Alexander von Schlippenbach - Three Nails Left

2020 release

One of the all-time great records of improvised music from Europe. Period. Blisteringly hot. Uncompromisingly inventive. Staggeringly beautiful. And insanely rare.

Originally issued in the mid '70s on FMP, at its core Three Nails Left features the legendary Schlippenbach Trio – British saxophonist Evan Parker, and German percussionist Paul Lovens joining the German pianist – the triangle squared by the addition of German bassist Peter Kowald. Just the first track, an incredible 20-plus minute burner called "Range," is worth the price of admission – as punk rock as free music gets, it shows Parker's spectacular capabilities at high-octane blowing. Kowald adds a chewy, molasses bottom to the group, offsetting Lovens' flinty metal, stick and skin and Schlippenbach's hyper-focused intensity.

This flammable configuration performed and recorded together as a regular unit in the period, making another FMP LP, The Hidden Peak, and a recording later released on CD by Atavistic's Unheard Music Series. One side was reissued on a limited edition FMP box set, together with part of The Hidden Peak, but it's never been available intact on CD. Remastered from original tapes, packaged with the original cover design by Lovens, Three Nails Left is a stone cold classic of creative music.