Allen Lowe, ROVA, John Dikeman & Jeff Cosgrove

Saxophonist & music historian Allen Lowe has a new three-CD release that's extremely interesting. I Should Have Stayed Dead contains the music that is part of a new documentary film about Lowe's music and battle with cancer. With post-production problems delaying the release of the film, a decision was made to release the music. Guests like Matthew Shipp & Wadada Leo Smith augment Lowe's own bands, and Lowe includes great liner notes. Once known as the Rova Saxophone Quartet, ROVA, still a quartet and one of the longest-running groups among the avant-garde, releases Those Who , featuring guest composers. Free-wheeling saxophonist John Dikeman first moved from the USA to Amsterdam, where he became a key member of the free jazz scene. Now he's moved to Ostend Belgium and started his own label, Tractata, with the debut release by his quartet Old Adam On Turtle Island. Other new European releases sampled are Ping from guitarist Raoul Bjorkenheim & drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and the Finnish band Jazz & Fly Fishing. Guitarist Todd Neufeld is a standout on drummer Jeff Cosgrove's new Head Heart Or Hands , Jason Moran & Caleb Wheeler Curtis hook up for an outstanding set of duet pieces, saxophonist JD Allen explores Gnawan music on Sowt , and Satoko Fujii's Orchestra Tokyo's Kappa Ondo pays tribute to her father-in-law, Ichiji Tamura, an artist known globally for his contributions to special needs education. Lots more good stuff too.