Jazz

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 11, 2026 at 4:00 am

By Lee Rice Epstein As a writer, researcher, musician, composer, and artist in the public sphere, Melvin Gibbs seems to have been working towards something like How Black Music Took Over the World for while now—a synthesizing work that brings together personal history, polemic, Black music made in and beyond America both under and in spite of a racialized cultural hierarchy, and the heartbreak and joy that come with learning and acknowledging this shared (like it or not) history. How that synthesis enacts itself on paper is one of Gibbs’s particular skills, his melding of register (as he lays out in the Prelude) replays his musical practice. An open reader who lets the book take over will be, I think inarguably, rewarded. One of the key areas that’s under-discussed in literature, as far as I’m aware, which Gibbs both personally and academically goes over in the book is the Gullah-Geechee, the community rooted in the Sea Islands, along the Georgia and Florida coast. In the chapters “Stono’s Children” and “Changing Time With the Times,” Gibbs recounts his discovery of his Gullah heritage, then takes readers on a fascinating journey of the elemental components of rhythm, from ring shout, hambone, swing, and backbeat, to dub. What works pretty well in idea—merging registers, mixing personal memoir with rhythmic analysis—plays out (pardon the unintentional pun) wonderfully on paper. From an extended rhythmic analysis in “Stono’s Children,” Gibbs drops us right into a Harriet Tubman rehearsal. In a later chapter “Can’t Stop,” Gibbs breaks down a specific rhythm he’s dubbed the “lunch table cell,” then demonstrates its use in school lunch ad libs, James Brown’s “Soul Power,” Fela Kuti’s “Shakara,” and Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks.” There’s a joy in taking all this in, and the infectious enthusiasm Gibbs seems to take in sharing the rhythms and ideas he’s studied and generated. “The Music of Black Science” demonstrates the linkage from mythos developed through sharing stories to cosmologies that underpin systems of belief, math, science, and artistry. As a somewhat mystical rumination on West African frameworks, and what Gibbs describes as an ontology of Black music. The ensuing pages explore mythologies, fables, and physics through the lens of oral communication and visualization. It’s one of the chapters I’ve dipped back into multiple times, letting myself drift to and fro, which doesn’t seem to contradict Gibb’s intent. However intentional, or not, How Black Music Took Over the World is in conversation with two crucial writers and researchers in this area, Race Music by Guthrie Ramsey and Blacksound by Matthew Morrison. Ramsey’s been in the space for over 30 years building up a compelling and provocative (for me, personally, I’m using this word in terms of “provoking intellectual thought and reflection”) body of work, and Morrison’s Blacksound is the kind of seminal work that hopefully becomes required reading for anyone seeking to understand the acoustical aspects of blackface minstrelsy that became the bedrock of the recording industry. Much like Gibbs’s assembly of evidence showing Black performance and foundational rhythms permeating styles and genres, Morrison demonstrates how Blacksound (re-)centers the ephemeral sonic and performance aesthetics that were capitalized on by early white adopters of vaudeville and dance. While no single author can be expected to cover all aspects of a topic, there are areas Gibbs elides or leaves out of his narrative that are readily picked up in these two—and, yes, many other—books, which an earnest reader is encouraged to also seek out.  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 10, 2026 at 6:00 am

By Hrayr Attarian To say that a work starts with a bang is a cliché, yet Boca De Acero definitely has an explosive intro. Not only that, the momentum on this five-movement duet remains taut till the final note. A collaboration between two singular musicians, the Argentinian vocalist Ines Terra and Uruguayan guitarist Santiago Bogacz, this album is entirely improvised and demonstrates a seamless camaraderie between them. This abstract, cinematic conversation has a shifting mood and thrilling twists and turns within the underlying harmonic narrative. Track “1” opens with fiery, angular guitar strums and Terra’s wordless vocal acrobatics. Terra makes her shouts and cries bounce off Bogacz’s strings with dramatic flair. The guitarist weaves a dense and dynamic soundscape around Terra’s chants. [Text Wrapping Break]Despite embracing dissonance, the pair maintains a subtle lyricism throughout their exchanges. The darkly hued “2” brims with mysticism. Terra’s rising and falling voice hauntingly floats over Bogacz’s sparse chords. The refrains that evolve with each repetition have a ritualistic feel, almost like the ceremonial liturgy of a long-forgotten ancient rite. With “3” the somber mood continues, becoming quieter and more nocturnesque. Terra softly whispers, and Bogacz plucks single notes that underscore the serenity of the mood. Their conversation takes on a sublime theatricality. Meanwhile, on “4” the two artists fully embrace mysticism as her throat singing and his hypnotic strums ebb and flow against a quiet backdrop, ending on a passionate note. The fifth piece features synthesizer sounds that distort the emotive and stimulating improvisation, creating a delightfully otherworldly atmosphere. The burgeoning piece melds the organic quality of the human voice with sharp, acerbic electronic vamps for a performance that is simultaneously stimulating and eerie. With Boca De Acero, Terra and Bogacz have undertaken a successful sonic experiment that is provocative and moving. It is also a much-needed glimpse into South America’s vibrant improvisational scene. That, much like the recording’s creators of this album, is unique, expressive, and fearless. Boca de acero by Inés Terra + Santiago Bogacz  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 9, 2026 at 4:00 am

This past month, the duo XENOFOX — Olaf Rupp on electric guitar and Rudi Fischerlehner on drums — performed at the Jazzgalerie Nickelsdorf during the 46th edition of Konfrontationen. Held under the motto ‘A Tribute to Hans Falb’ in honor of the festival’s founder, who passed away in December 2025, this year’s program carried an added weight: this edition may be the festival’s final one.  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 8, 2026 at 4:00 am

By Brian Earley Tempus fugit . A number of up and coming adventurous saxophonists who once surprised with their original voices suddenly, it seems, have been around for quite a while now. Immanuel Wilkins, Stacy Dillard, and Caleb Wheeler Curtis, the subject of this review, by now have expansive discographies. Wheeler’s album The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery was listed as a top album of 2024 on the Free Jazz Collective by one reviewer. Ritual, for goodness sakes, is the multi-instrumentalist’s sixth album as a leader . And it’s so easy to lose track and just call a musician “new.” A case study for mistaken novice is the pianist on this record, the legendary Orrin Evans. Evans had anchored the Philadelphia jazz scene and had been a mainstay in New York’s jazz community for decades when he won Downbeat’s Rising Star award. It was great for the maestro to get some long overdue recognition, but remains one of the most baffling episodes in the history of that magazine’s historic poll. Evans after all, by that point, was already serving in a mentor capacity to Caleb Wheeler Curtis, signing him to Imani Records. Ritual advances the narrative even more, as this is the first album as a leader Curtis has recorded for a label other than Imani, going this time with Chill Tone Records. Ritual is a beautifully free-roaming album that is somehow simultaneously tightly controlled. For me, there are two standout tracks on this album: the first, “Fantasmas,” and the last, the title track “Ritual.” “Fantasmas” is a wonderful rubato ballad for which Curtis composes a traditional AABA theme. Despite the thematic jacket, the piece just meanders and floats in a sea of rhythm and atmospherics. The rhythm is largely thanks to drummer Michael Sarin, who on this album often chooses not to simply play time. The atmospherics are mainly the result of a stunningly powerful guitar performance by Emmanuel Michael. Together, Sarin and Michael remind me of the ECM Paul Motion and Bill Frisell albums. Joe Lovano often was the horn player on those ECMs, while here Caleb Wheeler Curtis’s tone is much more hard edged, made a little sharp and prickly by his saxophone of choice: the stritch. Wheeler’s website cites possibly a more accurate reference point: Wheeler “draws from a wide range of influences including progressive bop and post-Coltrane/Ornette free improvisation.” Actually, one might say a song like “Fantasmas” is like Ornette Coleman playing with Liberty Ellman. “Ritual” is a stunning composition that leaves bold seams of silence intact throughout. After a mournful eight note melodic line, this time featuring Curtis on trumpet, multi-instrumentalist Henry Paz on flute, and Vincente Archer bowing the double bass, the band stops playing for a full four seconds–and this four seconds of silence contains so much weight and power as I listened for when, or if, the band would return. These gaps are slowly filled in by the musicians: first Curtis on saxophone, then Sarin on drums, and finally Emmanuel Michael’s guitar. The album, I should note, is more straight ahead than some followers of the FJC may want it to be. While there is tremendous freedom on the record, even those who loved The True Story of Bears may find Ritual to be quieter and tamer by comparison. And don’t mistake my point, I love the two tunes referenced above, but this album is filled with beautiful songs (check out “Florence,” “Pond,” and “The End of Power,” for instance). The Bandcamp page for Ritual says Caleb Wheeler Curtis “celebrates the ritual and practice of communal music making,” and this should appeal to those of us who love this music not so much for its virtuosity, but for the kind of world it imagines and makes possible. A ritual provides solace through routine. I would like to imagine our world in such dedicated practice of community that doing so becomes routine. Ritual can be ordered here: https://calebwheelercurtis.bandcamp.com/album/ritual Ritual by Caleb Wheeler Curtis  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 6, 2026 at 4:00 am

By Nick Ostrum For All Your Flowers does not check the usual boxes for my reviews. It is not free jazz or avant garde. It does not really stretch the boundaries, or fuse unlike elements, or shattered the eardrums. Nor is it quiet, or phased, or whatever other attributes I often ascribe to experimental music. What is more, it is guaranteed to get due attention in a variety of other music publications and will likely come to listeners’ ears regardless of what I write. Still, For All Your Flowers presents a blend of crystalline beauty and pastoral expansivism that I find irresistible right now. It captures warm feelings of nostalgia that I have been pining for lately. And it is good music. None of this should be shocking. Both Bill Frisell and Skúli Sverrisson have catalogs that run decades of years back and albums deep. They have earned their reputations, and I am not sure For All Your Flowers is as much a departure or venture into new pastures than a continuation of the styles and sounds Frisell and Sverrisson have already made their own. As points of comparison, one could include Frisell’s mid-1990s collaborations with Gary Peacock, which are generally more abstract, or the 2021 Sverrisson-Frisell duo Strata, which occupies similar sonic space, but is glitterier. In terms of feeling, however, Charlie Haden and Hank Jones’ 1994 Steal Away , a collection of masterfully performed and unadorned southern spirituals, comes to mind as a reference point. Differences, of course, abound. For one, the songs on For All Your Flowers are primarily penned by Sverrisson, rather than unknown American authors and communal groups of generations prior. The instrumentation is also different with the commonality of bass and the substitution of electric guitar for upright piano. (And Sverrisson and Haden are very different bassists.) However, For All Your Flowers hits me in the same visceral and mistily wistful way. The folky melodic simplicity, the spaces of controlled adornment, and the impressionistic imagery of the hinterland are all there, as is that sense of a time and place past, regardless of where or whether they actually existed. Owning that ambiguity is, of course, what the best art can do. It takes the listener away to a fantasy land to experience vicariously, through sound, image, or narrative, something new and apart from their own lifeworld. Sverrisson and Frisell achieve that, not through uncompromising innovation or eccentric displays of virtuosity, but a shared sense of melody, vision of space. and untouchable precision. For All Your Flowers is available via Newvelle Records as part of the Newvelle Ten collection.  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 5, 2026 at 4:00 am

By Sammy Stein  Some musicians seem destined to play together at some point. Not always at the beginning of their careers, but as their music develops, it feels as if their paths are compelled to cross. Gustafsson and Pohjonen have been in the other’s orbit for some time, but it took a suggestion from Bogdan Benigar that the duo perform together at the 2024 Ljubljana Music Festival to provide the impetus and foundation of a pairing that has since enlivened stages at events such as the Tampere Jazz Happening in 2024, where their energised performance impressed audiences. Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen plays the accordion in ways you would not imagine. He creates music that changes how the instrument is viewed. With roots in regional folk and classical music, Pohjonen is also influenced by rock and punk. He has written string music for the acclaimed Kronos Quartet and played in the art-rock band KTU alongside King Crimson percussionist Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn. Pohjonen uses accordions with additions to create enhanced effects, and his delivery has revolutionised accordion music and visual performances. He has, in effect, created a genre of his own, with the accordion at its heart. For the last thirty years, he has toured the world, taking part in events, festivals, and playing in different venues. His solo 5-row accordion project featured extreme and original compositions with effects and performances with lights and sounds. His custom-made accordion, along with his imaginative playing, has given him a renown as one of music’s most intriguing characters. He has released several albums and toured extensively in Europe, Asia, and America.   Swedish musician Mats Gustafsson needs little introduction to improvised music appreciators and is also known for his experimental music, his diversions into punk, rock, classical, and his dynamic performances. He has composed for orchestras, created solo recordings, and toured extensively, as well as being a writer for jazz magazines. Both musicians have strong stage presence and dynamic personalities, yet each is capable of pulling back to leave space. Their strong personalities could see them clash, but they also have the altruism and connection to others that true musicians possess, so as a duo, they create music both individual to each musician and that stands as duo work. Their similarities and differences combine to create a connection where they are pushed to excel beyond their normal range. It is clear from this recording that ‘Two Balls Are Enough’ brings together kindred spirits, each of whom contributes equally. Gustafsson told me, “The duo was initiated by Bogdan Benigar, a mutual friend of Pohjonen and me. I have admired Kimmo for years. He may be slightly from another side of the improvised music spectrum, but the energy he is playing with is very appealing. He has amazing levels of energy, and the vibe and feel of the music is one hundred percent 100 % DIY. We are both the same age, and both spring from punk rock in our teens. Our stupid interest in ice hockey and saunas unites us even more. This is just the beginning. The way Kimmo is using samplers and electronics with his accordion is heaven-sent.” Both appreciate the capabilities of their instruments but embrace technology and effects that enhance and work with the sonic measurements of their instruments. Since that inspired curation in 2024, they have been blending their sound worlds, and ‘Two Balls are Enough’ is their first album out on Trost Records. The opener, ‘Ice Heaven’ is a fierce, sparking, energy-laden piece, with intricate, heavy rhythmic patterns, backed by harmonics between the two musicians that bind and create a wholeness to the divergent patterns. Gustafsson unleashes a stentorian solo, while Pohjonen maintains harmonies and high-energy, powerful lines behind. The unified lines are loud, forceful, and incredibly effective in contrast. ‘Magna’ combines chords from the accordion with electronics and screaming effects across a pounding, intense litany of rhythms. A piece of three sections, divided by total silences, this is an intriguing listen. And wholly irreverent. ‘Snow.Linat’ is gentle, with Gustafsson’s flute floating, whispering over the constantly shifting soundscape foundation. Some sections feel powerful and intense, with the flute slashing through, contrasting with emotive, delicate sections, where the accordion’s voice sings, adorned with breathy vocal tones. The sudden shift to a powerful, pithy solo from the sax is gorgeous, and the intensity becomes palpable. The title track is a messy, joyful, eclectic mix of pops, whistles, accordion chords, and electronic effects, into which Gustafsson’s flute weaves and dives. The track sums up the essence of the album, distilled into just over two minutes of chaotic mayhem, while ‘Its Body Falls Open’ is a tinkling, high-pitched maelstrom of swirling sounds and effects, topped by Gustafsson’s eccentric sax playing and jittering accordion, with ‘Worn Out Words’ providing more of the same. ‘Slow Down The Beating’ is a track that creates deep impact. It has gentleness, with the flute introducing a melodic section before a percussive deluge of changing patterns. This is backed by intricate beats and rhythms, and a development into a raw, pared-back piece with some beautiful rhythmic clashes and dynamic changes over a steady background beat. ‘Naga’ is an exemplar of interaction between two minds with chaotic intent, yet a definitive directive, the result of which is a confident exchange of ideas, manifestations and rhythms that rise and fall, creating an engaging listen. The musical foundations shape-shift, creating powerful imagery and an aural dynamism that evokes spirit. The tautness of the atmosphere is tempered with melodic lines from Gustafsson, as well as his fulgurating, strident phrasing. “Backengrillen 1” (maybe named after the punk band Gustafsson plays in) creates epic grandeur yet is surprisingly intimate and filled with rustic beauty. The repeated melody on the sax intensifies and provides a gentler interlude before Gustafsson varies the phrasing, and all the while the rapid accordion runs provide a tight but moving backdrop. Gustafsson and Pohjonen have been touring regularly over the last couple of years, and the release of ‘Two Balls are Enough’ demonstrates the powerful connection these two musicians have. I commented to Gustafsson that the accordion was not an instrument I really liked – until I heard this. His response was, “Same here - it was never my favourite instrument, but after working with Kimmo, and also some insane Norwegian players: Kalle Moberg, and Ida Lövli (fantastic!) and Frode Hatli - I had to change my mind. It is a funny instrument!. I never thought I would work seriously with anyone playing it, but ha!” (Moberg has recorded with Nilssen Love, Hakion thelin and many more, Lovli recorded her debut album Skumring (Twilight) on Lawo Classics, and Hatli is a composer who has released several albums and is part of multicultural projects worldwide). Recordings like this unite different genres and also expand the possibilities of instruments, and maybe, just maybe, change how we hear and feel music. To quote Gustafsson – “This is just the beginning.” Two Balls Are Enough by Mats Gustafsson / Kimmo Pohjonen Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 4, 2026 at 4:00 am

By Eyal Hareuveni The work of Finnish hyper-accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen has never been reviewed on this site. He comes from Finnish folk music but has revolutionized how it sounds, is played, and looks. Pedals and effects augment his accordion, and his own wordless vocals, and it sounds like a mini-orchestra. Pohjonen looks like a modern-day pagan shaman who moves with ecstatic dances and feels at home whether he plays with Kronos Quartet, French jazz drummer Eric Echampard or in the art-rock band KTU (alongside King Crimson alums drummer Pat Mastelotto and Touch guitarist Trey Gunn). Swedish reed and electronics player Mats Gustafsson, like Pohjonen, is an adventurous, inimitable iconoclast who enjoys turning genres inside out like others do their pockets. He comes from punk rock and free jazz, but just look at his new collaborative projects from last year - the surf rock meets free jazz, The MagNuts (with guitarist Hedvig Mollestad), death metal meets free jazz, Backgrillen, and the free-improv flute duo, Flöjter, with French Delphine Joussein (of Nout trio), that already produced two live albums. The musical union of Pohjonen and Swedish reed and electronics player Mats Gustafsson was envisioned by Bogdan Benigar, the director of Druga Godba festival in Ljubljana in Slovenia, who invited both of them to the 2024 edition of the festival, without letting them know that this was his plan. Gustafsson and Pohjonen bonded instantly. They share a love for ice hockey and saunas, and are motivated by a great passion - for spontaneous, risk-taking improvisations, creating a community, and cultivating individual and collective consciousness (as Gustafsson says: fighting against local and global stupidities). Throughout their live performances, they sounded like a powerful, raw, and intense sonic entity, Kimmats, and often Gustafsson’s saxes are channelled through Pohjonen’s effects. Two Balls are Enough is the debut album of Pohjonen and Gustafsson, and it was recorded in a two-day session in Vienna in February 2026 by Martin Siewart (of Radian), with Pohjonen and Gustafsson responsible for the mix. Gustafsson brought to the recording session slide, tenor, baritone and bass saxes, Ab clarinet, flute and slide flute, live electronics, harmonica and organ, while Pohjonen played his electro-acoustic accordion and sang. Each of the nine pieces sends you into unpredictable, uncompromising, deeply visceral, and wonderful hyperactive territories. Club dance pulse on steroids collides with ecstatic free jazz sax blows. Noisy electronics join a cathartic pagan dance, with Pohjonen’s organ-like chords ascending from hell to dance with Gustafsson’s garrulous baritone sax patterns. A poetic cinematic vision of a snowy Arctic storm. Experimenting with feedback-filled, mutated timbres. A touching, singable folk song. Three pieces were inspired by French poet Danielle Collobert. The last piece, “Backgrillen”, sketches a completely different texture from Gustafsson’s death jazz band, and offers a surprisingly intimate, touching melody filled with rustic beauty. It sounds like these Nordic wolves found a new pack of like-minded partner who enjoy creating a genre of their own. Two Balls Are Enough by Mats Gustafsson / Kimmo Pohjonen  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 3, 2026 at 4:00 am

  By Ferruccio Martinotti To understand why we're here—we writers, you readers, both listeners to this kind of music—requires skills that we, with a law degree, can't offer. Instead, we’d need to turn, depending on which School of Thought we’re referring to, to Freud or Lacan. What we could try to do is to share what drives us to buy certain records rather than others, excluding the dyschaolic compulsiveness that isn't ours. In short, we could say:  1) claiming to be completists of some musicians (try that with Mats Gustafsson and then tell us...);  2) a recommendation from a source (magazine, blog, fanzine, radio etc.) we trust;  3) the advice (damn, they're NEVER wrong...) from the FJC editors;  4) taking a leap into the void with an artist completely unknown to us, just to push away our personal horizon or, vice versa,  5) the need to breathe a little bit in our comfort zone, let’s say, with a reissue of Mingus or Taylor.  There's reason number 6) for this review: to pay homage to an artist we love, in this case the Frenchman Michel Portal, who passed away at 90 last February.  While Weather Report was never our cup of tea, we're not so obtuse as to fail to recognize the greatness of Miroslav Vitous, whose bio, from Chick Corea to Miles, is completely pointless to summarize, just as it is for Jack DeJohnette, honored on these pages on the occasion of his passing, in a way only this blog can do. We will always remember Portal as the author of that 1969 Our Meanings and Our Feelings, which represents to us one of the "6 Star Records" to be sent into hyperspace to make aware anyone who should find it of what free music means. His extraordinary artistic career has been enriched by collaborations with the likes of Boulez, Berio, and Stockhausen, which have defined his profile as a forward-looking musician, always respectful of History and Tradition. In our more than humble opinion, he remains a resoundingly underrated musician, so much so that, if memory serves, even our forum archives have no trace of him. Now you know.  Ten years after his last album with ECM, as the label's liner notes tell us, Vitous creates with Mountain Call, a sort of musical self-portrait that demonstrates his immense talent as an improviser, composer and sampling pioneer. The album strikes a balance between spontaneous improvisation and sequences in which the recording studio's technology is put at the musicians' service, like a canvas on which to paint brand new soundscapes. Miroslav and Jack have not forgotten that they were one of the most thermonuclear rhythm sections ever and the rust of time has not affected their sublime class: “Tribal Dance”, “Epilog” and “Evolution” are there to demonstrate it incontrovertibly. The latter features Bob Mintzer's bass clarinet (Tito Puente, Buddy Rich, Art Blakey, Thad Jones, Jaco Pastorius, and Billy Cobham among his collaborations), while in the five-part suite "Rhapsody" we can hear Esperanza Spalding's vocals, making her ECM debut. The extraordinary bassist/vocalist joins Vitous, Gary Campbell's sax (on record with Randy Brecker, John Abercrombie, Dan Wall, Adam Nussbaum, among others), and Gerald Cleaver's drums (Sylvie Courvoisier, Charles Gayle, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, William Parker, Craig Taborn) on "Fun and Games," where "call and response" dynamics are inserted within the textures created by Vitous. The keystone, however, lies in the opening and closing of the album, which see Vitous and Portal perform astonishing duo sequences, probably the freest moments of the Czech bassist's artistic journey, since his collaboration with Jan Garbarek on "Atmos." Sheer beauty and irrepressible bliss, period.  Anyway, forget the trivial and negligible considerations that drew us to this album and, whatever yours, if any, definitely give it a listen: this is a really relevant work that delivers much more than it promises.  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 2, 2026 at 4:00 am

This week's video comes from the SoundScapes Series organized by Finnish saxophonist Harri Sjöström in Berlin. Surrounded by ever changing exhibitions of contemporary at the Wolf & Galentz Art Gallery in Berlin, Sjöström performs with his own ever changing arrangements of top-flight improvisers for his quarterly Soundscapes Series. Here in an appearance in May is Jukka Kääriäinen (guitar), Harri Sjöström (soprano saxophone), Tony Buck (percussion) and Isabelle Duthoit (voice & clarinet).    Learn more about SoundScapes: https://soundscapesberlin.de/, and more about Wolf & Galenz: https://wolf-galentz.de/.  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on August 1, 2026 at 4:00 am

By Nick Ostrum German multi-instrumentalist Udo Schindler has been recording and releasing music relentlessly over the last few years. The reviews below offer a glimpse of just some of his production over the first half of this year. See part 1 here. Udo Schindler and Andreas Willers – Analytical Pre-Summer Retreat (FMR, 2026) Analytical Pre-Summer Retreat captures Schindler (tenor sax, e-flat clarinet, piccolo flute, and cornet) with Berlin improvisor Andreas Willers (guitar and devices) at a live date at Studio+Atelier SCHINDLER in Krailing/Munich in 2025. The two had previously collaborated on 2022’s STORM without WIND and a 2023 trio session with Eric Zwang Eriksson titled Cassiber Complex_Unconditioned Sounds In A Box. As with the other, this one shows range, but a different range than the more restrictively acoustic outings reviewed above. Here one hears how electric Schindler’s trills and flutters can sound, and Willers, with over forty years of electro-acoustic collaboration under his belt, is the person to bring that out. He veers from shreds and electronic chaos to simple repeating clusters and other rummaging to prickly vines with a Scandinavian free rock sensibility a la Tellef Øgrim, Gunnar Backmann, and their ilk. A gritty and textured set that is as much about Schindler’s arsenal (including some nice trumpet work) as it is about Willers’ clattery fretwork. Analytical Pre-Summer Retreat is available via the arc-musik website: https://arch-musik.de/project/analytical-pre-summer-retreat/ . Udo Schindler, Harald Kimmig, Eric Zwang Eriksson – Imprints of Experiences (Creative Sources, 2026) With a total of three members, Imprints of Experiences captures the largest unit of the releases reviewed here, and its sound is correspondingly (and comparatively) full. Schindler deploys a range of instruments, some heard before (clarinets, cornet, saxophone) and one (b-flat tubax) unique to this recording. Harald Kimmig meanwhile contributes an energetic violin and Eric Zwang Eriksson, an array of prattling percussion. Playing live over two nights in Munich in 2024, the trio offers quite a range of sounds. Schindler does his thing, screeching, torquing, huffing, and, now, even singing through an array of horns. Kimmig and Eriksson, however, really distinguish this release. Eriksson and Schindler have collaborated frequently over the last half-decade, and the resulting concordance shows especially in the quieter segments, when Eriksson matches Schindler’s clucks and clicks with a concerted pitter patter of his own. Kimmig, who has a shorter history with Schindler, can also tap raindrops and rustling foliage, but shows he can also drive the trio out of these moments through his sharp and shimmering tremolo, at which points Schindler starts to stretch out into more frenzied spaces. This may be less rambunctious than some other releases, but it is no less probing, and even more entrancing. And some of that pull should be attributed specially to Eriksson and his controlled but curious rummaging. It lays a calm but spumy sediment that gives bubbly rise to the harmonics that fill out the wider sound. Imprints of Experiences is available on CD and as a download on bandcamp. Imprints of Experiences by Udo Schindler, Harald Kimmig & Eric Zwang Eriksson PS: I had originally intended to review Schindler’s 2026 releases up through June, however quickly I realized that was a fool’s errand. For those interested, this year he also released albums with Andrea Centazzo and Harnik on Itcus, Nicola Hein and Nikolaus Neuser on Creative Sources, and Flo Stoffner and Michael Wintsch on arc-musik. By the time this review runs, there will likely be others, as well. Happy listening.  Subscrib […]