Multi instrumentalist, composer, and New York loft-era jazz figure Michael Moss will release Quantum Butterfly, an ambitious four-CD boxed set encompassing more than four hours of electro-acoustic music, modern classical chamber work, and jazz combo performances.

Set for release on November 1, 2026, via Fourth Stream Records, the collection brings together Moss’ diverse sonic iterations. Moving across tenor and soprano saxophones, B-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, and snake charmer, Moss leads his flexible Roots to Shoots ensemble, the strings-and-woodwinds chamber orchestra Ensemble Bows for Strings, Piano and Reeds,and an immersive electro acoustic quartet featuring synthesized environments by electronic composer James Dashow.

The expansive project serves as a comprehensive document of Moss’concept of “Fourth Stream” music—an evolution beyond Gunther Schuller’sThird Stream that synthesizes free improvisation, modern European serialism, electronic textures, and non-Western folk traditions into anunconstrained musical language.

A Cross-Generational Ensemble of Improvisers

Recorded across several live and studio sessions—including a celebrated September 2025 performance at Manhattan’s Westbeth artists community —Quantum Butterfly features an extensive roster of downtown New York musicians.

Among the central contributors is nonagenarian vibraphone and percussion pioneer Warren Smith (now in his early 90s), alongside pianists AnthonyColeman and Alexis Marcelo (the latter doubling on synthesizer), bassist Adam Lane, contrabassist Ratzo Harris, and drummers Jackson Krall, Michael Wimberly, and Ismael Baiz. Guest vocalist Bobby Harden alsocontributes a vocal appearance.

The strings contingent for Ensemble Bows features violinists Trina Basu, Rosi Hertlein, Sunjay Jayaram, Sana Nagano, and Liz Taub; violists Melanie Dyer, Alexandra Honigsberg, and Jon Kass; cellists Jake Charkey and Lenny Mims; and bassist Ken Filiano.

Four Volumes of Sonic Deconstruction

The box set is organized into four distinct sonic volumes:

• Volume 1 & Volume 4 (Roots to Shoots): Anchored by Marcelo, Lane,
  and rotating drummers, the combo balances Moss originals like
  “Amitabha” and “March On” against radical deconstructions of classic
  jazz standards. Repertoire includes Chick Corea’s “La Fiesta,” Duke
  Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,”
  John Coltrane’s “Afro Blue” and “Transition,” and Bill Evans’ “TTTT.”
• Volume 2 (Ensemble Bows for Strings, Piano and Reeds): Moss
  pivots toward 21st-century chamber classicism, exploring polytonality
  and extended techniques. Highlights include the 19-minute composition
  “Abyss” and the episodic, introspective “Elegy For Danny.”
• Volume 3 (Quartets & Electro-Acoustics): After opening with
  swinging original quartet material—including “Samson’s Walk” and the
  Afro-Cuban rhythmic momentum of “Freedom Chant”—the disc moves
  into “Quantum Butterfly/Adjacent Possibles.” The 25-minute piece
  integrates live improvisation with electronic music by composer James
  Dashow, featuring acoustic horns moving dynamically through
  electronic sound fields.

Five Decades of Downtown Innovation

Moss’ career stretches back to the fertile avant-garde movement of the
1960s, where he was mentored in bebop by pianist Ben Sidran before
absorbing the spiritual and free-jazz breakthroughs of John Coltrane,
Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and Albert Ayler.

During the 1970s loft jazz era, Moss served as president of the cooperative
Free Life Communication, led the ensembles Four Rivers and Free Energy,

played in Sam Rivers’ reed ensemble The Winds of Manhattan, and
established Fourth Stream Records and ERG Publishing. Over subsequent
decades, he collaborated with figures including Badal Roy, Dave Liebman,
William Parker, Dave Burrell, and Richie Beirach, while directing the 22-piece
Accidental Orchestra.

Quantum Butterfly will be available November 1, 2026, in a physical four-CD
boxed set (catalog number ERG-10014-5) and across all major digital
streaming and download platforms via Fourth Stream Records.