FREE JAZZ AND IMPROVISATION ON LP AND CD 1965-2024

Free Jazz and Improvisation on LP and CD 1965-2024 is a monumental research project from Johannes Rød, released via Smalltown Supersound’s sts.press. Described by Mats Gustafsson as “a deep well of knowledge and music”, this book spans six decades of adventurous sound — reaching into avant-garde, experimental composition, spiritual jazz, abstract electronic work and noise. It also maps 185 labels central to this history.

The book is printed on matt uncoated paper and designed by Kim Hiorthøy, with 381 pages plus 47 pages of colour art and sleeve imagery. Forewords come from discaholic kingpin Mats Gustafsson and Joakim Haugland of Smalltown Supersound, who frames free jazz as a core structural influence on the label’s identity.

A serious contribution to the documentation of improvised music, and an invitation — as Gustafsson puts it — to “dig in” and follow the threads outward into the unknown.