free improv

Tim Berne (born 1954) is an American jazz saxophone player and composer. Though Berne was a music fan, he had no interest in playing a musical instrument until he was in college, when he purchased an alto saxophone. He was more interested in rhythm and blues music--Stax records releases and Aretha Franklin, especially--until he heard a recording by Julius Hemphill. Hemphill was known for his integration of soul music and funk with free jazz. Berne moved to New York City in 1974. There Berne took lessons from Hemphill, and later recorded with him.

Evan Parker (born 5 April 1944 in Bristol) is a British free-improvising saxophone player. His original inspiration was Paul Desmond, and in recent years the influence of cool jazz saxophone players has again become apparent in his music — there are tributes to Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz on Time Will Tell (ECM, 1993) and Chicago Solo (Okkadisk, 1997). However, Parker is probably better known for his 1960s work, which rapidly assimilated the American avantgarde — John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler and others — and forged his own, instantly identifiable style.

Jack Rose (R.I.P.)
Mike Gangloff
Mikel Dimmick
Patrick Best Psychedelic noise/drone/folk band from Richmond, Virginia. They play dense, large-scale pieces of music that radiate inner warmth. They are influenced by Indian raga, the American primitivism of John Fahey, minimalism, and noise music.

Crab Smasher are a Newcastle, Australia based group of improvisational sound sharks crafting a frenzied hodgepodge of weirdo psychedelic noise rock and experimental pop delicious. The band formed in 2002 as a cheesy electronic novelty noise act and have since mutated through a number of confusing formations into the sellout rock-and-roll hydra that exists today. The lineup currently consists of Grant Hunter, Nicholas French, Marnie Vaughn, and Nathan Martin.