Embedded Files
free jazz ensemble since 1976
free jazz ensemble since 1976
NEW ALBUM White Sky w/Tony Holland OUT NOW
NEW ALBUM White Sky w/Tony Holland OUT NOW
Purchase on Bandcamp and Entropy Stereo
50 YEARS OF NORTHWOODS
2026 marks 50 years since the first iteration of the collective in 1976. Check back for
more information on new releases and upcoming gigs.
Announcements
Announcements
NEW ALBUM WHITE SKY W/TONY HOLLAND OUT NOW
(8/13/2025)
Recorded Fall of 2025, White Sky w/Tony Holland, a new Northwoods Improvisers album, is now available on CD and for Digital Download. Purchase on Bandcamp and Entropy Stereo.
BILL SMITH WITH THE NORTHWOODS IMPROVISERS - LIVE AT THE FOOLERY 1989
(7/28/2025)
In 1989 Bill Smith, Coda Magazine editor and Sackville Recording artist visited Michigan from Toronto for the second straight year. He joined Northwoods for a handful of gigs around the state. The final two nights of gigs took place at the Foolery bar in Mt. Pleasant Michigan. A pair of cassette tapes from these shows survive and this CD compilation has been assembled from those tapes. This release on Entropy / Codex of Northwoods is the earliest officially released document of the band to date. Predating their Fog and Fire trio recording on Trevor Watts Arc label by 5 years. Purchase on Bandcamp
2026 Release White Sky w/Tony Holland Available on CD and for Digital Download
Purchase on Bandcamp, Entropy Stereo
Reviews from Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, NYC
". . . fine pizzicato violin . . . inspired percussion . . . old school bass-led groove with layers of tightly wound spinning reeds. . . . lush, lovely, haunting sound with righteous flute, other reeds and string harmonies. . . . What I especially like about this disc is that the group often plays in a freeish way while still maintaining a constant throb or inner groove. . . . I found this entire disc to be a rich form of Spirit/Jazz which feels great and has a hopeful core pulsating throughout."
Read Gallanter's full writeup on White Sky here
". . . saxists play soprano, soaring around one another with a great cello solo following. . . . infectious drunken sounding swagger and spirited bluesy sax solo by Mr. Boxey. . . . slow and winding Spirit Jazz sound, subdued yet hypnotic, with several reeds all intertwined in a dream-like haze with the strings and throbbing bass. . . . strong Trane-like tenor, eerie violin and hypnotic mallet-work by their drummer. . . . sparse yet haunting sounds. . . . its own haunting dreamworld. . . . subdued yet has an unsettling undercurrent with eerie microtonal strings fluttering together. . . . mellow out after all of the Cosmic Spirit jazz which comes before it."
Read Gallanter's full writeup on Unified View here
2025 Release Unified View Available on CD and for Digital Download
Purchase on Bandcamp, Entropy Stereo
Header photograph taken by Don Barber
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