All these compositions originate from Polish folk culture. They are based on well-known, less known, or sometimes completely forgotten songs from various regions of Poland. For the musical notations of some particular pieces, we are indebted to Oskar Kolberg and his 19th century monumental work.

As brilliant as their previous album "Enter" is, with "Ritual" they have outdone themselves and produced a beast of beauty and power, extremely well executed, beautifully recorded and produced from only two days in the studio. Free improvisations, spontaneous horns, keyboard frenzy, abstract electronics, guitar mayhem and not to forget; those glorious twin voices of Mariam Wallentin and Sofia Jernberg. It´s about mysteries and rituals; in music and in life.

Saxophonist Hans Peter Hiby is one of the great mysteries in Germany’s free jazz scene. He grew up in Wuppertal, in the kindergarten he met Caspar, Peter Brötzmann’s son, they were like brothers. He spent a lot of time at the Brötzmann’s home, where he came into contact with jazz. Peter Brötzmann got him his first tenor saxophone, took him to his concerts, and Hiby was fascinated by the sheer energy and ferocity of free jazz. Albert Ayler, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Brötzmann himself, became his major influences.

One of the later ESP blowouts, this CD reissue features the powerful tenor of Frank Lowe interacting with Joseph Jarman (heard here on alto and soprano), violinist Leroy Jenkins (operating under the pseudonym of "The Wizard" but quite recognizable), bassist William Parker and drummer Rashid Sinan. Two of the three originals (which include the 25-minute "In Trane's Name") are lengthy and wander a bit, but the intense music is well worth hearing by free-jazz collectors.

The first of Albert Ayler's ESP recordings (but one of the last to be released) is this live session with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray. The tenor is heard on the earliest versions of his most famous theme, "Ghosts" (two renditions are included), along with such melodies as "Spirits," "Wizard," and "Prophecy." Ayler alternated the simple march-like themes with wild and very free improvisations which owe little if anything to the bop tradition, or even his contemporaries in the avant-garde. Ayler always had his own individual message, and his ESP sessions find him in consistently explorative form.

The change of direction on Lontano, the third release by Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and his three young collaborators - Marcin Wasilewski (piano), Slawomir Kurkiewicz (bass), and Michal Miskiewicz (drums) - is startling. Whereas Soul of Things (2002) and Suspended Night (2004) focused on Stanko's increasing sense of balladry and structurally harmonic, assonant atmospheres, Lontano showcases a band confident enough after playing for five years to find real space for free improvisation. Recorded in the south of France instead of Oslo, producer Manfred Eicher works his name magic and allows stillness and silence to play as much a role as the performers engaging one another musically…

"Eagerly-awaited second CD on Fresh Sound. The Slightest Shift shoots for a unified, orchestral group sound that rarely puts any one member out front for long. If the conventional jazz band is like a basketball team in which one player has the ball while the others perform a supporting role, Daviss evokes a modern dance troupe whose members bob and undulate emphatically with one another." - Ben Waltzer

Kris Davis has quickly established a reputation for cutting-edge music, both as an imaginative pianist and as a young visionary composer. An artist exploring the balance between improvisation and composition, her writing and pianistic prowess have been described as 'adventurous' and 'refreshing'. The Jazz Times calls her compositions carefully drawn but explosive and The Hartford Courant refers to the success of her quartet as Abstract but spirited, the quartet is running conversation-sometimes rooted in two, three or four overlapping voices-explores a wide range of colors, textures and emotional moods from turbulence to serenity.

Fifty years after Sound was first released on Delmark Records (Delmark 408), not only has music changed, our ear has changed. Music is not a universal language, as well intended but poorly informed authors like to say. The musical ear is a historical and social construct that belongs to a specific society and a specific time. A 21st century listener would be more amazed than surprised or shocked by this music; amazed by its maturity, its balance, and its sense of structure. Instead of the cataract of adjectives and superlatives this music provoked in its initial reviews, one now can justly appreciate how much of its language has become integrated into the current “historical ear”. Re-issued from the original Stu Black analog mix for the first time!

Like so many of the best adventures, the transatlantic trio of Irish drummer Stephen Davis and American trumpeter and pianist Ralph Alessi and Kris Davis grew organically out of a series of happy accidents… Steve Davis explains: "The group started with me writing some music originally for trumpet and piano. I had written other stuff for my London based group Human, which had a similar vibe but this music was more introvert, had lots of little hidden things within it. I won an Arts Council grant which enabled me to work on my writing and travel a bit, so I headed for New York.

Borderlands Trio, the collective effort of bassist Stephan Crump, pianist Kris Davis and drummer Eric McPherson, has luck on its side. Less than a year old, its chemistry is unusually deep. And while I don’t often use the term, it’s also a band that boasts a bit of magic.

Michał Dymny (guitar) and Vasco Trilla (drums) met for the first time in 2012 in Alchemy (Krakow) during the festival Sideways, in connection with the recording sessions and concert group of improvisers from Krakow and Barcelona, which resulted in two albums published in the Spanish net-label Discordian Records . A year later they founded the duo playing music freely improvised, which held a European tour and recorded an album, released by the British publisher FMR Records.