Results for "Avant-garde"

Daniel Garrido Casares

Jason Kao Hwang

Born: May 12, 1957

The music of Jason Kao Hwang (composer/violin/viola) explores the vibrations of his history. His compositions are often narrative landscapes through which sonic beings embark upon extemporaneous, transformational journeys.  His most recent releases, Myths of Origin, Soliloquies, Book of Stories, Uncharted Faith, and The Human Rites Trio, have received critical acclaim. Raised during the “melting pot” era of assimilation, Mr. Hwang did not learn Chinese from his immigrant parents, only English. When his parents spoke in Chinese to each other, he would listen intently to glean meaning from the inflection, rhythm, and timbre of their phrases.  Mr

Andy Nechaevsky

Born: April 23, 1970

Andy Nechaevsky is a Ukrainian composer, multi-instrumentalist, and luthier from Lviv whose music transcends the boundaries between avant-folk, impressionism, and modern creative jazz. As a master-luthier who handcrafts his own resonator kalimbas, Nechaevsky creates a sonic universe that is both technologically innovative and profoundly human. His compositions are defined by hypnotic textures, structured improvisation, and a deep emotional resonance that critics have described as "prayer-like yet claustrophobic."

Nechaevsky’s narrative is deeply rooted in themes of displacement and resilience. After losing his home in annexed Crimea, music became his primary medium for processing the "crossroads of history." This personal journey informs his artistic exploration of the "perpetual outsider" - a concept inspired by the histories of Anusim Marranos and Mozarabs.

La Otra Band

Active since: 2024

La Otra Band is an experimental ensemble born in Barcelona out of La Otra Jam, a long-running platform dedicated to free improvisation that brings together musicians, dancers, poets, and visual artists. The project represents the most developed musical expression of this collective experience, translating its spontaneous and multidisciplinary nature into a “produced improvisation” format.

The ensemble gathers a fluid lineup of international musicians from diverse backgrounds, including jazz, contemporary music, and electronic experimentation. Rather than working with fixed compositions, La Otra Band builds its sound through real-time interaction, where structure emerges organically from listening, tension, and collective intuition.

James McClure

South African trumpet player and composer James McClure presents his deeply personal Debut Album on Molk Records (27 February 2026). He is a powerful emerging voice within Amsterdam’s experimental music community, known for his mesmerising sound, patience and sensibility. This is a bold and introspective work that invites deep listening. It is rooted in emotion, free improvisation and progressive thought with traces of heritage, while the album is held together by a recurring lullaby written in response to violence and global unrest. It is a call for change, reflection and healing that feels ever more relevant and increasingly urgent. 

Oscar Evans

Born: June 29

Oscar Evans is a jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist from Kingston, Ontario specializing in upright bass and trumpet. Blinded in his adolescence, Oscar has gravitated toward learning multiple instruments as a medium for understanding music theory and musicianship, and specializes in bass, drums, and trumpet.

Oscar pursued his passion for jazz at Humber College where he majored in trumpet. In 2025, Oscar released two albums of jazz standards—one featuring him on trumpet, titled Library Sessions, and the other featuring him on bass, titled Live at the Hotel Wolfe Island. His Gotta Start Somewhere EP featuring four original compositions was released in December 2025. Oscar consistently pushes his own boundaries to create interesting new music. His 2026 album Sound Permutations is a solo free jazz project on which Oscar plays bass, drums and trumpet. Forthcoming in 2027 is a full length album of original compositions titled Vibration Society which was recorded at the Bathouse Studio in Bath, Ontario with the support of a project recording grant from the Ontario Arts Council.

Tangerine

Active since: 2024

Tangerine is fresh duo of pianist Danielle Friedman (Berlin) and saxophonist Aviv Noam (Amsterdam). Their music is an ongoing exploration of both the differences and the commonality of their inner and artistic worlds, bringing a unique blend of musical aesthetics: jazz, swing, improvisation, and avant-garde approaches mixed with a western classical music touch and Middle Eastern spices. The name “Tangerine” resembles both the enchanting citrus smells of Aviv & Danielle’s homeland and the tangent meeting point between their two similar yet different worlds. 
Tangerine aspire to bring all of that with open & full hearts to the listener, engaging in an intimate manner.

Jay Sanders

Jay Sanders is a guitarist, bassist, composer, producer, and bandleader based in Asheville, N.C. An avid musical explorer with an insatiably curious mind, his music seamlessly fuses jazz, rock, blues, metal, and African influences with years of improvisational study. His compositions range from structured thematic works and soulful grooves to Americana reflections, global soundscapes, and experimental improvisations.

With more than two dozen recordings and performances across 47 U.S. states and six countries, Jay is best known as the longtime bassist for Acoustic Syndicate, widely considered a progenitor of the jam and jamgrass scenes. The North Carolina-bred band has performed at major festivals including Bonnaroo and Farm Aid over their 25-year career. Jay also served as bassist for Americana legends Donna the Buffalo from 2007-2010 and co-leads the avant-garde E.Normus Trio, whose debut Love & Barbiturates earned critical acclaim for its fusion of "jazz-rock, free-jazz and progressive metal-jazz."

Evan Palmer

Evan Palmer (they/them) is a bassist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator based in Brooklyn. They specialize in improvised music and jazz.

​Raised in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Palmer moved to Boston in 2018 to attend Berklee College of Music, where they studied with John Lockwood, Francisco Mela, Bob Gullotti, and Linda May Han Oh. They graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor of Music in Bass Performance.

​Palmer's music is a synthesis of many artistic influences, drawing from the jazz tradition, improvised musics from around the world, folk and country music, rock and roll, metal, and more

Billie Davies

Born: December 10, 1955

"Billie Davies once again confirms her role as a pioneer of the jazz avant-garde. Her musical research, which began in the 1990s, has always pushed the limits of tradition, transforming every performance into a unique experience, where improvisation is not just technical, but pure emotional expression." Groove Radar Report - Jazz In Family - (January 2026). 

Mentioned as one of the Iconic Female Jazz Drummers on Jazz Fuel in 2022 all of jazz drummer and composer Billie Davies' music is Free Improvisation. Billie Davies (née Goegebeur, December 10, 1955 in Bruges, Belgium), an American female jazz drummer and composer, is best known for her free improvisation, avant-garde and avant-garde jazz music since the mid-1990s, and her improvisational drumming techniques she has performed in Europe and in the United States.