Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of experimental music in its own right.
Derek Bailey was an English avant-garde guitarist and an important figure in the free improvisation movement. Bailey abandoned conventional performance techniques found in jazz, exploring atonality, noise, and whatever unusual sounds he could produce with the guitar. Much of his work was released on his own label Incus Records. In addition to solo work, Bailey collaborated frequently with other musicians and recorded with collectives such as Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Company.
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.
Incus Records is a British record company and label founded by Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley, Evan Parker and Michael Walters that specializes in free jazz and improvised music.
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Saxophone Solos is a solo soprano saxophone album by Evan Parker. Three of the tracks were recorded live on June 17, 1975, at the Unity Theatre in London, and the remaining music was recorded on September 9, 1975 at the FMP Studio in Berlin. The album was initially released on LP in 1976 by Incus Records, and was reissued on CD in 1995 by Chronoscope records with nine additional tracks bearing subtitles from Samuel Beckett, again on CD in 2009 by Psi Records, and again on LP in 2021 by Otoroku Records. The contents of the album, plus a previously-missing track from the studio session, were also included in a 1989 limited-edition box set compilation titled Collected Solos, issued by Cadillac Distribution.
The Snake Decides is a studio album by British jazz saxophonist Evan Parker. It was released in 1988 on Parker and Derek Bailey's Incus Records label, re-released on Parker's Psi label in 2003, and reissued again in remastered form with new liner notes by Brian Morton on the Otoroku label in 2018.
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.
Paul William Rutherford was an English free improvising trombonist.
The Topography of the Lungs is an album by saxophonist Evan Parker, guitarist Derek Bailey and percussionist Han Bennink recorded in London on 13 July, 1970 and became the first release on the Incus label. It is considered a milestone of the free improvisation genre.
Philipp John Paul Wachsmann is an African avant-garde jazz/jazz fusion violinist born in Kampala, Uganda, probably better known for having founded his own group Chamberpot. He has worked with many musicians in the free jazz idiom, including Tony Oxley, Fred van Hove, Barry Guy, Derek Bailey and Paul Rutherford, among many others. Wachsmann is especially known for playing within the electronica idiom.
Paul Lytton is an English free jazz and free improvising percussionist.
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.
Rhodri Davies is a harp player working within the field of free improvisation. He was one of the most prominent members of the London reductionist school of improvised music that was active in the late 1990s and early 2000s and which has been described as being "extremely influential over the last decade".
Song for Someone is the second album led by trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler which was recorded in 1973 and released on the Incus label. The album was rereleased on CD on Psi Records in 2004.
At the Unity Theatre is a live album by saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lytton. It was recorded in January 1975 at the Unity Theatre in London, and was released later that year by Incus Records. The album was reissued on CD, with three extra tracks, by Psi Records in 2003.
Psi Records is an independent record label that was founded by saxophonist Evan Parker, and that focuses on free improvisation.
Six of One is a live solo soprano saxophone album by Evan Parker. It was recorded on June 18, 1980, at St Jude-on-the-Hill in London, and was initially released on vinyl in 1982 by Incus Records. In 2002, it was reissued on CD by Parker's Psi label with an additional track from the same session, and in 2021, it was reissued on vinyl in remastered form but with the original six track format by Cafe Oto's Otoroku label.
From Saxophone & Trombone is a live album by saxophonist Evan Parker and trombonist George Lewis. It was recorded on May 18, 1980, at the Art Workers' Guild in London, and was initially released on vinyl later that year by Incus Records. In 2002, it was reissued on CD by Parker's Psi label, and in 2023, it was reissued on vinyl in remastered form by Cafe Oto's Otoroku label.
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.
