The Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME) was a loose collection of free improvising musicians, convened in 1965 by the now late South London-based jazz drummer/trumpeter John Stevens and alto and soprano saxophonist Trevor Watts. SME performances and recordings could range from Stevens–Watts duos to gatherings of more than a dozen players.
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.
Weasel Walter is an American composer, improviser, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of ugEXPLODE Records. Walter's work has been informed by techniques and traditions of music including Avant-garde, experimental, no wave, free jazz, extreme metal, punk jazz, hardcore punk, noise, new music and free improvisation. He coined the term "brutal prog" to describe the aggressively dissonant strain of prog played by groups like his band the Flying Luttenbachers.
Barre Phillips is an American jazz bassist. A professional musician since 1960, he moved to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. Since 1972, he has been based in southern France where, in 2014, he founded the European Improvisation Center.
Barry John Guy is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under Buxton Orr, and later taught there.
Discography for jazz saxophonist Anthony Braxton.
Sylvie Courvoisier is a composer, pianist, improviser and bandleader. She was born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has been a resident of New York City since 1998. She won Germany’s International Jazz Piano Prize in 2022 and was named Pianist of the Year for 2023 in the international critics poll of Spanish jazz publication El Intruso. NPR’s Kevin Whitehead has encapsulated the distinctive character of Courvoisier’s art this way: “Some pianists approach the instrument like it’s a cathedral. Sylvie Courvoisier treats it like a playground.”
The Melbourne International Jazz Festival is an annual jazz music festival first held in Melbourne, Australia in 1998. The Festival takes place in concert halls, arts venues, jazz clubs and throughout the streets of Melbourne.
Richard Barrett is a Welsh composer.
Mike Pride is an American, New York City based drummer/percussionist, composer & improviser, sometimes vocalist, and educator, born on July 7. He is known for the large number of bands he plays with, and has a significant reputation in a multiplicity of musical communities around the world. Time Out NY says of one album featuring him "Pride has backed brainy jazz legend Anthony Braxton as well as political punks Millions of Dead Cops. Those influences and countless others speed by here, but the flow of ideas is so continuous that the album never feels like pastiche.". Born and raised in Southern Maine, but based out of New York City since 2000, Mike Pride currently performs solo, leads modern-jazz quartet From Bacteria To Boys, the 7-drummer installation-band Drummer's Corpse, and the piano trio I HATE WORK. He also co-leads the ensembles Pulverize The Sound, and Period. Pride is renowned for his ability to excel in a wide range of genres and ensembles. He has worked with everyone from improvised music icon Anthony Braxton to punk legends Millions Of Dead Cops, toured extensively on four continents, appeared on more than 100 recordings, and is currently touring the world opening for comedian Amy Schumer with Jason Stein's Locksmith Isidore.
Mostly Other People Do the Killing is a jazz quartet based in New York City including trumpeter Peter Evans, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, bassist Matthew "Moppa" Elliott, and drummer Kevin Shea. The group formed in 2003 and has released several albums on Elliott's Hot Cup label.
John Russell was an acoustic guitarist who worked in free improvisation beginning in the 1970s. He promoted concerts and appeared on more than 50 recordings.
Rocket Science is the eponymous debut album by the collaborative quartet assembled by trumpeter Peter Evans and featuring British saxophonist Evan Parker, pianist Craig Taborn and computer musician Sam Pluta. It was recorded live at the Vortex in London, at the start of the quartet's first tour which then visited the Bimhuis in Amsterdam and the Moers Festival in Germany. Evans recorded Scenes in the House of Music with the Parker-Guy-Lytton trio, and is a member of Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. Taborn played piano in Parker's Transatlantic Art Ensemble which recorded Boustrophedon. Pluta is a member of the Peter Evans Quintet that recorded Ghosts.
Okkyung Lee is a South Korean cellist, improviser, and composer.
Jaimie "Breezy" Branch was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
Jon Irabagon is a Filipino-American saxophonist, composer, and founder of Irabbagast Records.
Relative Pitch Records is an American independent record label specializing in free jazz and avant-garde jazz, free improvisation, and experimental music. Run by Kevin Reilly, Relative Pitch has been ranked among the top jazz record labels in The New York City Jazz Record and DownBeat year-end lists, and praised by publications and organizations including The Guardian, NPR Music, The Brooklyn Rail, and in Bandcamp Daily's label profile, "Relative Pitch is Built on Enthusiasm for Experimental Music".
Hasselt is a live album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, recorded during the Open Circuit: iNTERACT 2010 festival, held at Kunstencentrum Belgie in Hasselt, Belgium. The first three tracks, recorded on May 21, 2010, feature sub-groups drawn from the Ensemble, while the final track, recorded on May 22, 2010, is an extended outing for the entire Ensemble. The album was released in 2012 by Psi Records.
The Bleeding Edge is a live album by saxophonist Evan Parker, cellist Okkyung Lee, and trumpeter Peter Evans, three musicians from different continents, playing instruments of different families. Featuring five improvised duos and six trios, it was recorded on May 4, 2010, at St. Peter's Church in Whitstable, England, and was released on CD in 2011 by Psi Records.
