There are a lot of prolific musicians hanging around the internet. Yet any artist who puts out over a hundred and forty full length albums of solo piano improvisations has to be stretching the boundaries of the meaning of “obsessional”. Fortunately, Serge Robinson has a soothing touch on the keyboard and enough virtuosity and imagination to pull it off. To be honest, I did not listen to all 147 albums, a task that is certainly beyond the call of duty. However, I listened enough to know that any of the albums will give you a hour of deep and thoughtful music, reminiscent of Keith Jarrett’s own improvisatory excursions yet mindful of classical and impressionistic influence such as Satie and Faure.

So how do I decide which of the 147 albums to feature? Randomly, of course. Here are ten albums, chosen by random yet actually listened to, that will be a nice starting point. Each album has two thirty minute improvisations. As stated, they are jazz in style yet more suited to a lazy classical mood. Just pick one and enjoy!

All albums are in VBR MP3 and available thorugh the Jamendo website. You can find a full listing of the albums on this page.

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Ma Musique Intérieure 4
Ma Musique Intérieure 14
Ma Musique Intérieure 21
Ma Musique Intérieure 42
Ma Musique Intérieure 76
Ma Musique Intérieure 80
Ma Musique Intérieure 98
Ma Musique Intérieure 114
Ma Musique Intérieure 138
Ma Musique Intérieure 147

Pianist Paolo Pavan has been previously reviewed here for his excellent jazz album titled Inside. The title refers to his fondness for mainstream tonal jazz which he continues to explore on Looking For a Way Out. Yet, as the title implies, Pavan becomes a bit more exploratory. Aside from his rather prodigious talent on keyboards, the musician also displays a gift at arranging. There is also some impressive soloing by Daniele Arena on trumpet, Davide Marinacci on tenor sax and Michele Villari on alto and soprano saxophones. If you are at all interested in modern jazz, you should like this.

The album is available in VBR MP3 format from Jamendo.

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Dazie Mae plays a form of ragtime jazz and blues mixed up in a French cabaret environment. Their full length album titled Velvet Dress and Stockings has a sexy and smoky feel spearheaded by the sultry lead vocalist Jeanne Jattiot. She reminds me of a jazzy version of Marianne Faithfull. The instrumental backing is almost perfect with snappy keyboards by Mathias Daval, guitars by Tom Lameche and bass by Serge Dejazz. Lameche’s guitar work is especially good and very different than the jazz fusion albums under his own name. While all the tracks are good, I especially enjoyed “Drink Beer (Till The Day That I Die)” and the Boss Nova influenced “Sofa”. This is a mellow and tasty debut album.

The album is available from Jamendo in 128kbps MP3. There is also a self-titled demo EP available that duplicates many of the songs from the full length album.

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Capisconne aka Ivan Kapec is a Croatian jazz guitarist and founder of the experimental band TrianguliZona. His new project, Capisonne Electro Unity, has a free online album titled Activity. It is a mellow, slowly chilled effort of smooth jazz and acid jazz. The four tracks are live recordings with no overdubbing or studio tricks. Quietly soulful, this album should smooth out the stress wrinkles after a hard day at work.

Activity is available from the Breathe netlabel in 320kbps MP3.

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Gutter Guitar is a bit of a misnomer, as guitarist Slikk Tim shows us some pretty classy moves as he nurtures his inner Grant Green. Mainly a bass player, Tim has obviously been woodshedding on the guitar for a while and regales us with this impressive retro-soul jazz album. There’s plenty of bowing to Grant Green and Kenny Burrell on this quartet outing but Slikk Tim owes no apology to anyone. It doesn’t hurt that he is ably supported by Jean-Michel Albertucci on bass, Ed Mars on Drums and Hervé ‘P-Jay’ Jacqumin on Congas. Tenor saxophonist Luc Bartoli joins the quartet on two original tracks and plays Stanley Turrentine to Tim’s Burrell. Overall, a good time was had by all and they are passing out the fun to you.

Gutter Guitar is available from RawBounce Records and can be found over at Jamendo through the link below.

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Avant-garde jazz guitarist Claudio Nunez is well represented in the netlabel scene. He has no less than six free online albums on two netlabels, MW Recordings and Clinical Archives. The Buenos Aires based musician has a sound that reminds me a little of Nels Cline yet really sounds like so one else. Definitely jazz but also influenced by Argentinian music and post-classical, these six albums are essential listening for any jazz or modern music fan.

Odd Times, Uneven Dreams may be a good place to start. The small ensemble is intimate and dream inducing. It also may be the most accessible of his albums. Nunez likes flowing lines that are quite melodic. “Nine Deceased Reds” is a fine example of this. However all six tracks contains some very creative improvisation. Barking At The Wrong Tree offers two 30 minutes tracks of free improvisations plus an original composition all played on acoustic piano. His keyboard playing is quite good. The influence of Argentinian music, especially the tango, is quite evident on this album. Both of these albums come from WM recordings.

Clinical Archives houses four additional albums. Solos Vols. 1 and 2 are solo guitar works. Again there is a fascinating mix of Latin American sounds and the avant-garde, sort of a tango guitarist dueling with Derek Bailey. Recently added to the Clinical Archive roster is Mas Cerca Del Arpa Que de la Guitarra. It is another highly recommended two tracks of solo guitar improvisations. All three of these solo albums attest to Nunez’s impressive virtuosity on his instrument

Lastly, Free Jazz on Monday, Free Jazz on Sunday, also from Clinical Archives is sort of a jam and possibly live. I’m not sure of the instrumentation on this, but I’m reasonably sure the accordion sounding instrument is a Bandoneon. This is again a nice combination of improvised jazz and the traditional music of Argentina.

All album are available in MP3 format.

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Barking At The Wrong Tree
Odd Times, Uneven Dreams
Solos 1
Solos 2
Mas Cerca Del Arpa Que de la Guitarra
Free Jazz on Monday, Free Jazz on Sunday

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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Sandro Marinoni’s Ten Little Songs from The Clinical Archive netlabel reminds me of Faberge eggs; small, mundane (eggs?..I mean…really!), but full of exquisite details and flourish. The ten tracks are short, none being over 3 minutes, yet are tiny gems of sounds. Some are repetitive, others are simple, and some do manage to soar like a song. Marinoni plays all the instruments with the exception of the Coltranish “Dark Solo” in which he is joined by pianist Andrey Kutov and were recorded between 2006 and 2009. I especially like his playing of the tenor sax on “Dark Solo” and “Requiem” yet he is more than competent on trombone (”Head Bone”) and flute (”Frame”). This album is a quiet but delectable treat.

Ten Little Songs is available in 320kbps MP3.

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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

Special Quartet from is well versed in the modern jazz of Coltrane, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, So much so that you will swear these ten tracks of sophisticated sounds came straight off an old 60s vinyl. Yet Namouche is a new album that delivers mellow urban jazz custom made for a relaxing evening. The instrumentalists all play with expertise and a respectful reverence to this classic jazz sound. Highly recommended to all jazz fans.

The album is available as a free download from Jamendo in VBR MP3 format. If you enjoy the music, support the band by purchasing the better sound quality CD.

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When it comes to odd music, I don’t shock easily but Diablo Swing Orchestra got even me off guard on its first listen. This Swedish ensemble has one of the freshest and most exciting sounds I’ve heard in a long time and they manage it through an insane combination of heavy metal, swing jazz, a traditional European music smorgabord, and a classical soprano voice that probably broke wine glasses in the studio. By the time I got through the first two tracks, I considered going to the emergency ward for the possibility of impending head explosion. There is an operatic feel throughout the tracks and an intensity that hold up marvelously through every musical twist. There are actually two vocalists, male and female, and these two work to good effect on “Rag Doll Physics”, a weird cross between Wagner and Ozzy Osbourne. Just about when I thought my head might explode, soprano and guitar make love on the gorgeous ballad “D’Angelo”. However if you really want to get the sense of this album start at the first track with “Balrog Boogie”, a full-assault barrage of swing and metal that has to be heard to believe. Other tracks all have their surprises like the Raga influenced “Gunpowder Chant” and an epic “Zodiac Virtues”. Finally, in case, you haven’t received the message that no limits are spared, Diablo Swing exits with a marvelous “Pink Noise Waltz” that offers flute and violin solos among the metal barrage, swing overtones, and the operatic power of the vocal. This soars to the top of my best free online albums of 2009 list. Actually it may be one of the best albums of 2009 of any type.

The Butcher’s Ballroom is available in VBR MP3 from Jamendo. If you like the music, support the artists by purchasing the better sound quality CD or their newest release.

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Balkan traditional music meets American swing in this infectious album titled No Money No Honey All We Got Is Us. The Underscore Orkestra is a light-hearted romp of a band that will keep your foot tapping. Some of the tracks are traditional folk dance, other are old-time jazz / swing and others are a clever combination of both. Fun and bouncy.

The album is available from the amazing Free Music Archive in 320kbps 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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The Bird Ensemble is influenced heavily from the jazz fusion and minimalist movements of the seventies. The result of this delicate combination is quite evident on their free and legal online album The Last Songbook. It is a gentle but engrossing collection of instrumental music that is melodic yet quite beautiful. It sounds highly arranged but still fresh and spontaneous. “Mr Moss” and “West Helena are two highlight tracks that should endear you to the quietly stimulating sound of this band. It is a splendid effort.

The album is freely available in 192kbps MP3 from the band’s website in 192kbps MP3. If you like the music support the artist by leaving a donation via Paypal.

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Pianist and composer Gianni Lenoci plays and conducts on this 28 minutes long album of structured improvisation titled Ephemeral #2. The composer write short fragments of music which are used as the beginning of an improvisation by the musicians in this large ensemble. The piece develops through the mutual “structuring” and interaction of the artists. The most interesting part of this piece happens in the first ten minutes which isprimarily Lenoci on piano. He has a Cecil Taylor influenced style that is complex and turbulent but quite fascinating. The ensemble doesn’t really get involved until the next two-thirds of this work when it becomes a complex example of structured chaos. It might be too chaotic for the average listener but those who like challenging music and have some knowledge of free improvisation will find this album to be a worthy addition to their collection.

The album is available from the Insubordination net label in 256kbps MP3.

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Beyond Absence is an acoustic jazz duo consisting of pianist Gustavo Caldas and guitarist Mauro Longordo. This is jazz of the pastoral and serene. Their album titled Complacency is a peaceful improvisational journey that can be as light as a feather yet deeply moving. The melodies often move in slow motion yet the playing of this duo remain fluid and translucent. This album is an highly recommended listening experience for anyone who appreciate the art of music.

Complacency is from Webbed Hand Records and is available in 128kbps MP3.

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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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Crete Boom is an Irish Swing Revival / R&B group that benefits from a tight group of musician and a talented vocalist. Their main weakness appears to be the tendency to throw in too many influences and genres in their two online albums giving an uneven feel and a sense that they haven’t yet found their sound. The jazz and R&B based numbers are where this group blossoms. “The Choicest Cuts” on the album Navy and Grey is a joyous swing piece that shows off the band well. I also enjoyed “Broken Teeth”, a jazz rock jam that offers some nice improvisation in its eight minute duration.

The newer Ne’er Do Well has a similar unevenness but the artistry of these tracks still make it worth while. The opening “Sleeper” has a psychedelic influence while the following “Helpless” invokes Motown. The R&B is heavier on the EP which makes it my favorite of the two. The title track is a real joy, the kind of cooker that makes passive sitting and listening impossible and causes your whole body to move. The next two tracks do not fare as well but it all ends with a rousing “The Confidence Trick”. When Crete Boom is exploring its love for Rhythm and Blues, the group comes together like a well oiled machine. This band has a great sound but just need a more focused direction.

Both albums can be found on Jamendo in VBR MP3 format.

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Navy and Grey
Ne’er Do Well

Tracing Arcs has an unusual but pleasing sound. While trip-hop in design and jazz in concept, there is a sense of free association in their album titled Fin. Luscious female vocals almost ramble in their lyrics and often the song ends abruptly rather than resolve. The result is a dream-like soundscape that lulls you into a trance, and a pleasant one at that. One of the more interesting aspect of the band is the use of an acoustic bass that gives a jazz-like grounding to some tracks. It works especially well on “A Pig & a Cow” and “Desperate Measures”. Another favorite track is the rather heady “Crytalk”. This is an exceptional album of sensuous sounds.

The album is available from Dusted Wax Kingdom in 320kbps MP3.

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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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Eugene Lee has proven he is a talented artist in the avant-garde circles with his last free online album titled Srivbanacore but this time he’s doing something that is a bit different. On Meditations, he is entering an area that has been explored by such jazz legends as John Coltrane and Tony Scott but rather than simply creating music for meditation, Lee is probing what goes on during the act, the deep and serene calm but also the busy traffic of thought that always emerge in the practitioner as he learns this skill. With the exception of “Nightmare” this is a solo endeavor using some electronic enhancement and overlays. It is a tour de force of saxophone virtuosity yet becomes more than fancy playing. Being a daily meditator myself, I really sense Lee has succeeded in his goal. “Candles” is a beautiful array of slow melodic lines while “Conscience” and “Locus” deftly displays that turbulence in the mind that is always there. “Immortality” is a haunting three minutes of echoes and drones. “Nightmare” is the odd man out, a quartet number with pianist Ben Stepner, bassist Robin Betton and Brent Raskind on drums. It gives you a peek at what Lee is normally up to and it is a marvelous bit of ensemble playing but still sounds a bit out of place here. This album may be an experiment but it is a fairly successful one.

Meditations is available in 192kbps MP3.

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I take a certain perverse pride as finding bizarre comparisons for the albums I review but Blue Swerver’s own description of their music being “Chet Baker meets Massive Attack by way of Paul Simon” beats any thing I can come up with. Frankly I don’t see the Massive Attack link, except for perhaps the cryptic track titled “Puzzles”, as this music is closer to mellow jazz and folksy ballads but the Chet Baker and Paul Simon mention is dead on. I would also add that the band’s hip and casual witticism ( listen to “At The Movies”) reminds me quite a bit of Michael Franks. There is a nice marriage of intellectual lyrics and cool jazz throughout this pleasant album. I suspect I will be playing this a lot during the next few weeks.

The album is available in 192kbps MP3 from our good friends at Jamendo.

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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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Latche Swing is a swing jazz quintet out of Rouen, France that successfully attempts to emulate the great Gypsy Jazz sound of the Quintette du Hot Club de France which prominently featured the great guitar and violin combination of Django Rheinhardt and Stephanne Grappelli. However Latche Swing changes the instrumentation a bit by substituting the sound of soprano saxophone for violin. The personnel consists of Facundo Fernandez on soprano sax, Bertrand Tailleux on lead guitar, Remi Pacault on rhythm guitar and Nicolas Beucher on bass. “Hungaria” and “Sweet Georgia Brown” are especially nice romps in the early swing style but all the tracks are worthwhile. All musicians are exceptional too but I really like Fernandez who shows off a smidgen of Sidney Bechet in his soprano sax sound. A delightful 24 minutes of music anyway you swing it.

Demo 2008 is available from Jamendo in VBR MP3.

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Somewhere Off Jazz Street is a an oddly named band. Although certainly using plenty of elements of jazz in their music, they don’t really swing and have a somewhat mournful, almost funereal sound. But it’s an interesting sound like the calm before the storm or a blues dirge. They are also a little mysterious as no personnel listing can be found on the site. It is hard to say whether this is good ensemble playing or just darn good mixing. There is a good amount of electronics and keyboard but the defining sound is a strong and steady jazz saxophone. This is what keeps it from being just another downtempo jazz hybrid.

There are four free and legal albums available from their site. Greetings From the End has some of the more mellow offerings. “Where The Living Ain’t Easy” takes a modified first line from “Summertime” and go off on its own. “Pawns of the Game” has a more acid jazz feel. Road To Somewhere is decidedly more modern and flirts with the avant-garde. The opening “And The Angels Said” has a nice built amount of tension throughout while “Enter Orbit” allows the project to try out a little free playing.

The other two albums are Saxophone 1.1 and Stories From Midnight Street, both offering the same cool but somber style. “Back to The Cool” from Saxophone 1.1 has a ultra-hip sound that borrows a bit from Miles Davis experiments in the 70s. Stories From Midnight Street is my favorite album for its film noir feel. If anyone decides to do a 21st century of the TV series Naked City this would be the soundtrack.

All four albums are available in 128kbsp MP3. Unfortunately there is no way to get a higher quality CD. However, if you enjoy the music, support the artist by giving them a donation.

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Road to Somewhere
Greetings From The End
Saxophone 1.1
Stories From Midnight Street