Wellington-based saxophonist and composer Jake Baxendale brings together a remarkable collective of Aotearoa’s leading jazz and contemporary musicians for Waypeople, a luminous new album inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s English-language version of the Tao Te Ching. Drawing from jazz, Chinese classical music and improvisation, the project fuses lyrical storytelling with meditative textures and powerful ensemble interplay.

Bengali-Australian ensemble, The Three Seas return with their most expansive and spiritually charged work to date. ‘Antaḥkaraṇa’ is a  luminous meeting of Baul mysticism, Himalayan folk, rock and dub, recorded at Peter Gabriel’s legendary Real World Studios in the UK.

Recorded in a single day in December 2023, Redleaf is pin point-a space created here by each instrumental voice, each track of Redleaf is exquisite in its clarity of gesture, its own sonic terrain of mood and moment.

The Australian-Japanese trio Polyglot return with Before Words, a compelling new album that deepens their exploration of cross-cultural exchange. Formed in 2019 by Steve Barry (piano, organ, AUS/NZL), Ko Omura (drums, tabla, JPN) and Kosuke Ochiai (bass, morin khuur, JPN), the group brings contemporary jazz improvisation into dialogue with folk art and traditional performance practices from India, Mongolia and Japan. Recorded across two sessions at Tokyo’s Studio Dede in 2023 and 2024, Before Words captures the trio’s rare creative rapport and the breadth of their cultural and sonic research.

Meatshell’s third album The Elevator Child is full of contradiction. And perhaps that was always going to be the case. The duo’s namesake is itself pluralist in nature - at once soft and hard, full and voidal, exposed and shielded. The fluidity that is anchored in the dual nature of their project allows Saragossi and Svoboda to push and pull as they see fit across concept, process and form.

Distant Birds is the hypnotic new collaboration between Chris Abrahams (The Necks) and Dave Symes (Boy & Bear). A project born from deep musical trust and mutual curiosity, VOL. 01 & 02 traverses twilight soundscapes of pulsing grooves, moody atmospheres and extended improvisational forms. Channeling 70s Afrobeat, soul, and dub-reggae influences, the music is raw yet intricately textured-Moog synths, Fender Rhodes and Hammond organs swirl over infectious bass lines, with layers of saxophone and trumpet doubling Abraham’s extended right hand extemporisations, and Evan Manell’s subtly shifting drum patterns. The result is a world of syncopated hooks and rhythmic interplay, designed as much for the dancefloor as for immersive, headphone listening. Recorded live in single takes, the album captures the spontaneity and fluid energy of the trio in full flight.

The worlds of jazz, cinema, and video-game storytelling collide in Freyja Garbett’s extraordinary new album Sowden House. Originating from a collaboration with Brendan McNamara - founder of Team Bondi and writer/director of the acclaimed video game L.A. Noire - Sowden House began as the score for an immersive VR game set within Los Angeles’s infamous architectural landmark of the same name. The house, designed by Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright) in a dramatic Mayan-Revival style, once belonged to the mysterious Dr George Hodel, long rumoured to be linked to the Black Dahlia murder. Garbett’s music, conceived for this imagined world of shadow, memory, and intrigue, has now emerged as a cinematic, stand-alone album: a sonic journey through mood, atmosphere, and the blurred line between reality and imagination.

With Infinity II, saxophonist and composer Jeremy Rose reunites with pianist Novak Manojlovic, drummer Tully Ryan and modular synth artist Ben Carey for an immersive meditation on time, motion and memory. The record is less a collection of tracks than a single unfolding gesture: patterns repeated, reshaped, and remembered, evoking the rituals of recall and transformation itself.

Sydney-based saxophonist and composer Sam Gill announces Sensemaker, the sophomore album by his acclaimed quartet Coursed Waters. Through free-flowing improvisation and intense melodic counterpoints, the album portrays a range of emotional and musical worlds.

A project born from recovery and renewal, Swirling Flame is a bold fusion of jazz, baroque, contemporary classical and folk influences—anchored by the haunting resonance of the rarely-heard electric viola da gamba.

Naarm/Melbourne-based pianist James Bowers unveils My Quartet Album — an expansive and deeply personal new recording that follows his celebrated debut, My Trio Album. This release expands both the sonic palette and emotional range of Bowers’ music.

Tidelines is the debut album from alto saxophonist-composer Tessie Overmyer, recorded just before her move to New York City to study at the Manhattan School of Music. The self-titled release presents a heartfelt document of a unique moment in time—capturing the sound and spirit of a band assembled to play Overmyer’s original compositions.

I Hold the Lion’s Paw’s third studio albumPotentially Interesting Jazz Music poses the rhetorical question: what is jazz, or, more pointedly, what might it be? By turn exploratory, playful, and experimental, it is a record that mashes slow-burn trumpet, bass grooves, synths, voice, spoken word, percussion, without ever losing its way or overplaying its hand.

TL;DR is a new quartet brought together by trumpeter, composer and former Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra, Peter Knight. Influenced by Brian Eno, John Hassell, The Necks, and swathes of electronic music, TL;DR creates hypnotic, minimal, groove based music that is fresh and distinctive, and that spins these influences into a sound that defies categorisation.

Daniel Wilfred, Paul Grabowsky and Peter Knight’s Raki is a profound and innovative collaboration rooted in Yolngu manikay (song cycles) and the spontaneous energy of master improvisers and sound artists. Raki is a musical dialogue of sound and tradition, building on decades of creative partnership between an Aboriginal ceremonial leader and two of Australia’s leading improvisers.

Following the success of their acclaimed 2020 collaboration Between the Lines, renowned guitarist and songwriter Danny Widdicombe and celebrated jazz trio Trichotomy are back with their new album, IRIDESCENCE. This latest project is a stunning blend of jazz, modern soul and funk —an album that showcases the seamless musical chemistry between Widdicombe and the trio.

Cellist Peggy Lee and guitarist Cole Schmidt are quite simply two of the most important composer-improvisers to have emerged from Vancouver's vibrant creative music community.

Sydney based double bassist and composer Max Alduca presents his debut album Monastery drawing inspiration from a personal journey through music and spirituality, reflecting themes of interconnectedness, trust, and hope, while also paying homage to his teachers and collaborators.

Acclaimed trumpeter-composer Tom Avgenicos releases his latest album, Ghosts Between Streams, a bold exploration of the interplay between nature and urbanisation, performed by his innovative ensemble Delay 45, alongside the Ensemble Apex String Quartet.

Multi award-winning Melbourne trumpeter Niran Dasika introduces Life Forms, a minimalist album blending contemplative soundscapes with inspired, improvisational textures. Featuring Melbourne pianist Andrea Keller and double bassist Helen Svoboda, Life Forms unveils a sonic journey that embodies Dasika’s fascination with imaginative soundscapes and meticulously honed technique.