Rød, Johannes
FREE JAZZ AND IMPROVISATION ON LP AND CD 1965-2024

This book is both a revised new edition, and a continuous extension of my book published by Rune Grammoon in 2014: Free Jazz and Improvisation on Vinyl 1965-1985. The timespan dealt with has expanded from 20 to 49 years (1965 - 2024); the number of labels has grown from 60 to 185. All the records presented here were either originally released on vinyl or originally in the CD format. As a music lover, the two formats have always been equally interesting. As a collector, the vinyl format used to be more interesting. After my research for this new and revised edition, for me the two formats tend to balance equally. There is a musical treasure hidden in the last 30 years of CD production that tends to be forgotten in today's trend to focus on vinyl. It is one of the main purposes with this book, to forward this information to all of you. Digital files, re-releases from LP to CD or from CD to LP are not included with a few exceptions.

The aim of this book is to present a selection of independent record companies and their record releases in the field of free jazz, free improvisation and instant composing. There are no distinct borders between free experimental music categories. Some artists can be put in different categories like electroacoustic, electronic noise, avant-garde and modern composition. Conclusively, that means that some of the labels included in this book are on the fringe of the actual topic for this book. The decision of what shall be included and what not is a topic for endless discussions. The decision is all mine based on conversations with artists and scholars in the field. This is a book of lists, numbers and chronologies, as well as record design and musicians.

 [author's note]

Published by Smalltown Supersound, 2026
Music & Sound