Pi Recordings is happy to announce our annual end of the year sale. This year’s sale is on the entire Pi Recordings’ catalogue. For a limited time:

• Buy any two CDs for $12 each!

• Buy three or more CDs for $10 each!

• Double CDs are $18 if you buy two titles, and $16 if you buy three or more titles.

• Pay one flat price for shipping, regardless of quantity ordered.

• All tee shirts are discounted $2 each. (Please note if your shirt does not checkout at a discounted price we will refund the difference to you).

• Sale pricing will be reflected in your cart.

We hope you take advantage of this opportunity to discover more great and innovative music on Pi Recordings.

posted November 27, 2011 by Seth

As we approach the end of the year, we wanted to recognize some of the great press our newest releases have received:

Inana - Amir ElSaffar

“The music deftly combines jazz and Middle Eastern music in a unique way, finding common ground in improvisation… ElSaffar’s studies in both jazz and ethnic music have placed him in good stead to carve out a unique place in the current improvised music. His music and musicial concept is clearly evolving, and this is a very exciting development.” — Jazz and Blues

“Gracefully poised between two worlds, Inana builds upon ElSaffar’s previous accomplishments, establishing an impressive precedent for the creative possibilities of a new global jazz aesthetic.” — AllAboutJazz

Oblique-I - Tyshawn Sorrey

“One of five drummers whose time is Now…. A spectacular young drummer on jazz’s leading edge, Mr. Sorey has proved himself a serious new-music composer besides, sometimes to the point of cerebral severity. But “Oblique-I” just out on Pi, is a riveting album, with compositions custom designed for the same musicians found here.” — New York Times

“Oblique — I, is mostly the kind of rollicking band album you’d expect from a powerhouse drummer. His melodies are complex and full of surprises, but often light on their feet. Leading by example, Sorey is helping to heal an old rift in contemporary jazz, between musicians for whom swinging is everything and those also interested in other kinds of rhythmic subtleties and complications…. His quintet/quartet plays twisty, turny rhythms that surge ahead and then fall back, typical of jazz’s left flank. But under those zigzag lines, Sorey’s drums barrel along like a runaway tractor trailer. He makes those tricky patterns move.” — NPR

The Mancy of Sound - Steve Coleman

“A vivacious group effort brimming with intricate cross-hatched melodies, oblique harmonies and kaleidoscopic rhythms, The Mancy of Sound follows Harvesting Semblances and Affinities as the strongest albums of Coleman’s career, reinforcing his significance in the development of contemporary jazz.” — Point of Departure

“Of all the musicians who followed Coltrane, Ornette and the AACM, Coleman has done the most work and sustained the highest level of innovation and creativity of output and impact.” — Downbeat

posted November 10, 2011 by Seth

Tyshawn Sorey’s Oblique-I has been released to great acclaim. Fresh Air’s Kevin Whitehead reviewed it last week, describing it as “… mostly the kind of rollicking band album you’d expect from a powerhouse drummer. His melodies are complex and full of surprises, but often light on their feet.” Listen to the review HERE.

The Wall Street Journal’s Larry Blumenfeld interviewed Tyshawn for the Journal. Read the interview HERE. Larry says about Tyshawn, “…his strongest impact is as a composer of radical and seemingly boundless ideas.” and describes Oblique-I as “… more like jazz yet still utterly original.”.

posted October 17, 2011 by Seth

Pi Recordings is profiled in today’s The New York Times!

“… But through a selective release schedule, a careful eye on the budget, a thoughtful approach to promotion and, crucially, a sense of cultivation and commitment to its artists, Pi has not only survived but has also managed to thrive. In the process its catalog has gradually influenced the sound of jazz over the past decade….”

Special thanks to Nate Chinen who wrote the article, and all of you who have supported us over the years.

posted August 17, 2011 by Yulun

Pi Recordings is proud to be curating the next two weeks at The Stone performance space in New York City. We kick off on Wednesday, August 17th with Fieldwork, which received a Star preview in the New York Times. We hope to see you.

★ Fieldwork - This collaborative threesome is rightly revered for its way with discursive melody and asymmetrical rhythmic forms; the heart of its sound is an ever-shifting rapport between the pianist Vijay Iyer, the saxophonist Steve Lehman and the drummer Tyshawn Sorey, all of whom compose material for the group.

posted August 15, 2011 by Yulun

DownBeat’s Critics Poll Winners have been released and there is much to celebrate. We are very pleased to congratulate Rudresh Mahanthappa for being voted top Alto Saxophonist. Apex is in the top 5 Jazz Albums of the Year at #4. Other categories where Pi Recordings’ artists were recognized by the critics:

Jazz Artist - Vijay Iyer, Henry Threadgill & Rudresh Mahanthappa

Piano - Vijay Iyer

Rising Star Jazz Artist - Rudresh Mahanthappa & Vijay Iyer

Composer - Henry Threadgill & Vijay Iyer

Rising Star Piano - Vijay Iyer

Alto Saxophone - Henry Threadgill , Bunky Green & Steve Coleman

Jazz Group - Henry Threadgill Zooid

Flute - Henry Threadgill

Guitar - Marc Ribot

Rising Star Guitar - Liberty Ellman

Rising Star Composer - Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman & Rudresh Mahanthappa

Record Label - Pi Recordings

posted July 19, 2011 by Seth

The July issue of DownBeat features Marc Ribot and Nels Cline on the cover. The guitarists discuss their approaches to the instrument as well as their most recent releases, Silent Movies and Dirty Baby.

posted June 17, 2011 by Seth

Muhal’s latest, SoundDance, gets a nice write up in this weekend’s Art and Leisure section of the New York Times. Nate Chinen says “The album, on two CDs, is a bristling wonder.”

posted May 9, 2011 by Seth

Read Steve Smith of the New York Times review of ICE’s performance of Steve Lehman’s Impossible Flow at Le Poisson Rouge.

posted April 20, 2011 by Seth

The end of 2010 found Pi Recordings releases featured on a number of year end lists.

The Village Voice Poll had four Pi Recordings releases in the top 20; Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green’s Apex was #2, Henry Threadgill Zooid’s This Brings Us To, vol. 2 was #5, Steve Coleman & Five Elements Harvesting Semblances and Affinities was #7 and Marc Ribot’s Silent Movies was #18.

Chris barton of the LA Times included both Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green’s Apex and Marc Ribot’s Silent Movies on his year end best of list.

Fred Kaplan of Slate.com included Henry Threadgill Zooid’s This Brings Us To, vol. 2 on his on his year end best of list.

Howard Reich of Chicago Tribune included Henry Threadgill Zooid’s This Brings Us To, vol. 2 on his on his year end best of list.

posted January 8, 2011 by Seth