of electronic experimentation that straddles the border between calming music and the avant-garde.

The album is available from Mauro Graziano’s web site in 128kbps MP3.

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Immersions is more of a name for a performance than an artist or group. Emile Tobenfeld is a video artist who uses multiple DVD players to create improvisatory works. For this performance entitled Immersions: Water Muisc and Other Improvisations, he enlisted the help of his friends, some from bands like Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and The Lothars, to create a free-flowing meditative work. It was performed on July 18, 2008 and is now part of Artsomerville’s prestigious collection of live performances which you can find on Artsomervilles’ page of podcasts or from the Internet Archive. There are two tracks with each being over 30 minutes. The first one is titled simply Other Improvisations and is a pleasantly lazy mix of flute, dulcimer and synthesizers. It is a meandering piece that sends you off daydreaming. The second track, in keeping with the concert’s theme of “The Secret Knowledge of Water” is titled “Water Music” and it is a stunner . It’s starts out somewhat abstract with what may be field recording samples and is then mixed with acoustic drones from the performers. The volume builds up and threatens to overwhelm. However the performance alway comes back to a meditative center making it a lesson in balancing calm and tension. The work then moves into more melodic arenas but always cautions the listener to be prepared for the unfamiliar. This is an excellent improvisatory work. The visual portion of the performance may be missing but it is still a feast for the ears.

The album is available in VBR MP3 from Jamendo, Artsomerville’s web site, or through The Internet Archive from the link below.

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The netlabel Insubordinations continues to be the hallmark of free and legal improvisational music on the internet. Their artists are always consistent in pushing the limits of acoustic improvisatory music. The trio Phat is no exception. Their album titled La Grande Peste offers 6 tracks of assaultive music that will challenge the listener but will reward those who are attentive and open minded. The saxophonist Heddy Boubaker has appeared on other Insubordination releases but is especially good on this one. He played primarily bass sax, which reminds me of Anthony Braxton who is one of the few avant-garde jazz player who regularly tackles this monstrous instrument. Having had to play the bass sax before, never voluntarily, I know how cumbersome this instrument can be. On the last track, “Ah!” Boubaker switch to the more forgiving alto saxophone and winds the album down to a quiet calm which is a bit of relief for the listener. However, on the whole, Broubaker tends to be more aggressive in the style of English saxophonist Evan Parker. Percussionist Fabien Duscombs adds to the primarly aggressive style of this album but never drowns out the other participants. It is to bassist Marc Perrenoud’s credit that he more than keeps up to the proceeding. In fact, this is a equal opportunity trio in which all participants add an important ingredient. This album is highly recommended to those who want to hear the state of the art in avant-garde jazz and improvisatory music.

La Grande Peste is available in 224kbps MP3.

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Choose To Find is actually a jazz quartet with influences as diverse as Bjork to Reich to Jarrett. This particular album is Titled Choose to Find Duo Live and features only two of the group members in a 45 minute performance from the 2008 Somerville music festival. Pianist Todd Marsten and guitarist Colin Sapp plays improvisations that are subtle and pastoral. The first improvisatory track shows a strong Keith Jarrett influence as well as the more contemporary Brad Mehldau. These four improvisations are calm but imaginative efforts that move from the calming to the inspirational and back. Highly recommended to fans of ECM styled jazz, new age, improvisation, or music leaning toward the meditative.

The album is available in FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and VBR MP3 formats.

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Violinist Yael Bat-Shimon play somber but beautiful solo improvisations that are part traditional music, part classical and very creative. The online album titled Improvisations 05.04.08 is a live performance sponsored by ARTSomerville It is a exquisite 32 minutes of solo violin. Much of Bat-Shimon’s improvising is based on Jewish traditional music so there is a slightly folksy and very lyrical quality to her music. This is an album you will want to hear over and over to catch all the subtleties.

The album is available in FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and MP3 format from the Internet Archives through the download link below. You can also get the album through Jamendo .

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Those who read my blog regularly may remember that I was impressed by the post-jazz trio Plaistow and its debut recording. The trio, consisting of painist Johann Bourquenez , bassist Raphaël Ortis , and drummer Cyril Bondi, have completed their second effort titled Do You Feel Lucky?. If you liked the first album, wait until you hear this. Plaistow has pulled out all the stops and managed to make this one of my favorite albums featured in 2008 and one of the best online jazz albums.

Plaistow takes more chances here. Starting with a salute to minimalist Steven Reich, the composition starts as a Reich-influenced piece then uses the keyboard as the pace setter while the drummer and bassist erupts with sounds that I’m not even sure how they managed to create. “Crash” is a theme played repeatedly and just when you are started to get irritated with it goes off into a improvisatory pyrotechnics display. “Aki’s Apple” is a delightful solo piano vehicle while the last track “Yap-Yap” brings the trio back for what may be the best effort on the album. All the tunes are originals which only strengthen the fact that this is a first rate jazz ensemble and a first rate album.

Do You Feel Lucky? is available in a full album zip of 256kbps MP3. The album is released through the 12rec.net netlabel.

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Ekyu’s instrumentation of alto saxophone, guitar, bass and drum may seem a bit conventional but there is nothing conventional about the improvisatory sounds coming from the four tracks on their debut album Ekyu #1. The instrumental ensemble interacts in odd ways often blurring the line between the tonal and chaotic. I especially like the way the electric guitar of Christian Graf blends with the jazz lines of saxophonist Christophe Berthet. Bassist Raphael Ortis and percussionist Cyril Bondi takes turns adding haunting accents on the opening “In Situ” or providing a pulsing avant-rock foreground on the closing “Sind sie M quarante-huit?”. This is an exciting free and legal entry in the genre of avant-garde jazz and improvisation from the always interesting Insubordinations netlabel.

The album is available in VBR MP3 at about 254 bitrate.

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Ail Fionn is a folk/traditional music duo consisting of Matthew on the saz and Inge on mandolin. For a good while Matthew and Inge were traveling musicians playing throughout Europe and The British Isles often with other local musicians or buskers. A number of their recordings documenting their in-the-field improvisations can be found at The Internet Archive’s Open Source collection. Five of the recordings span the years from 1995 to 2005. The Snailfriends albums are a collection of jams from various places and dates involving Ail Fionn and friends. These are casual on-the spot sessions. Ali Fionn plays primarily Welsh and Celtic music but all of Europe’s varied traditional musics tend to get blended in the mix. I’m not going to describe each album as they are pretty much similar except to say they are all worth a listen if you like Celtic music, instrumental traditional music, or folk. Do start with the Snailfriends collections and go from there. Ail Fionn belongs to a loose collective of musicians in Exeter, UK called Children of the Drone. So if you like the music, you might want to check out the web site and see what the other members are up to.

The albums are available in separate tracks or full album zip in either MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format.

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Sint-Niklaas, Samhain 1995
Cadamstown 1997
Sint-Niklaas, Spring 2001
Lodes, Autumn 2002
Les Hourquets, March 2005
Snailfriends 1
Snailfriends 2

Here is another issue of the audiocassette magazine Tellus, number 15 to be exact. The theme is on Improvisation and features many of the lead innovators of the avant-garde jazz and new music scene of the 80s.

Tellus’ survey of the improvisatory arts was recorded at The Stephanie and Irving Stone Festival of Improvisers in New York City on November 8, 9, and 10, 1985. The participants included John Zorn, Fred Frith, Lindsay Cooper, Carol Emmanuel, Bill Frisell and others. The first track, a duet between guitarist Chris Cochrane and Anthony Coleman on electric organ, typifies the fascinating controlled chaos that I like in the avant-garde and especially in avant-garde jazz. Henry Cow members Cooper and Frith are always creative and can be heard to good effect on tracks 3 and 5. Guitarist Frisell and Trombonist Jim Staley gives my favorite performance of the set on track 6. Finally the album ends with a bit of an all-star session the includes Zorn, Frith, Cooper, and Ikue Mori. Overall this is an interesting album of intelligent, if sometimes challenging, improvisation.

The album is available in 192kbps from Ubuweb.

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If you are looking for peaceful music for relaxation and meditation, Worrg’s free online album Oone is definitely not the one you will want. The leader of Merde Sur La Mer keeps his unfortunately brief (15 minutes) solo effort on the abrasive and manic side. Bordering on the avant garde, it still manages to remain quite accessible with snappy melodies sidestepping the heavily percussive madness. Think of an industrial Zappa or John Zorn on a rock and roll kick. This is a frantic but immensely enjoyable bit of insanity.

The EP is available from Terminal Station in 320kbps MP3.

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British composer and improviser Martin Archer presents an 80 minute performance from Krakow courtesy of the AudioTong net label. Armed with electronics, a barrage of sound loops and a sopranino saxophone, he explores every aspect of the avant-garde with ease and imagination. While utilizing drones, samples, and the usual array of tricks, this is no minimalist chill-out. Archer challenges the listener but is able to keep us interested through his wit, creativity and complexity. He starts with a looped statement, “All wars are lost” that seems to be not so much a political statement as a personal one. By the time he is finished, he has transversed industrial sounds, avant garde jazz, Celtic music, and much more. I especially enjoy his ability on the sopranino sax which makes me wonder if he have been influenced at all by the late great British saxophonist Elton Dean. This is an album that is best listened to in its entirely but if you want a track that brings the artist’s talents together, try “CC Loop”. This is a performance that never sits still and will endlessly fascinate.

The album is available in 192kbps Mp3. If you enjoy the music support the artist by buying his CDs

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Sicilian guitarist Francesco Guaiana calls his improvisatory epics “sonic walls of sound”. The first track of his online album does starts with what could be called a warm musical blanket of sound. However he develops long melodic lines that meander and explore in the later parts. Either way, Guaiana creates hard to classify improvised music that hovers between meditative new age and experimental. Guitar and electronics merge together in this live performance album titled Clouds in Motions. Francesco is aptly aided by Giacomo Merega on electric bass.

The album is presented in VBR MP3 by ARTSomerville, an organization bringing the arts to the community of Somerville, Massachusetts. They present a number of online albums through Jamendo that are well worth the time to explore.

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