Daunik Lauzro / Joelle Leandre - Hasparren [No Business]

Daunik Lazro - baritone sax
Joelle Leandre - double bass, voice






No Business Records 2013

This is one for those who love low tones and deep timbres. Baritone sax and double bass in the hands of Daunik Lazro and Joelle Leandre sound like a meeting of two soulmates. The two has played together, in various settings, for over 30 years now.

John Tchicai - Tribal Ghost [NoBusiness]

John Tchicai - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Charlie Kohlhase - alto, tenor and baritone saxophones
Garrison Fewell - guitar and percussion
Cecil McBee - bass
Billy Hart - drums



No Business 2013

John Tchicai remains one of the unsung heroes of free-jazz, having performed during his New York residence in the 60's (1963-1966) with such greats like Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Milford Graves, Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd and last but not least John Coltrane (the milestone "Ascension" album) he returned to his native Denmark, and for the next decades he would divide his time between teaching and performing. He died last year, having suffered brain hemorrhage

The Group - Live [NoBusiness]

The Group:
Ahmed Abdullah - trumpet and flugelhorn
Marion Brown - alto saxophone
Billy Bang - violin
Sirone - bass
Fred Hopkins - bass
Andrew Cyrille - drums

NoBusiness Records 2012
Recorded in 1986

The Group - "Live" is yet another volume in the No Business unnamed "vault" series , making available dug up archive recordings that document some of the lost chapters in free-jazz history (Billy Bang's Survival Unit, William Hooker & Thomas Chapin duo and Thomas Borgmann Trio have already appeared on the blog).

It takes tjust a quick look at the names' list to know that this a heavyweight band. The Group did never got a chance to document their music in a studio which makes this release a true digger's treasure.

Thomas Borgmann BMN Trio - Nasty & Sweet [NoBusiness]

Thomas Borgmann - reeds
Wilber Morris - bass
Reggie Nicholson - drums

No Business 2013

Thomas Borgmann and Wilber Morris musical partnership is of the match made in heaven kind.

BMN Trio was born after the untimely death of late Dennis Charles and it's music might be perceived as a sign of continuity as well as of perserverance, relentlesness of creative passion. 

Tarfala Trio - Syzygy [NoBusiness]

Tarfala Trio:

Mats Gustafsson - tenor, alto saxophone, fluteophone

Barry Guy - double bass

Raymond Strid - drums, percussion

NoBusiness Records 2011

If you're interested in improvised music at all, you're quite familiar with and possibly fond of all three musicians named above. No surprise really as they're all about the most active and prolific masters of the improvised stage. And they prove so with this particular release that was recorded live in Belgium in 2009.

RED Trio + John Butcher - Empire [NoBusiness]

RED trio:

Rodrigo Pinheiro - piano

Hernani Faustino - double bass

Gabriel Ferrandini - drums

John Butcher - tenor and soprano saxophones

NoBusiness Records 2011

A second release by the trio catches them in the company of a british legend of free-improv John Butcher. This expanded version of a trio brings back the memories of their concert in Krakow where they were joined by Keir Neuringer, which is a good thing because that night was spectacular and this trio showed already that they can work great as a quartet.

The RED trio's music features (as they established on the self-titled debut cd; Clean Feed 2010) are dark, eerie, menacing almost as they create a mysterious mixture of shades, scraping sounds, echoes. This is music full of suspense, dramaturgy, a dark and mysterious tale with gripping narration that gradually drowns you. With the assistance of John Butcher they're able to expand and strengthen all those qualities.

William Hooker & Thomas Chapin - Crossing Points [NoBusiness]

William Hooker - drums
Thomas Chapin - sax

NoBusiness Records 2011

Thomas Chapin's death from leukemia at the age of 40 is one of the most tragic twists in jazz history (and jazz history has its share of those - where would Coltrane be or Clifford Brown if they were to live longer?). This post-mortem release comes as unexpected but tremendously welcomed surprise for all the fans of this musician and presents him outside the common setting of his trio as he features on one concert of a series of duos played by William Hooker in NYC in 1992.

"Subway" is a 28mins long marathon, Hooker's colossal, muscular drumming keeps the charge, relentless and restless, while Chapin tries to keep up with fresh ideas and harden the tone. It is bit exhausting in the middle but they surge back with great energy in the end, although I feel that Hooker is overpowering the music a little bit.

Billy Bang's Survival Ensemble - Black Man's Blues / New York Collage [NoBusiness]

Black Man's Blues:

Billy Bang - violin, poetry, bells, shaker, percussion

Bilal Abdur Rahman - tenor and soprano sax, bull horn, percussion

William Parker - bass

Rashid Bakr - drums

Recorded 29th May 1977 at a Day in Solidarity with Soweto. Released for the first time.

New York Collage:

all of the above and

Henry Warner - alto sax, bells, shaker, percussion

Khuwana Fuller - conga

Recorded at Columbia University Radio WKCR 89.9FM at 16th May 1978. Released originally on Anima Records in 1978.

A double treat from NoBusiness Records! An uncovered treasure that puts some light on the few rather obscure chapters of  the loft jazz era, combining new material and a re-issue of a lost gem of the New York avantgarde jazz scene in what would, unfortunately, become a post-mortem tribute to Billy Bang who died on April 11 this year, stripped of the chance to see this release being finished.

As much as these 2 cds (or lps)' serve as a tribute and an important document of the freejazz history, the music itself, as played originally in 1977 and 1978, transcended the art reality, was a gesture of a social protest, a political demonstration, an ideology manifest - to start with the very name of the band - Survival.

Oluyemi Thomas, Sirone, Michael Wimberly - Beneath Tones Floor [NoBusiness]

Beneath Tones Floor

Oluyemi Thomas - bass clarinet, flute, soprano, musette, percussion

Sirone - bass

Michael Wimberly - drums, percussion

NoBusiness Records 2010

To balance the content of last couple of reviews (big groups, orchestral compositions, string quartets etc) I jumped into the music of this improvising trio, and it's quite a big contrast.

This is free-jazz at its best. With fantastic musicianship throughout, with ideas flowing freely in and out, with the band members both reacting to one another and pushing each other forward, sometimes acting like three minds in one body. A journey, a mystical revelation, a metaphysical experience. 

Liudas Mockunas, Eugenijus Kanevicius and Dalius Naujokaitis - Kablys. Live at 11:20 [NoBusiness]

Kablys. Live at 11:20

Liudas Mockunas - tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones

Eugenijus Kanevicius - bass and electronics

Dalius Naujokaitis – drums

NoBusiness Records 2010

Had the decision to start this blog came just one day earlier the first post would be about Liudas Mockunas, Rafal Mazur, Raymond Strid concert. To make up for it I'd like to present You this release. Liudas Mockunas comes to, what I hope is, international attention of free-jazz lovers, thanks to recent releases of NoBusiness and this one makes his case even stronger.