The Unheard Music Series is an imprint of the American record label Atavistic Records. The series, running since 2000, is curated by Chicago writer and producer John Corbett and focuses mainly on free jazz recordings from the 1960s and 1970s. The series includes reissues of previously out-of-print recordings, notably from the catalog of the German label FMP, and also incorporates previously unreleased material. The project was conceived after Corbett received a fellowship to research material in German radio archives. [1] An initial blurb from the label's website stated: "Drawing from radio archives, private tapes, collections of rare vinyl, and all sorts of unreleased sessions, often working hand-in-hand with the artists themselves, the series will focus on filling gaps in the historical record and illuminating otherwise dark corners of the musical continuum." [2]
The series was launched in May 2000 with the reissue of four LPs by American musicians Joe McPhee and Fred Anderson, German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, and the Swedish group Mount Everest Trio. Since then there have been several new issues per year. The most frequently represented artist has been Brötzmann, while American bandleader Sun Ra has also been represented multiple times, as have McPhee and German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach.
Catalog no. | Artist | Title | Release date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
201 | Joe McPhee | Nation Time | 2000-05-09 | reissue; originally released on CjR |
202 | Mount Everest Trio | Waves from Albert Ayler | 2000-05-09 | |
203 | Hal Russell's Chemical Feast | Elixir | 2001-06-19 | |
204 | Fred Anderson | The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 | 2000-05-09 | |
205 | Peter Brötzmann | Nipples | 2000-05-09 | reissue |
206 | Han Bennink | Nerve Beats | 2000-09-05 | |
207 | Leo Cuypers | Heavy Days Are Here Again | 2000-09-05 | |
208 | Nachtluft | Belle-View I–IV | 2000-09-05 | reissue |
209 | Guillermo Gregorio | Otra Musica | 2000-09-05 | |
210 | John Tchicai –Irène Schweizer Group | Willi the Pig | 2000-09-05 | reissue |
211 | Peter Brötzmann | Fuck de Boere | 2001-05-22 | |
212 | Sven-Åke Johansson | Schlingerland | 2000-09-05 | |
213 | Alexander von Schlippenbach | Hunting the Snake | 2000-09-05 | |
214 | Joe McPhee | Trinity | 2001-03-20 | reissue; originally released on CjR |
215 | Luther Thomas ' Human Arts Ensemble | Funky Donkey Vols. 1 & 2 | 2001-03-20 | reissue |
216 | Rova Saxophone Quartet | As Was | 2001-03-20 | |
217 | Moslang–Guhl | Knack On | 2001-03-20 | reissue |
218 | Fred Anderson Quartet | Dark Day / Live in Verona | 2001-09-18 | |
219 | Haazz & Company | Unlawful Noise | 2001-06-19 | |
220 | Starship Beer | Nut Music | 2001-05-22 | reissue |
221 | Tom Prehn Kvartet | Tom Prehn Kvartet | 2001-08-21 | reissue |
222 | Sun Ra & His Outer Space Arkestra | Nuclear War | 2001-08-21 | reissue |
223 | Alexander von Schlippenbach 's Globe Unity Orchestra | Globe Unity 67/70 | 2001-09-25 | |
224 | Beresford Honsinger Toop Kondo | Double Indemnity / Imitation of Life | 2001-10-23 | |
225 | Clifford Thornton | Freedom & Unity | 2001-11-20 | reissue |
226 | Joe McPhee | Underground Railroad / Live at Holy Cross | 2001-10-23 | reissue; originally released on CjR |
227 | Luther Thomas ' Human Arts Ensemble | Banana: The Lost Sessions | 2002-02-19 | |
228 | Christman/Müller/Smith/Williams | White Earth Streak | 2001 | reissue |
229 | Fred Van Hove | Complete Vogel Recordings | 2002 | |
230 | Peter Brötzmann | For Adolphe Sax | 2002-06-04 | reissue |
231 | Alexander von Schlippenbach | The Living Music | 2002-08-20 | |
232 | Manfred Schoof | European Echoes | 2002-08-20 | reissue |
233 | Peter Brötzmann | Balls | 2002-10-08 | reissue |
234 | Haazz & Company | Pleasure | 2002 | reissue |
235 | Mario Schiano | On the Waiting List | 2004-05-18 | reissue |
236 | Peter Brötzmann | More Nipples | 2003-04-08 | |
237 | Sun Ra & His Outer Space Arkestra | Music from Tomorrow's World | 2002-11-05 | |
238 | George Gruntz | Mental Cruelty | 2003-05-06 | |
239 | Alterations | Voila Enough! | 2003-05-06 | Steve Beresford, David Toop, Terry Day, and Peter Cusack |
240 | Alexander von Schlippenbach Trio | Pakistani Pomade | 2003-04-08 | |
241 | Baby Dodds | Talking and Druum Solos / Country Brass Bands | 2003-11-04 | |
242 | Peter Brötzmann | The Inexplicable Flyswatter | 2003 | book and enhanced CD |
243 | Sun Ra | Spaceship Lullaby | 2003-11-04 | |
244 | Peter Brötzmann | FMP 130 | 2003-09-09 | |
245 | Moholo/Stabbins/Tippett | Tern | 2003-09-09 | reissue |
246 | Peter Brötzmann | Brötzmann Clarinet Project: Berlin Djungle | 2004-07-27 | reissue |
247 | Dudek, Niebergall, & Vesala | Open | 2004-07-27 | reissue |
248 | Globe Unity Orchestra & the choir of the NDR-Broadcast | Hamburg '74 | 2004-09-14 | |
249 | Per Henrik Wallin | Burning in Stockholm | 2004-11-23 | |
250 | The Contemporary Jazz Quintet | Actions 1966–'67 Collection | 2005-04-12 | |
252 | Last Exit | Köln | 2005-07-25 | reissue |
253 | Sirone | Live | 2005-07-12 | |
254 | Brötzmann/Bennink | Schwarzwaldfahrt | 2005-10-11 | |
255 | Dieter Scherf Trio | Inside-Out Reflections | 2005-09-13 | reissue |
256 | Joe McPhee | Pieces of Light | 2005-10-11 | reissue; originally released on CjR |
257 | Peter Brötzmann | Alarm | 2006-06-06 | reissue |
258 | Peter Brötzmann | Pica Pica | 2006-07-25 | reissue |
259 | Kees Hazevoet and Han Bennink | Calling Down the Flevo Spirit | reissue | |
260 | Steve Lacy | Esteem | 2006-09-12 | |
261 | Gallio, Voerkel, & Frey | Tiegel | 2006-09-12 | |
262 | Peter Brötzmann | The Complete Machine Gun Sessions | 2007-07-21 | |
263 | Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra | Strange Strings | 2007-06-05 | |
264 | Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra | The Night of the Purple Moon | 2007-08-21 | |
265 | Sun Ra & His Outer Space Arkestra | Some Blues But Not the Kind That's Blue | 2008-01-29 | |
266 | Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra | Secrets of the Sun | 2008-10-07 | |
267 | Joe Maneri and Peter Dolger | Peace Concert | 2008-09-09 |
John Mark Heard III was an American record producer, folk rock singer and songwriter from Macon, Georgia.
Peter Brötzmann was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his many collaborators were key figures in free jazz, including Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor, as well as experimental musicians such as Keiji Haino and Charles Hayward. His 1968 Machine Gun became "one of the landmark albums of 20th-century free jazz".
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Joe McPhee is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is most notable for his free jazz work done from the late 1960s to the present day.
Atavistic Records is an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois, known for its no wave and free jazz recordings.
For Adolphe Sax is the debut album by free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann. It was initially released on Brötzmann's Brö label in 1967, and was reissued on LP by FMP in 1972. In 2002, it was reissued, with an additional track, on CD by the Atavistic label, and in 2014, the original three tracks were reissued on CD by Cien Fuegos Records.
Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist.
Machine Gun is the second album by German avant-garde jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, originally released on his BRÖ label in 1968.
Free Music Production (FMP) is a German record label that specialises in free jazz.
John Corbett is an American writer, musician, radio host, teacher, record producer, concert promoter, and gallery owner based in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known among musicians and music fans as a champion of free jazz and free improvisation. In recent years he has become known in the visual art world as well through his Corbett vs. Dempsey gallery.
Fred Lonberg-Holm is an American cellist based in Chicago. He moved from New York City to Chicago in 1995.
Last Exit was an American free jazz supergroup, composed of electric guitarist Sonny Sharrock, drummer/occasional vocalist Ronald Shannon Jackson, saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, and bass guitarist Bill Laswell. They were active from 1986 to the early 1990s, releasing primarily live albums recorded in Europe. Sharrock's death in 1994 caused the dissolution of the band, though touring of the band had not occurred for several years before his demise. The band is unrelated to the 1970s British jazz fusion band of the same name.
Kent Kessler is an American jazz double-bassist.
Major League Productions is a record label from the United Kingdom based in Oxfordshire. It was founded in 1991 and operates in 100 different countries. As of 2013, it had 39 employees. Following a reduction of live services, in 2020 the company announced it was focusing only on its back-catalogue work and talked of the possibility of new vinyl releases to signed artists.
Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record company and label founded in Chicago by Bruno Johnson in 1994.
Trinity is an album by American mult-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in 1972 and originally released on the CjR label, then reissued by Atavistic in 2001.
Underground Railroad is a live album by saxophonist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in 1969 at the Holy Cross Monastery and originally released on the CjR label, then reissued by Atavistic in 2001 with a bonus concert from the same venue.
Jeb Bishop is primarily known as an improvisational jazz trombonist. However he occasionally plays other instruments on both jazz and rock recordings as noted.
Schwarzwaldfahrt is an album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and percussionist Han Bennink. It was recorded during May 9–11, 1977, in the open air of the Black Forest in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, using a Stellavox tape recorder, and was initially released on vinyl later that year by the FMP label. In 2005, Atavistic Records reissued the album on CD as part of their Unheard Music Series, with previously unreleased tracks. The album was reissued on vinyl in 2012 by the Cien Fuegos imprint of Trost Records, and, in 2022, Trost reissued it again in limited quantities, accompanied by a 120-page book containing photos and an essay by novelist David Keenan.
Open is a live album by saxophonist Gerd Dudek, double bassist Buschi Niebergall, and drummer Edward Vesala. It was recorded during April 7–9, 1977, at the Workshop Freie Music held at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, and was initially released on vinyl by the FMP label in 1979. In 2004, Atavistic Records reissued the album on CD as part of their Unheard Music Series.