Black Editions US Vinilo y CD

Review: This trio performance from saxophonist Peter Brotzmann, drummer Milford Graves and double bassist William Parker now gets a look back via Black Editions, and captures a moment in time when greater synergy between jazz musicians might have been possible. Broadcast from the front room of CBGBs in 2002, this is the first ever recording of the band playing together, mainly cementing Graves' chops and standing as an immensely great drummer and worthy of his place in the percussive hall of fame. Graves lives up - our through - to his Thurston Moore-dubbed "living myth" status, with each musician feeding off each other in an impossibly timeless, rare, and sleek New York jass standoff.

Review: The latest release in Black Editions Archive's Milford Graves Archival series is this superb double LP, Children of the Forest. It's an album that comes with previously unreleased sessions from 1976 with Hugh Glover and Arthur Doyle. It's music that Graves recorded in his own legendary basement laboratory in Queens just before he recorded his most famous album, Babi. Graves's unique playing and approach shine through here as does his encyclopedic knowledge of the rhythms of the Caribbean and Africa, with plenty of jazz chops also colouring the airwaves.

Review: Industrial noise jazz of the highest order comes reissued by Black Editions, who cast their sights back on the late 1960s, a lesser-known golden era for unbounded experimentation in the genre. Japanese stalwart and bandleading visionary Masayuki Takayanagi was at this time in the twilight years of his life, but that hardly stopped him from scouring new musical frontiers; he formed New Direction as a means to freely upend jazz, in a way that mirrored the rapid societal changes of post-occupation Japan. A raucous 3xLP boxset.

Review: Masayuki Takanayaga was a pioneering Japanese free jazz player who started his career in the early 50s. More than just a skilled guitarist, he boldly pushed into noise and free improvisation realms, perhaps best captured with the New Direction Unit group on this landmark album from 1975. Eclipse is a formidable experience in which Takanayaga and his group wrangle an incredible spectrum of tones from their instruments with a seemingly unbound attitude. It sets the tone for groups like No-Neck Blues Band and beyond - a masterful statement from a fearless innovator.