John Corbett's imprint, The Unheard Music Series has been unleashed upon an unsuspecting (and uncaring?) world... Think of all the great dormant music. Unmarked tapes languishing in basements. Life-altering records long out-of-print, available only to collectors with deep pockets. The dustbin of sonic history: Unheard Music.

Unheard, that is, until now. Atavistic's new Unheard Music Series lets you access the heretofore inaccessible. Hand chosen by writer, producer and musician John Corbett, the series scours the earth in an ongoing treasure-hunt for rarities from the realms of action jazz, creative music and free improvisation, specializing in lost music of the '60s and '70s, but leaving room for particularly outstanding items that fall outside those stylistic and temporal waters. Drawing from radio archives, private tapes, collections of rare vinyl, and all sorts of unreleased sessions, often working hand-in-hand with the artists themselves, the series will focus on filling gaps in the historical record and illuminating otherwise dark corners of the musical continuum. The finest, most startling new discoveries and favorite forgotten moments by both world renowned and barely visible artists will be excavated, dusted off, and buffed up. Sure to surprise and delight avid fans and new listeners alike, Unheard Music Series reissues will always come equipped with original covers and new notes contextualizing the music, and first-release packages will include rare photos, historical info and, where possible, comments from the musicians themselves.

For your immediate edification, we've noted some highlights from the debut titles released in back in 2000-01:

Recorded in December, 1970, at Vassar College, this outstanding set of dusty grooves will inaugurate the Unheard Music Series. (The other four CjR records will be reissued one at a time over the next year). Comprised of three parts hardcore free jazz and two parts r&b/funk blowout, it's an irresistible combination- a killer-diller disc that reveals a great deal about the soul side of Mr. McPhee. Newly mastered from original tapes with complete original cover, original liner text & new liner notes by Ken Vandermark.

Swedish free jazz from a little-known ensemble built for speed and handcrafted for action. Saxophonist Gilbert Holmstršm, who had been a fixture on the Swedish scene since the early '60s, formed Mount Everest Trio in the '70s, with fiery drummer Conny Sjškvist and outstanding bassist Kjell Jansson. They waxed this unknown monster LP in '75 for the tiny collective Levande Improviserad Musik label, covering tunes by Ayler, Ornette Coleman, and Gary Bartz, as well as original compositions and free pieces. No record collection will be complete without their explosive "No Hip Shit" in it. Packaged with the original cover and notes, as well as new liner text, this reissue will augment the initial LP with almost an entire record's worth of never-before released studio material recorded the following year - equally hot, even more rare!

In '80, Anderson took a quartet with Billy Brimfield, Larry Hayrod and Hamid Drake to play somewhere in Milwaukee (the name of the venue is a casualty of time) and made arrangements to have a professional 8-track recording made of the concert; twenty years nigh, the first fruits of this performance are publicly available. Anderson and Brimfield had been collaborating for ages, since the beginning of the '60s when they had a pre-AACM quartet with bassist Bill Fletcher and drummer Vernon Thomas. At that early date, they were playing original music, working on the concept that Anderson is continuing to expand and hone today; Fred suggests that the fact that he already had compositions & a musical direction was why he was chosen to participate in the very first AACM concert in '65.

Simply put, Nipples is one of the rarest & most influential European energy jazz recordings of all time. The incendiary Sextet lineup featured an international cast of musical greats: leader Brötzmann & bassist Buschi Niebergall (Germany); tenor saxophonist Evan Parker & guitarist Derek Bailey (U.K.); drummer Han Bennink (Netherlands); and pianist Fred Van Hove (Belgium). The Quartet recordings (sans Bailey & Parker) also remain an intensely creative watershed of conventionally configured jazz lineups 30 years later. Virtually everything about Nipples is simply the stuff of legend. Beyond the remarkably stunning lineups, half the recordings were laid down at none other than Conny Plank's studio- the premiere launching site for the greatest Krautrock recordings of all time; the balance at Manfred Eicher's Ludwigsburg facility- arguably the cradle of the ECM Records sound. Truly a collector's holy grail & an absolute must for any jazz fanatic.

Recorded for Germany's Radio Bremen in 1973, in the period when Bennink was storming Europe in a trio with Peter Brötzmann and Fred van Hove, Nerve Beats is a great recording never before issued on CD. A three-track live concert recorded at the acoustically ideal Rathaus, then mastered from the radio session original tapes- Nerve Beats is also the only live document available of Han performing solo at this time, as his early FMP and ICP records are now out of print. "Ouch! Endlessly inventive; highest recommendation" -The Other Music

Leo Cuypers is one of the great unsung heroes of Dutch creative music - as a bandleader, solo pianist and member of the first incarnation of the Willem Breuker Kollektief. Heavy Days Are Here Again was a project that brought Bennink and Breuker (who made the first ICP recording) back together. Heavy Days has been meticulously remastered from the original tapes, and is presented with its original LP artwork; it also features a revealing new interview with the elusive Mr. Cuypers, conducted by noted Dutch jazz critic Erik van den Berg. "Superb!" -The Other Music

Nachtluft was a Zurich-based trio, consisting of Günter Müller on electronic percussion, Jacques Widmer on acoustic percussion, and Andres Bosshard on a unique cassette machine setup (and speakers distributed around the room)- and all three musicians on metal! For fans of electronic music, noise rock, post-techno, advanced electronica, sound installation and free improvisation, this record will come as a startling revelation- a powerful manifesto on the glory of enormous electroacoustic sound. "A fascinating precursor to the electroacoustic madness now being released in droves..." -The Other Music

The full title of this landmark collection, "Otra Musica: Tape Music, Fluxus & Free Improvisation in Buenos Aires 1963-70" says a tremendous amount this overwhelming package. Though he has only recently come to international attention through his recordings for hatART as a leader, Argentinean clarinetist and alto saxophonist Guillermo Gregorio had a fascinating earlier artistic incarnation in Buenos Aires. Heretofore totally unknown, these recordings bring to light an incredibly sophisticated sound-world of proto-electronica, fluxus-oriented performance art and very early free improvised music, all from a virtually secret enclave of South American experimentalism. Sixteen tracks, none ever released before, with various groups including Movimiento Música Más, totally free duets with trumpeter Carlos Miralles from '64, and an astounding solo alto piece from the same year. Painstakingly researched and lavishly documented, with an in-depth essay by John Corbett- Otra Musica is presented in a10-page fold-out cd booklet with tons of period photos and reproductions of two of Gregorio's 1960s paintings, and will likely stand as one of the great archival unearthings of creative music. For overviews of the Fall UMS titles: http://members.tripod.com/vermontreview/CD%20Reviews/atavistic.htm and http://columns.ink19.com/tof/

A tremendous live quartet concert, recorded at the first Willisau Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1975, Willi The Pig features a smoking lineup of Swiss master pianist Irene Schweizer (one of the foundering figures of free music in Europe), elemental Danish saxophonist John Tchicai (who co-led the New York Contemporary Five and recorded with Albert Ayler and John Coltrane), German bassist Buschi Niebergall (who appeared on Peter Brötzmann's NIPPLES), and South African drummer Makaya Ntshoko. First released in a hand-silkscreened batch of 500, to commemorate the Swiss festival, this LP has been out of print basically since it was issued, and remains one of the rarest LPs of '70s free jazz. This reissue reproduces the lovely cover, designed by Willisau chief Nicklaus Troxler, in all its shocking pink and silver glory. Looking for a long-lost free jazz gem with truly international & historical import? Viva Willi The Pig! Attesting to our claims: http://www.jazzweekly.com 10/01/00 edition.

(from John Corbett's liner notes) "Stockholm, Fall 1972. Sven-Åke Johansson, up to then busy playing and recording with Peter Brötzmann, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Manfred Schoof and other leading figures of continental improvisation, as well as his own lesser-known Moderne Nordeuropäische Dorfmusik, sat down to make one of the world's unique drum documents. Johansson put Schlingerland out himself in a heretofore unseen-by-most-humans edition of several hundred, with a lovely hand-printed cover. Later, Berlin's incendiary stalwart FMP initiated its sister label SAJ by reissuing the LP. It wasn't the first solo free percussion album in Europe - Pierre Favre and Han Bennink beat Johansson by a couple of years. But it is unlike those other percussion-centric records, focused fixatedly on the drumset. Nothing extraneous. A poem on polyrhythm. A meditiation on varieties of flow and levels of intensity. And the infinite possibilties of the kit." If you're pre-disposed to the Brötzmann axis of Euro energy-jazz, intrigued by solo percussion work like Bennink's, or merely seeking a fresh piece of chutzpah-driven verite' from the dawn of the era, then the UMS' Schlingerland reissue- one of the great long documents of solo percussion- should be added to your collection post-haste. Of course, there'shttp://www.jazzweekly.com/reviews/johansson.htm.

Trinity represents the second installation in The Unheard Music Series efforts to resurrect Joe McPhee's early '70's work on the CjR label, soon to be completed with Underground Railroad and Pieces of Light. This brilliant trio recording of blues inflected out-soul from '73 follows up on hugely successful Nation Time, recorded a year later. Originally issued in '73 in an edition of 1000, Trinity has not available since. Trinity is McPhee's favorite of his CjR recordings, claiming it was a not only a turning point in his music- but with the tenor saxophone as well: "With Trinity, I began to feel more comfortable with the instrument. Not having a bassist also removed me from a normal "jazz" context, let the music just be what it was ...the larger space provided by the trio gave me more time to explore the instrument, the colors became more clear, the area I wanted to work became more defined." The UMS reissue features original artwork, plus a previously unseen cover photo originally designed for a solo record by Mike Kull (keyboardist on this outing) that was never recorded. John Corbett has remastered Trinity from original tapes; the LP had to be severely compressed to squeeze all the music on to it, but in the digital realm restoration of all the sweet space was possible. Hence, Trinity has never sounded so fantastic! Featured are a long drum and tenor duet section (with McPhee breaking new ground on the horn), and a fantastic piece dedicated to Albert Ayler, with McPhee overdubbed on soprano sax and pocket cornet. Utterly spellbinding.

Funky Donkey is an ultra-rare document from the Black Artists Group (BAG) archives, led by alto saxophonist Luther Thomas, with a full force free-funk ensemble. UMS Producer John Corbett & Mr. Thomas have also unearthed a second volume of unadulterated Donkey Funk (featuring a long piece written by saxophonist Oliver Lake), which was recorded at same performance, prepared for release but never issued. Finally, almost three decades later, it's available for the first time! These great recordings featuring the Bowie brothers: late-great Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpeter Lester Bowie, and Defunkt-founder/trombonist Joseph Bowie, as well as reed player J.D. Parran (fresh from recording with The Band!) and versatile drummer Charles "Bobo" Shaw. Out of print for twenty years, Funky Donkey delivers massive mid-70s creative sounds; Great Black Music, St. Louis style! UMS has restored the gritty original artwork, lost when the LP was reissued briefly on vinyl on the Circle label in the early '80s. Also includes very funky unfinished cover artwork for Vol. 2. Both sessions have been remastered from the original tapes,and sound much better than the vinyl ever did. Clear your mind and your heart with a blast of braying Donkey Funk today!

Simply put, As Was is a masterpiece of American creative music. These huge quartet recordings from the band's first incarnation with Andrew Voigt were first issued on Larry Ochs and Henry Kaiser's legendary Metalanguage label in '81, and have never been previously available on CD. Bay Area ROVA continue to make great music; they are the finest, most adventurous saxophone quartet in the biz. This record features some of their most memorable compositions, including the superb, r&b inflected "Paint Another Take Of The Shootpop," dedicated to Olivier Messiaen and Otis Redding, and "Daredevils," which Larry Ochs describes as "...a little hit of the circus." As Was has been remastered & resequenced from original tapes by Rova's Larry Ochs, UMS has restored the swank original cover to the form it was initially envisioned (when printed for the LP is didn't turn out the way the group wanted it to...). This one record shows how expansive and exciting the sometimes mundane saxophone quartet format can be, when deployed with the right combination of care and spunk. Or- per the original liner notes "... when ROVA plays live, our sound fills the room. We suggest playing this record at a volume that fills your listening space." - Larry Ochs (original liner notes, 1981)

(from Jim O'Rourke's liner notes...)" "Moslang-Guhl". You'd be forgiven if you thought it was food. It's not, but they use food. previous to Voice Crack, Norbert Moslang and Andy Guhl were longhair troublemakers on the European improvising scene, more power to them. Their first record "Deep Voices" (FMP 510) pictured the boys rocking out on a variety of very small percussion and very large reeds. There are "home-made instruments", not so odd for the time, there was Hugh Davies, Michael Wiszwicz even Evan Parker was rockin an oscillator. But somewhere in St. Gallen, Switzerland, these guys were doing their homework. "Knack On" was released in 82, and in the interim, they must have come upon something that sent them on towards their path to Voice Crack. On this record you'll here them crossing the line, moving past the improv w/electronics sound of the Tony Oxley/Allan Davies, Paul Lovens/Paul Lytton, AMM, MEV etc. axis, jumping headfirst into everyday sound. There is great moment, maybe 18 minutes into the recording where you can here someone drop their glass. it works perfectly. I can't think of a Voice Crack show I've seen where someone hasn't dropped their glass. (I'm always holding one in case no one does their duty) but that's the beauty of moslang/guhl/voice crack. Where is the line?? To see someone playing a bunch of christmas tree ornaments, a speak and spell (take that Experimental Audio Research!), a flashlight, with very little of the distracting "expression", yet hearing a wild symphony of ever changing textures, and still hear the ideas, well, "rock on", more like. Moslang and Guhl are also artists in the more traditional sense, their installations only emphasize this sense of separation from these "cracked every day electronics" as they brilliantly call them, and the presupposed idea of them as performers. Enough intellectualizing. Back to food. What's with this theme of wasted consumerism, broken household items, oscillators powered by fruit, a remote control screwing up reception on a shortwave, left over building materials, trash, as some would call it. I've often wondered about their "swiss-ness". St. Gallen may not be Geneva and Zurich , but it's still Switzerland (really, check a map! actually check for me, now I'm not so sure..) There is a strain of Swiss improvisers, Gunter Muller, Andreas Bosshard, Christian Marclay, Jacques Widmer, Norbert Moslang, Andy Guhl, what's in common? They're Swiss! No, really, there is this interest in using what's left over, be it old records, junkyard scraps, rebuilt speakers, even a bridge. What's goin on? I'm not giving answers, but it sure is something to think about. Their next record "Voice Crack" (also UhlKlang, '84) pictures them scattering what looks like mutant creations of Rolf Julius throughout the floor of a St Gallen gallery. With the arrival of Knut Remond on 1990's "Earflash" they were Voice Crack. And any thought of them playing at Total Music Meeting is about as rational as a Lynyrd Skynyrd reunion. But on they roar, they're still rockin. For years are streamlining their sound, it's more seamless, hell they're even going into studios to record but there's something still rough, something still unsettling, something unnameable: zzzzmakrckkkpppchkachkapbtzzzzshhhkkktztztztztbbbbbbsheeeeeeeping!"