LP $21.95
07/19/2024
***Cuban-Born, Drum Genius Francisco Mela Is Releasing the Third Chapter of the Iconic Tribute to His Legendary Mentor and Bandleader McCoy Tyner. Featuring William Parker on Bass and Leo Genovese on Piano with Music That Continues to Surprise and Delight Lovers of the Avant-Garde. Limited edition of 200 copies.
LP $21.95
04/19/2024
***On Fathom, we hear the sound of the world mirrored back to us. An improvisational collaboration from legendary British multi-instrumentalist John Butcher, Pat Thomas on piano, Dominic Lash on double bass, and Steve Noble on drums, the four artists play generously together. Fathom is an impressive work of avant-garde jazz that’s reminiscent of the non-musical world: squeaky wheels, growing tension, a babbling brook, all winding into lush harmonies. This marks Butcher’s debut for 577 Records.
LP $21.95
02/02/2024
Carter, Daniel + Patrick Holmes, Matthew Putman, Hilliard Greene, Federico Ughi
(Vol. 2) Electric Telepathy
577 Records
***Electric Telepathy Vol. 2 is the latest installment from legendary multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter (tenor sax, soprano sax, trumpet, flute) together with Patrick Holmes (clarinet), Matthew Putman (keyboard), Hilliard Greene (bass) & Federico Ughi (drums), also known as the Telepathic Band. This new LP follows their previous albums Telepathic Alliances, Telepatia Liquida, and Electric Telepathy, Vol. 1, and Telepathic Mysteries, Vol. 1, further exploring in-the-moment themes and landscapes. On Electric Telepathy the band used material from a recording session in which they improvised, then went to recreate the album in the studio’s cutting-room floor. The Vinyl District calls “a glorious experience” and the Brooklyn Rail says it’s “a blissfully ecstatic sprawl of spiritual-jazz explorations of the most transcendent order.” A masterpiece of improvisation, the album is reminiscent of Ornette Coleman Prime Time, Pink Floyd and Sun Ra, overlaying lush wind instrumentation on textural percussion and electronic currents.
LP $28.75
02/02/2024
***The New Album by Francisco Mela and Zoh Amba 'Causa y Efecto, Vol. 2' Is A Celebration of Differences and Unity Creativity in general and experimental music in particular can serve as a conduit to the inner soul of its creators, a kind of spiritual path that goes two ways and allows a deeper understanding also of ourselves. It's a light projecting the humanity of the players that simultaneously reflects the creator and the humanity in all of us. The vulnerability of the artists and what they seek through the music are the cause and the opening of that pathway to a deeper understanding is the effect. Francisco Mela’s singing on the traditional song ‘El Cisne Blanco’ could serve as a gateway to the world of avant-garde music. Zoh Amba’s flute is as sweet and comforting as her saxophone playing can be powerful and mind blowing. These are two different artists from completely different backgrounds showing us what unity-in-sound means, proving that creativity can foster peace and understanding.
LP $21.95
02/02/2024
Brooklyn-based pianist Eva Novoa delivers a masterfully executed trio album of melodic themes replete with touches of swing, grooves and exquisite electronic landscapes. Novoa’s articulated playing flows with plenty of room gifting the band full freedom of improvisation. On the track ‘Rocket Man’ you can hear the possibilities of the traditional jazz trio format as it projects into the future, combining the acoustic beauty of the piano with the electronic tapestry of modular synthesizer. The group nimbly celebrates the tradition of jazz while positing that legacy against the backdrop of contemporary culture.
LP $21.95
02/02/2024
***Federico Ughi, drum wizard and producer, is back with an album under his own name for the first time in five years. The project features outstanding musicians: Leo Genovese, originally from Argentina but now Brooklyn-based on keyboards and synths, and Brandon Lopez from NYC on upright bass. This album celebrates the advanced creative dialogue between these artists by fully immersing the listener in the world of sound conjured by the trio. The expansive scope of this experience suggests that Ughi's artistic enterprise extends beyond the music itself to the idea of connection between artists, music, and the audience. In this conception the musicians are conduits for the delivery of cosmic sound, the music world, the cosmic dimension of sound and light. The message is launched towards the audience and refracted back through them, aspiring to achieve a sort of universal consciousness through presence and participation. The trio moves away from a specific genre, opening up to limitless possibilities. Anything is possible when these improvisers listen to each other so closely. This music is dynamic and defies particular labels. It’s the universal language of sound, frequencies, beat and vibration. The project is strongly influenced by the music, philosophy, and persona of Sun Ra, to whom one of the tracks is dedicated. The album will be followed soon by Vol. 2, containing the other half of the material recorded on the day at Sear Sound, the oldest recording studio in NYC.
LP $21.95
02/02/2024
***"A heartfelt thank you to the beautiful audience that came out on the 10th Feb 2022 to Cafe Oto (London) to make this such an enjoyable show. We came as a blank page, one that had been scrunched up for the years of this horrific pandemic. Upon it all we had written was ‘we must play!’. And so to finally seeing the light of day—as we tentatively unfolded this venture into life—in what we (I hope not prematurely) believe was a slow emergence into a new ‘normal’ (sadly to soon be overshadowed by warfare in Europe joining too many conflicts all around the world, and containing the same imbalances in society as the old normal). This was a pure performance circumstance. A debut performing together in this format, we have played in different projects over the years—but this particular trio is literally being born on this recording. Mark and Neil are internationally known as masters in multiple fields involving improvisation. Their creativity and interactivity here is both incendiary and inspirational. The album title ‘Towards The Flame’—came from my studies with Andy Wasserman. His mentioning a quote from McCoy Tyner—that playing with Coltrane was akin to ‘stepping into the flames’—every night. A place that is pure spirit, complete commitment to totally connect and the disappearance of the self. We love this and hold every wisdom as a vital guide in times that are ever more threatening to pull us apart. In honour of the incredible shoulders upon which we stand and...
LP $31.95
05/26/2023
***For pianist and composer Eva Novoa, music, improvisation and choosing the right players is her mission, her purpose and goal in life. Based in Brooklyn, New York since 2012, she explores each project or set up and musical occasion with deep curiosity, freedom, boldness and trust. For this project, she works the format of the piano trio experimenting in all its essence and sonorous profundity inspired by all the great masters and all time favorite trios in her own personal universe and musical references. Eva Novoa is joined by her longtime friend and collaborator Masa Kamaguchi on bass—with whom she has worked with since 2010—and extraordinaire drummer Gerald Cleaver, in the format of a perfect trio. She has performed live with this trio since 2017 in New York City. Novoa/ Kamaguchi/ Cleaver Vol.1 presents an album of melodic density, contrapuntal conversations, a free interplay of rich textures and great masterly improvisation presenting a unique piano trio. This album is the first volume of a two volume recording to follow and it is Eva Novoa’s sixth album as a leader, marking her first ‘debut’ on 577 Records. Pressed on crystal silver vinyl.
LP $31.95
05/26/2023
***Matthew Putman and Michael Sarian found a home in a makeshift studio, using a borrowed 20-year-old keyboard, a good microphone, and in cramped apartment acoustics, to improvise throughout the pandemic. What they called their “weekly pilgrimages” gave them a sense of much-needed sanity, grounding their friendship and keeping them afloat, as Sarian describes, “much like a lifeboat.” The resultant project was an exploration of cadences, rhythms, and full of searching and synchronicity. This album, A Lifeboat (Part II) follows the duo’s first release, and explores many of the same themes, balancing Putman’s velvety keyboard with Sarian’s character-driven trumpet and flugelhorn. Pressed on crystal clear vinyl.
LP $31.95
05/26/2023
***Super groups are always risky—the potential for disappointing fans or warring musical styles is high—but when longtime friends and masterful improvisers come together, they usually work. Evident in their first collaboration, simply titled Volume 1, John Dikeman (Saxophone; When The Time Is Right, 577 Records, 2021) joined musicians Pat Thomas (Piano; Shifa Live at Cafe Oto 2019, BleySchool 2019, Shifa Live in Oslo 2020, Educated Guess 2021), John Edwards (Bass; EMPoWered. 577 Records, 2021), and Steve Noble (Drums) for a dynamic collaboration. Volume 2 echoes the wide dynamic range of their first project, combining fast-paced, complex jazz in-the-moment arrangements with elegant solo gems from each musician, highlighting their best work, together and independently.
LP $21.95
04/21/2023
***Originally from Kingsport, Tennessee, New York-based Zoh Amba is a precocious, notable star in the avant-garde music scene. Growing up in the Appalachian mountains, Amba practiced saxophone to the forest that surrounded her home before she later traveled to study with David Murray in New York, and also at the San Francisco Conservatory Of Music & New England Conservatory in Boston. Today, her music is full of folk melodies, mesmerizing refrains, repeated incantations and powerfully executed Free Jazz reminiscent of Albert Ayler. Her sound is courageous and bold, commanding her instrument with a loving force that soars from muted hums to squeaky trebles, producing a confident sound imbued with spirituality. On this project, Zoh Amba is joined by legendary artists William Parker (Bass) and Francisco Mela (Drums), who temper her daring saxophone with a lush percussive foundation and a reassuring bassline. On one of the album’s 4 tracks, Amba also opts for flute, cutting through the noise with a quieter, adventurous tone, and offering listeners a more exclusive look at her multi-instrumental prowess.
LP $21.95
02/17/2023
CD $13.75
04/22/2022
***NICHUNIMU is a Chilean improvisational trio working at the edges of free jazz, ritualism, noise, minimalism and krautrock music. Since 2014, Benjamin Vergara (Trumpet), Nicolás Carrasco (Synthesizer) and Matías Mardones (Percussion) have been inspired by repetition, textures and friendship through the sound, focusing on circular shapes in music that bind them together. Based between the cities of Valdivia and Santiago, their members have also collaborated on projects like La Kut, Cariñito 3, Dubitativos, representing a substantial part of Chile’s experimental scene in the last 20 years. On this project, Un Cacho de Metal, Un Resto de Vaivén, which was recorded the day after their performance at Relincha Festival, the trio was again inspired by patterns of circularity and repetition, tending towads sweet sounds like on “Entrechócanse,” darker affect on “Suplidos,” and experimental noise music on the opening track “Cachos.” Their music, eternally youthful, gracefully combines acoustic and electronic effects.
LP $21.95
11/18/2022
***Can music liberate us? Francisco Mela, who worked and partnered with the legendary jazz musician McCoy Tyner, believes so. On this album, the second volume of Music Frees Our Souls, Mela collaborates with pianist Cooper-Moore and bassist William Parker to build a 2-part extended track project of advanced dialogue between 3 of the genre's most important instruments. Tyner was well-known for his boundless musical talent, and perhaps best-known for playing in John Coltrane’s quartet, which revolutionized the jazz world and fundamentally influenced the music world at large. Despite his indelible, wide-reaching impact on experimental jazz, it was Tyner’s mentorship that truly touched Francisco Mela: Tyner encouraged him to explore the boundaries of both his personal expression and his musical ability, affirming the philosophical conviction that music was a gateway to liberation. This album is again dedicated to Tyner’s mentorship and encouragement, suggesting we all embrace experimentation and musical freedom. This second volume/album will be available on limited edition dark red vinyl (100 copies), black vinyl, CD, or download in January 2023. Music Frees Our Souls Vol. 3 is also planned for release in the near future.
CD $13.75
11/18/2022
LP $21.95
11/25/2022
Ackerly, Jessica / Patrick Shiroshi / Chris Williams / Luke Stewart / Jason Nazary
SSWAN: Invisibility Is An Unnatural Disaster
577 Records
***SSWAN presents their first outing Invisibility is an Unnatural Disaster a raucous jaunt of free jazz on the premiere fire music label 577 Records. The music is rooted in the Black American art form of jazz, stemming into the branches of free improvisation, noise and experimentalism while pushing to the edges of each idiom. The idiosyncratic playing of guitarist Jessica Ackerley starts off the album’s title track and jumps headfirst into a Hendrix-tinged duo with drummer Jason Nazary. Patrick Shiroishi quickly joins in to take the energy up a notch with soprano sax wailing in both mimicry and opposition to Ackerley’s phrasing. Just as the wall of sound is beginning to crack an abrupt halt shifts the energy and Luke Stewart’s crawls dialogue with the smearing spattering trumpet solo from trumpeter Chris Williams. SSWAN is an ensemble that consistently augments sonic themes and pushes the bounds of standard quintet instrumentation while simultaneously executing a unique musical language that is elevated through a strong group chemistry. ‘Pattern Phases’ takes the listener on a tour of the various sound worlds accessible to each group member. Communication exists on the level of sound and velocity rather than pitch and harmonic information. Sensitive listening and each members ability to paint with different non-pitch vocabulary creates a perfect breathe of fresh air after the tour de force of “Invisibility is an unnatural disaster”. The record is rounded out with a synthesis of questions posed in tracks 1 & 2 on “A miracle’s worth”. A...
LP $21.95
11/04/2022
CD $13.00
08/05/2022
***"Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) spoke the truth (and the truth under his tongue was sometimes a hammer, sometimes an anvil, sometimes a sickle, sometimes just a breath or a blast). Baraka had no tongue in cheek. Sometimes he drew his language (his thought) and in the barrel of his language (his thought), there was the cartridge of criticism, the cartridge of ranting, the cartridge of analysis, the cartridge of sedition, the cartridge of poetry, the cartridge of music. Heroes Are Gang Leaders have the same outspokenness that goes in all directions, that makes absolutely everything a target and that liberates what it touches, it is a gathering of the tribes, an assembly and an assemblage of poets and musicians who use the same miraculous weapons, as Aimé Césaire, a close relative of Baraka / Jones, said. In Paris, HAGL did this. They found the asylum, the outpost. They fired all their tongues. Like Charlie Parker's Back Home Blues or Jayne Cortez's Taking the Blues Back Home. And your eyelids are heavy. A great heat invades you, a torpor takes possession of your body. All voices, all languages are viruses, the stories they tell are virulent. A musical instrument, like a poetic instrument, is used to pick up and scramble signals. Don't wake up. Not yet. All that's left is to try and swarm. It is done now. Now you will open your eyes. You breathe deeply. Count silently to three, and at three open your eyes. Come back to yourself....
LP $21.95
09/23/2022
CD $13.75
05/20/2022
***As an artist and a thinker, Massimo Magee has been consistently drawn towards patterns: traditions, lines of influence, schools and the unexpected intersections of each. This album, Toneflower, presents a solo program, meditating on many of those concepts. As an entirely improvised set of pieces, it is also inspired by Anthony Braxton’s solo alto tradition and the larger solo saxophone canon. Similarly, it draws from Magee’s prior percussive experimentations with Tim Green and Karlheinz Stockhausen’s use of contact microphones. In Magee’s words, it offers rich parallels with many other saxophone schools, “the ceaseless streams of broken air column wizardry of Evan Parker, the angular atonalism of Tim Berne, the earnest beauty of a Pharoah Sanders melody, the breakneck urgency of Kaoru Abe, the sinuous and unpredictable ebullient elegance of Eric Dolphy, the eerie whistling of Tamio Shiraishi, the satisfyingly round-toned repetition of Steve Lacy, the heavy low-end honking of John Coltrane in a certain mood. The listener might even hear a dash of the motivic minimalism of Terry Riley.” Throughout the album's 5 tracks, Magee pays close attention to the siloed divisions of each school, as part of a larger interrogation of a music industry that privileges singular musicians, cultivating musical traditions and loyal fanbases. Following diverse and distinct musical lineages, Magee curates an informed, thoughtful constellation of influences and traditions, captured through his particular lens of reinvention. Massimo Magee is an established part of the 577 Records catalog; this release joins Cyclone Trio’s The Clear Revolution (2021), his...
LP $21.95
09/23/2022
If life is about how we react to what is thrown at us, Sana Nagano chose wisely in the summer of 2020. After nearly half a year of anguished isolation, the violinist made an album of honest, graceful free improvisations with two of her mentors. Anime Mundi, out October 28th on 577 Records, pairs her with pianist/vibraphonist Karl Berger and drummer Billy Martin, veteran players at home in the unknown. And though recorded during the stressful first year of Covid, there is joy and curiosity in the music. It’s just mixed in with sorrow.Sana Nagano - Violin/fx Karl Berger - Piano/vibraphone Billy Martin - Drums/percussion
CD $13.75
09/23/2022
LP $21.95
09/23/2022
***Playfield has never played inside. Daniel Carter, a multi-instrumentalist and the founder of 577 Records, has always pushed to make sound more real, relying on outdoor performance and New York City’s auditory ambience, to orchestrate his pieces. This practice, which is fundamentally improvisational and experimental, opens any final recording to the unpredictable nature of strangers’ sound and offers a rich texture of a moment in time. Importantly for the artists, this practice draws on the energy of one’s external environment: conversations, car horns, bird songs and far away, even other music. That changed with Stepping Out, Vol. 1, the group’s first recording in the comparatively sterile environment of a studio. Alongside Carter, Luisa Muhr (Voice), Ayumi Ishito (Tenor Sax and Electronics), Eric Plaks (Piano and Rhodes), Aron Namenwirth (Guitar and Electronics), Yutaka Takahashi (Guitar and Electronics), Zachary Swanson (Bass), Jon Panikkar (Drums) packed into a Brooklyn recording studio. As the environment shrank from open streets to an enclosed room, the artists were compelled to make field recordings of cicadas or ice-cream trucks, and include heavy new effects to transition between improvisations. Producers Jon Rosenberg and Aron Namenwirth borrowed mixing techniques from the pop and cinema world to bring jazz into the 21st century without resorting to hip-hop beats or a famous feature singer. The result is creative, expansive and intently real.
CD $13.75
09/23/2022
***The recording of this legendary concert has been remastered for vinyl edition and augmented with 27 minutes of previously unreleased material. Daniel Carter, William Parker, and Federico Ughi have been playing together since 2005, the year in which they recorded their first album The Dream. The band has performed regularly in the US and Europe ever since, gaining considerable success, with a 2010 European tour throughout Portugal, Spain, and Italy that resulted in the live album Navajo Sunrise (2012). In 2015 the trio started to rehearse with multi-instrumentalist Watson Jennison (Toronto, CA). As a quartet, the band toured the US and Canada in 2015 for concerts in Erie PA, Pittsburgh PA, Detroit MI, Toronto, and Rochester NY.
CD $13.75
09/23/2022
Carter, Daniel / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver
Welcome Adventure Vol. 2
577 Records
How do you welcome adventure? Longtime comrades, legendary Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Gerald Cleaver investigated this in their first album, Welcome Adventure, Vol. 1, resulting in 577 Records’ best-selling release in the 20 years we’ve been operating. Now, the group is trying the question again with their second astonishing volume, taken from the same historical recording session. Daniel Carter (Saxophone, Clarinet) has been collaborating with William Parker (Bass) since the early 70s and with Matthew Shipp (Piano) beginning in the mid 80s. This trio had previously played together on other occasions but sought to add a percussive element to their sound, adding stellar Gerald Cleaver (Drums) to their mix. From the warm opening song, “Sunverified” to the richly layered closer, “Da Rest Is Story,” the all-star, 5-track project is an exploratory delight.
LP $21.95
09/16/2022
CD $13.75
05/06/2022
***The world is more elusive than simple cause and effect imply, more typically, life circumvents causation in favor of an unknowable correlation. It seems like the more we know, the less we know. On this first volume from ZOH AMBA and FRANCISCO MELA, the duo brings their regional traditions, from Tennessee and Cuba respectively, and musical inclinations to the cause and effect behind their own life stories. Causa y Efecto, Vol. 1 is an ode to the unknown, transporting audiences between the New York studio where it was recorded and the mist-shrouded mountains where each musician grew up. On tracks like “Dos Vidas'' and “Serenata,” Mela builds a textured, percussive foundation that Amba interrupts with breathy tenor saxophone and her distinctive flute. On “Maria,” dedicated to Mela’s mother, simple hand drumming provides a gentle rhythm, overlaid by Amba’s delicate flute and Mela’s full baritone voice, delivered in the unassuming style of the campesino. Causa y Efecto, Vol. 1 is an ode to the countrysides that both musicians came from, decades apart, and the experimental, improvisational pursuit for which they've joined in New York.
CD $13.75
08/26/2022
LP $21.95
08/26/2022
***The world is breaking apart, but this trio holds it together. Made up of Jessica Pavone (Viola, electronics), Lukas Koenig (Drums) and Matt Mottel (Keytar, 3-string Guitar), all three players are drawn to the improvisational, experimental nature of their self-described, “free-range sonic stew,” a constellation of instruments served up for hungry ears. Their first performance together in 2019 was marked by the tragic, unexpected death of Steve Dalachisnky, a poet and artist well-known in their shared community, who had passed the day before. The night was full of cathartic music—and since then, their sound has been influenced by kindred spirits, merging images, and resonant emotions. Throughout the two wryly-named, extended tracks, Mottel lays thick keyboard and keytar riffs, while Pavone and Koenig contribute interlaced tremolos, and sharp sopranos. The album's title, Spam Likely, plays on the increasing number of spam calls everyone’s receiving these days, asking the obvious question: what happens if you pick up?
CD $13.00
08/26/2022
Carter, Daniel + Patrick Holmes, Matthew Putman, Hilliard Greene, Federico Ughi
Telepatica
577 Records
***If 577 Records had a house-band, this would be it—a group of longtime friends, collaborators and established jazz musicians who are mainstays of the 577 Records’ catalogue, here playing together. The Telepathic Band named themselves after the sort of improvisational style that can only be accomplished with a decade or two of collaboration, playing a signature, boundary-pushing music between friends. Now, with their fifth album, Daniel Carter (Saxophone, Clarinet, Trumpet), Patrick Holmes (Clarinet), Matthew Putman (Piano, Rhodes), Hilliard Greene (Bass), and Federico Ughi (Drums) exemplify the possibilities of in-person improvisation once again. On Telepatica, the group offers extemporized performances live from the 577 Records-organized 2018 Forward Festival. This project displays their imaginative style, following previous albums Telepathic Alliances, Telepatia Liquida, Electric Telepathy, Vol. 1, and Telepathic Mysteries, Vol. 1.
LP $21.95
08/19/2022
CD $13.75
06/03/2022
***In Flower, In Song is the debut album from Trio Xolo, an improvising group composed of Mexican-American bassist Zachary Swanson, Baltimore-based saxophonist Derrick Michaels, and Lithuanian percussionist Dalius Naujo. With a telepathic ear toward musical interplay, Trio Xolo performs free-flowing stream of consciousness improvisations. The result is true, in the moment composition. The trio moves together dynamically as their voices simultaneously overlap and converge into one. In Flower, In Song was recorded live in one room and unveils a warm, organic sound: Swanson's distinctive use of gut strings produce a dark, woody tone, Michaels draws robust color from a vintage saxophone, and Naujo expresses a nuanced control of energy and dynamics. Through explorations of melody, atmosphere, and texture, they can either embrace or dispel the traditional hierarchy of the trio format. At its core, Trio Xolo creates music that seeks to capture the essence of the moment through deep listening.
CD $13.00
06/24/2022
***NOW AVAILABLE!!! Gerald Cleaver is best known for his career as a top jazz drummer, however, his memories of growing up in Detroit inspired him to create his latest project Signs. This debut as an electronic musician and composer came about in his Brooklyn studio through a long process of looking to translate what he heard, into a new language. Cleaver was born and spent most of his life in Detroit, where he experienced, and was influenced by, the legendary development and blossoming of the Motor City electronic music scene. On each of the seven tracks from the vinyl (plus four bonus tracks), the master percussionist turns his creativity and craft onto the realm of a forward-thinking electronic dimension. Listen to one of the most in-demand jazz drummers in this new way to express himself and discover how the palette has expanded through dream-like, transcendent electronic manipulations. Second CD edition.
CD $13.00
05/20/2022
***Following their first album, Dave Tucker (Guitar, Electronics), Pat Thomas (Piano & Keys), Thurston Moore (Guitar), and Mark Sanders (Drums & Percussion) decided to “guess again.” In March 2020, Tucker organized this group of musicians for an improvised performance at London’s Cafe Oto on a successful “educated guess.” Organized around a shared appreciation for improvisation and experimentation, that show resulted in the release of a two volume set. The first volume is a spontaneous performance, layering guitars over complex, scattered percussive arrangements and punctuating the noise with distinctive electronic manipulation. This new volume, Educated Guess, Vol. 2 EP, the second set from the same Cafe Oto show, kicks in with a more acoustic spirit and special emphasis on Pat Thomas’s stellar and unmanipulated piano.
CD $12.75
04/08/2022
***In Motions, Vol. 1, Francisco Mela and Shinya Lin create an album of improvised textures and thrilling exploratory sounds. Using drum sets and prepared piano, they create a lush soundscape of textures, imagining a scene reminiscent of a jungle, full of life, resources and possibility. “It was a huge pleasure to have Mela’s presence and his mentorship was amazing, free of selves, the music came out just naturally from our souls,” says Shinya about their first collaboration. Lin, a pianist and composer based in New York, who was classically trained, draws much of his sound from influences like John Cage and Cecil Taylor, “to accept whatever it comes, there is only enjoyment.” For Mela, who was named 2021 musician of the year by The New York City Jazz Record, this project represents yet another dimension of his curious and exploratory sound, present-focused and arrhythmic.
CD $13.75
03/25/2022
Carter, Daniel + Ayumi Ishito, Eric Plaks, Zach Swanson, John Panikkar
Open Question Vol. 1
577 Records
***Open Question Vol. 1—soon to be followed by a second volume—is the first of two albums that rely on warm, collective, and freely improvised music. The band formed organically in 2019 from weekly jam sessions in Harlem; it is comprised of tenor saxophonist Ayumi Ishito, pianist Eric Plaks, bassist Zach Swanson, and drummer Jon Panikkar, and later, multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter. Recording an album with only free improvisation was Ishito’s long-time dream, stalled by the pandemic, and realized only this year. Open Question’s music today, while fully improvised, remains firmly rooted in the jazz tradition. This is best heard on “Synchronicity,” the last recorded piece of the session, where each musician’s trajectory diverges even as the piece holds together. On the track, Carter starts out with soprano sax then later switches to tenor toward the middle of the piece, as Carter and Ishito playfully spar with competing tenor melodies.
CD $13.00
01/21/2022
***Conversations Vol. 2 represents the second installment of a two-part release by pianist Cooper-Moore and saxophonist Stephen Gauci. This album, which follows 2020’s Conversations Vol. 1 release, showcases these two deeply idiosyncratic players unifying to create a remarkably astringent whole. The artists’ combined experience, playing together during a seven-month residency at Happylucky No. 1 Gallery in Brooklyn, represents three generations of New York City jazz, spanning as far back as the 70’s when Cooper-Moore first arrived to the city and the early 2000’s when Gauci landed in New York. On this 7-track album, their diverse improvisations reflect a deep maturity, decades of experience and a powerful, creative playing style. Conversations Vol. 2 presents avant jazz in its most bracing, current iteration. The album will be available for download and on CD in 2022.
CD $13.75
12/24/2021
***Super groups are not a riskless endeavor—but when they’re made up of longtime friends and master improvisers, they tend to work. On their collaboration, simply titled Volume 1, American saxophonist John Dikeman is accompanied by a group of UK-based musicians: pianist Pat Thomas, bassist John Edwards, and drummer Steve Noble. The album’s two tracks are dynamic and surprising, opening with a bombastic 10-minute piece, followed by a minimalist, quieting 30-minute performance.
CD $13.75
12/24/2021
LP $22.15
12/23/2022
***For multi-instrumentalist Leo Genovese, all of life represents a ceremony. In this project, he poses a particular assembly of rituals to honor that celebratory feeling: offerings, dances, chants and acts, inspired by cultures and tribes from around the world. Leo Genovese is joined by his longtime collaborator Demian Cabaud (Bass) and legendary drummer Jeff Williams, to form a trio—and on four tracks, by Catamarca's singer Nadia Larcher. Larcher’s voice is particularly affecting, soaring over the rhythmic beats and experimental jazz from the trio, to build rich, layered sounds. Ritual presents an album of celebration, convening in a post-pandemic world to again play music together.
CD $13.75
12/24/2021
Legendary downtown music master Daniel Carter meets Tobias Wilner from world-renowned electronic band Blue Foundation. Featuring Wu-Tang Clan bass player Djibril Toure & drum wiz Federico Ughi. As a band, they have played a number of concerts in NYC, including the Forward Festival 2016 and 2018, and are currently working on their second album. This group is the ultimate mix between the classic New York sound of the avant-garde (i.e., John Coltrane & Albert Ayler) combined with electronic manipulation and production. Although this is the first album they have released as a group, the four musicians have collaborated on different projects for years. The group was first formed when drummer Federico Ughi envisioned an ensemble comprised of some of his favorite super talented people. This includes Daniel Carter, who Federico first met in 2001. The two quickly developed a strong playing partnership, going on to create many albums and tours around the world and eventually founding 577 Records and the Forward Festival together. Federico plays drums in Tobias Wilner’s group Blue Foundation, renowned for its Hollywood movie soundtracks such as the vampire series Twilight in addition to Miami Vice and a busy world tour schedule. Federico also plays with Djibril Toure in the group Major Taylor, one of the best punk rock bands to come out of Bedstuy, Brooklyn in the last 10 years. Djibril plays regularly with GZA, a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan and he’s the bass player featured on a selection of Wu-Tangs legendary albums. ...
LP $17.50
12/10/2021
***Exploring the iconic trio format, Sean Conly (Bass), Francisco Mela (Drums) and Leo Genovese (Piano) mix composition and improvised music into a shared language. Inspired by both contemporary and traditional musical arrangements, the musicians’ distinct inclinations blend together in playful form, delivered in an easy dialogue between the musicians. The Buzz’s 10 tracks are gentle and warm, displaying the comfort that the artists have with each other, and lending the album a similarly inviting aura throughout.
LP $22.00
11/05/2021
CD $13.75
10/08/2021
***EMPoWered documents an improvisational live performance from British musicians John Edwards (Double Bass), N.O. Moore (Guitar), and Eddie Prévost (Drums). The three musicians have comprised a longstanding trio, known for their vigorous riffs and unconventional introspection. But in this performance, their group expanded to include saxophonist Alan Wilkinson, adding a deeply resonant, full-bellied sound to their otherwise discrete and dynamic in-the-moment compositions. Their pace is constantly shifting, reflecting both an instant rapport between the players, and a tight command of their styles. This performance, in particular, calls to Sonny Sharrock’s Ask the Ages recording, and Elvin Jones’s percussive legacy. Moore’s longstanding affinity for electronic manipulation can also be heard in his use of the guitar’s self-oscillating echos, as well as filters and distortion throughout the performance. This is Moore & Prévost’s second release on 577 Records after The Secret Handshake with Danger, Vol. 1 (Olie Brice, Binker Golding, Henry Kaiser, N. O. Moore, Eddie Prévost).
CD $13.75
10/22/2021
***“The multidimensional experience that is Pacifica Koral Reef began life in trumpet player and composer Smith’s prodigious imagination, and then found a home on a single sheet of paper, inscribed with sinuous lines, bright blocks of spring green and earthy ochre, radiant pools of blue, circuit-board computations, and ancient glyphs. You could call it a painting. The University of Chicago’s Renaissance Society, which hosted an exhibition of Smith’s graphic scores in 2015, probably would. It’s also a portal, as Kaiser and I found when we began, with Smith’s inspiration and help, to translate it into sound. Over the course of several recording sessions, made next door to a sumptuous collection of vintage ukuleles and utilizing an array of microphones made of purest Soviet unobtanium, we were transported to locales as dramatically different as a steamy Chicago nightclub, a Third Stream concert hall, the crystalline world under the Antarctic ice, and a lonely Scottish moor (with hints of a lost tanpura droning in the distance)..."—Alex Varty
CD $13.75
10/22/2021
***New York United is an experimental group at the musical intersection of a classic New York avant-garde scene and forward-looking electronic production. Comprised of multi-instrumentalist and 577-cofounder Daniel Carter (Saxophone, Flute, Trumpet, Clarinet), electronic producer Tobias Wilner from Blue Foundation (Synthesizers, Percussion, Vocals, Piano, Guitar), Wu-Tang Clan bass player Djibril Toure and 577’s Federico Ughi (Drums), their sound reflects their decades of collaboration. This second volume follows their celebrated debut, the eponymous New York United (2019), and matches its characteristically dreamlike effect, while maintaining a steady, rhythmic momentum. Like the first volume, this album was initially recorded in an improvised studio performance, and manipulated by Wilner in post-recording production, lending a uniquely ambient, electronic effect to otherwise spontaneous composition between musicians. Inescapably connected to its namesake city, the project is a testament to the transformative energy that sustains New York, dissolving individual boundaries into a collective sense of itself.
LP $22.00
09/03/2021
CD $13.75
09/03/2021
Mela, Francisco Featuring Matthew Shipp And William Parker
(Vol. 1) Music Frees Our Souls
577 Records
***Before any instrumentation, Francisco Mela addresses his fellow musicians, pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker, with a sense of anticipation and affirmation, “Okay guys, ready? Rolling!” The sense of camaraderie and his artist-focused approach is heard throughout the album’s majestic improvisation—as well as in its inspiration, dedicated to Mela’s longtime musical partner, the legendary jazz musician McCoy Tyner. Tyner was well-known for his boundless musical talent, and perhaps best-known for playing in John Coltrane’s quartet, which revolutionized the jazz world and reverberated through the music world at large. But it was his mentorship that truly touched Francico Mela: Tyner encouraged him to explore the boundaries of both his personal expression and his musical ability, affirming the philosophical conviction that music was a gateway to liberation. That pursuit of freedom was a lifelong aspiration, and one borne from community. Mela recalls performing at New York City’s Blue Note with McCoy Tyner, on a specific night when maestro Cecil Taylor came to listen to McCoy’s trio. Tyner and Taylor shared a conversation, and afterwards Tyner returned backstage, gently confiding in Mela, “I wish I were that free. We play music to free our souls.” Likewise, Tyner encouraged Mela to pursue his broadening interests, inspiring Francisco to embrace experimentation and musical freedom. In Music Frees Our Souls Vol. 1, Mela, Shipp and Parker compose an album that is equally innovative and welcoming, offering the best of experimental jazz and paying homage to McCoy Tyner’s indelible creative influence. This is the first chapter...
LP $22.00
08/27/2021
CD $13.75
07/23/2021
***Friendship: Lucid Shared Dreams and Time Travel documents a fresh collaboration between multi-instrumentalist, Daniel Carter, and guitarist, Jessica Ackerley. Both musicians are active improvisers on the New York free jazz scene, but rather than collaborating on a formal stage, their musical relationship developed over a few casual outdoor sessions during the summer of 2020. This release captures the joyful ease of their collaboration, as each musical interaction creates a warm transcendence, inspired by the dream-like, meditative effect improvised music is known for. Rippling guitar strums cascade under the sustained swells of various horns and reeds, allowing passages of space and minimalist tendencies in the music to ebb and flow like breathing. The use of acoustical instruments lends itself to the stylings of primitive guitar music and nods to baroque cadences without compromising each musicians’ free jazz and experimentalist foundations. The 8-track album documents a precious encounter between two friends, inviting the listener to glimpse into their tranquil inner world. This marks Jessica Ackerley’s debut on 577 Records, anticipating future releases scheduled on the 577 catalog later in 2022.
CD $13.75
07/23/2021
***When The Time Is Right opens with John Dikeman's saxophone and Roy Campbell's unmistakable, unrelenting trumpet, striking the first chord of a full-throttle performance, recorded live at an Amsterdam festival in 2013. From the unforgettable introduction, the quintet’s performance moves confidently between intricately arranged limbos and lush interludes, approaching each turn of their performance confidently and with enthusiastic commitment to the creative process. The five musicians hand off complex melodies and tempos between their eight instruments, building a performance that seems propelled by momentum. After their hour-long improvisation, Campbell told his fellow musicians, “what I liked the most is that from the very beginning, we went directly to the point.” This album, best summarized by Campbell, is also a tribute to his lifelong legacy of musical achievement, encapsulating the forward-thinking contributions he made in the experimental jazz scene throughout his career. And this group, comprised of Raoul van der Weide, Klaus Kugel, Peter Jacquemyn, John Dikeman and the late Roy Campbell, only ever played together once, offering a dynamic and truly singular performance.
CD $13.75
07/23/2021