September 18, 2026:
Philz Weekly Recommendations:
After a long weekend I started listening to this week's new releases, with a few very interesting or exciting releases. First would be the Corbett vs. Dempsey issue of Alexander von Schlippenbach's Main Lines/1967, an early example of the Euro Free Improv approach to jazz and free improvisations in a wildly exciting sets from the mergings of the Manfred Schoof Quintet, the Peter Brotzmann Quartet, and the Irene Schwiezer Trio, Schlippenbach being the pivot point of the sets (hence his name on this issue).
Second up for me was the reissue of Albert Ayler's 1964 recording session, initially released as Swing Low, Sweet Spiritual. These are lyrical takes on traditional numbers, reflecting Ayler's gospel roots, and are presented with alternate takes on three of the pieces. With Henry Grimes and Suny Murray, the tunes are grounded with superb playing, pianist Call Cobbs bringing his R&B influence to the album.
Myra Melford's Fire and Water Quintet third release on RogueArt was perhaps my most played album of the week, titled Sure Grand Out, and bringing back the superb grouping with Ingrid Laubrock on saxophones, Mary Halvorson on guitar, Tomeka Reid on cello and Lesly Mok on drums. Led by Melford's clever and sophisticated compositions, the band brings out wonderful group interaction and excellent soloing.
More wild improv comes from the duo of Keiji Haino and percussionist Steve Noble, performing live at Cafe OTO in London. The two approach their playing in bursts of sonic intensity, that breathe in respites then launch forward with exhilaration as the two challenge each other and meet each opportunity with masterful playing on the edge of chaos. Through four improvisations the two present a great diversity of sound and excitement, bringing the listener to the cliff's edge frequently then pulling back for introspection.
We hadn't ordered from the Ftarri label group in quite a while, so the next few weeks will see us adding twenty (!) new albums on Ftarri itself, Hitorri, Meena, and Ftarri Uta. Thsi week starts with Junji Hirose's solo set at Pool, in Tokyo: SSI Solo 2024. Always interesting, Hirose plays on self-made instruments, which includes a bicycle wheel that is heard in rotation. We also added a quartet album from Bryan Eubanks (with whom we carry his excellent Sacred Realism label), Gert-Jan Prins, Tetuzi Akiyama and Toshimaru Nakamura, in a work assembled from unique recordings by each into a larger work of texture, tone and unexpected interplay.
In the realm of tone and texture, Christian Wolfarth completes his triptych 39 series with Parts VII - IX, released on his own Hiddenbell label. The percussionist balances each part with assertive sections of dense repetition yielding to curiously interesting percussive transitions and field recordings. Wolfarth uses skin, metal, resonance, environmental sound and silence to create three unique journeys of sonic environments that keep one's ears perked and engaged.
On the meditative side, Important Records has reissued Eliane Radigues album actually named Triptych, released as a double LP with three renderings of the work, the fourth side of the album an etching. Originally staged at the premiere at the Dancehall/Theatre of Nancy on February 27 1978, this is an album to turn up for the detail and warmth of her electronic compositions, drawing its inspiration from "the spirit of the fundamental elements, water, air, fire, earth."
I end with kudos to the latest Henry Threadgill Zooid release on Pi Recordings, which brings the band up to eight albums. I started listening to Threadgill in the 80s, and each new album is a happy addition to his unique approach to jazz compositions that uses a unique language of an interval-based system that reimagines harmonic relationships while granting freedom to the performers navigating them. For those who prefer their releases on vinyl, the LP edition should be available in the next couple of weeks.
 Threadgill Zooid, Henry: Cut You Where You Was (Pi Recordings)
Composer and reedist Henry Threadgill reconvenes his long-running Zooid quintet with Liberty Ellman on acoustic guitar, Jose Davila on tuba and trombone, Christopher Hoffman on cello, and Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums, extending his interval-based language through shifting meters, compact forms, and non-hierarchical interplay in music that balances structural rigor with elastic, conversational improvisation.
 Schlippenbach, Alexander Von: Main Lines/1967 (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
A remarkable 1967 Radio Bremen session uniting leading figures of emerging European free improvisation, with Alexander von Schlippenbach, Irène Schweizer and Fred van Hove on piano; Peter Brötzmann and Gerd Dudek on saxophones; Manfred Schoof and Manfred Miller on brass; three bassists; and Sven-Åke Johansson, Jaki Liebezeit and Mani Neumeier on drums and percussion.
 Ayler, Albert Quartet: Reference: Goin' Home 1964 (ALAY)
A strikingly restrained side of Albert Ayler emerges on this 1964 session of spirituals and devotional songs, with his tenor and soprano saxophones joined by Call Cobbs Jr. on piano, Henry Grimes on double bass and Sunny Murray on drums, emphasizing melody, blues-inflected tone and deep vibrato while revealing the gospel and New Orleans roots underlying his more radical later language.
 Melford's, Myra Fire and Water Quintet: Sure Grand Out (RogueArt)
Pianist Myra Melford's Fire and Water Quintet with Mary Halvorson on guitar, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor and soprano saxophones, Tomeka Reid on cello, and Lesley Mok on drums, continuing Melford's Cy Twombly-inspired balance of cellular composition, collective improvisation, lyricism, counterpoint, and rhythmic momentum in a richly interactive studio recording.
 Haino, Keiji / Steve Noble: Cafe OTO (Cold Spring Records)
Legendary Japanese guitarist Keiji Haino and London drummer/percussionist Steve Noble meet live at Cafe OTO in 2012 for a volatile duo performance moving between near-silence, blues-tinged reflection, dense feedback and explosive free improvisation, with Haino on electric guitar, electronics and wooden flute against Noble's expansive percussion setup, balancing raw intensity with spacious, highly responsive interplay.
 Hirose, Junji: SSI Solo 2024 (Hitorri)
Japanese improviser Junji Hirose documents two 2024 solo sessions at Tokyo's Pool using his evolving self-made SSI sound instruments - including bicycle-wheel and metal-tray constructions - plus a final piece directing compressed air onto microphones, producing five works that move between metallic resonance, white noise, subtle textures and explosive acoustic force.
 Eubanks, Bryan / Gert-Jan Prins / Tetuzi Akiyama / Toshimaru Nakamura: Spring (Meenna)
Four major electroacoustic improvisers — Bryan Eubanks on soprano saxophone, electronics and modular synthesizer, Gert-Jan Prins on electronics and percussion, Tetuzi Akiyama on guitar, and Toshimaru Nakamura on no-input mixing board — each recorded separate solo performances, assembled by Prins, Eubanks and Nakamura into four distinct collective works of shifting textures and sonic interplay.
 Wolfarth, Christian : 39 / Part VII - IX (Hiddenbell Records)
Closing Christian Wolfarth's three-part 39 cycle, this solo work for percussion and field recordings transforms numerical constraints, repetition and chance into a spare study of resonance, texture and silence, where skin, metal and environmental sound gradually blur the line between composed structure and pure sonic perception.
 Radigue, Eliane: Triptych [VINYL 2 LPs] (Important)
French electronic music pioneer Eliane Radigue performs her three-part composition Triptych, recorded in her Paris studio and inspired by Tibetan Buddhism and the elemental forces of water, air, fire, and earth, presenting a patient, immersive work of sustained electronic tones and subtle transformation, here issued as a double LP with the complete pieces preserved without editing or cuts.
Threadgill Zooid, Henry: Cut You Where You Was (Pi Recordings)
Composer and reedist Henry Threadgill reconvenes his long-running Zooid quintet with Liberty Ellman on acoustic guitar, Jose Davila on tuba and trombone, Christopher Hoffman on cello, and Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums, extending his interval-based language through shifting meters, compact forms, and non-hierarchical interplay in music that balances structural rigor with elastic, conversational improvisation.
 Stevie EP
Last week I had the sad responsibility of giving the eulogy for my older brother, Stephen Andrew Zampino, at Saint Mary Parish in Stamford, CT. Though I present a concert series here and am typically comfortable speaking in front of people, this was one of the hardest presentations I've ever had to give. I was heartened by the wonderful words I heard from the many people who attended. Steve had been a teen librarian at the Ferguson Library, and his positive, helpful nature touched many people's lives. I choked the words out while trying hard not to start sobbing, and I hope I did justice to a life well lived.
Before heading north for the service, I posted this memorial of my own, which includes a recording I'd forgotten I had of Steve leaving me a voicemail reviewing my seventh album. The piece is bracketed by a piano improvisation I recorded when I learned that he had less than two weeks to live, and a performance I gave at our Hooked on Sonics series here in Wilmington, titled "Hold These Books," working through my frustration and grief at the loss of my only brother.
Squidco Publishing Roundup:
You can view our latest fully cataloged albums in the Recently Section.
You can also browse new titles as they enter our Just In Stock Section — meaning we physically have the album and can ship it, though we may still be updating additional information about the release.
To see restocks of previously listed titles, visit our Recently Restocked page.
And if you're interested in a future release, you can ask us to notify you by email via our Upcoming Releases page — no obligation necessary.
September 10, 2026:
Amid the warmest summer on record for the contiguous United States, I took half of last week off to catch up on the yard and enjoy some of the end of the season. That didn't stop the squid from its regular swim, but after our annual Labor Day sale we caught our breath for a moment to plan our next round of purchases as we anticipate the busier fall season.
One thing affecting that plan is the uncertainty of shipping costs in the new global order of tariffs and trade disputes. We've been charged a considerable amount in duties, tariffs and handling fees on imports, particularly from Europe, the UK and Japan. It's frustrating because many of the albums we sell have historically entered the United States duty-free, and the customs declarations on these packages have been correct. The changing tariff environment has nevertheless added expense and uncertainty in both directions, making it more difficult to share the music we sell internationally.
That's particularly unfortunate considering how collaborative and international the music we work with has always been. Musicians, labels, distributors and listeners have spent decades building relationships across borders, and it's discouraging to see trade policy put new obstacles in the way of that cultural exchange.
PayPal processes our customer payments, and our monthly reports give us a useful picture of where our sales are coming from. It was sobering to see sales down about 25% from last year, accompanied by a global map showing virtually no sales from Europe and the UK. That's a huge difference from previous years. There are undoubtedly a number of reasons for the decline, but higher shipping costs, taxes, duties and general uncertainty certainly don't make international purchasing any easier. We hope conditions become more stable as we move into the fall.
In the meantime, for international customers hoping to buy domestic releases from the US, one of our best options is Discogs when we have an album listed there. I've personally spent a considerable amount of time adding basic Discogs entries for albums that weren't already represented, and our goal is to add new titles whenever they're missing from the Discogs database. Our Squidco listings link to those Discogs entries when available.
Discogs also makes the tax side of international orders easier. For qualifying sales to the EU, Discogs collects and remits VAT at the time of purchase. Beginning July 1, the EU also began assessing a new €3 customs duty on low-value imported goods that had previously been exempt from customs duty. For destinations where our carrier supports Delivered Duty Paid, or DDP, shipping, we can collect the required import charges in advance so that the carrier can remit them rather than surprising the customer with a bill at delivery.
We really miss our international customers, many of whom have been friends of Squidco for years. It's depressing to see international trade barriers interfere with something as fundamentally cooperative as music. If you can, please stick with us. We're really trying!
Philz Weekly Recommendations:
Though it's a short week for us, there are some exceptional albums in this week's mailing list. I start with a duo of two favorite players, NY drummer Tyshawn Sorey and UK pianist Pat Thomas, who team up for their first meeting, a live concert at Cafe OTO demonstrating their instrumental prowess and passion for playing. Both take on remarkably diverse projects, and that diversity shows in the breadth of their playing. Exceptional!
Having been a long-time fan of both the late saxophonist Julius Hemphill, co-founder of the World Saxophone Quartet, and Downtown NY reedist Marty Ehrlich, whose association with Hemphill reaches back to a quartet performance at Creative Music Studio in 1977 and led eventually to his membership in the Julius Hemphill Saxophone Sextet, I was thrilled to see Ehrlich's album presenting Hemphill's complete known compositions for saxophone quartet. This includes works discovered posthumously through Ehrlich's archival research, performed by an exceptional group of saxophonists and wind players.
Returning to duos, Mahakala label leader Chad Fowler joins forces with pianist Eri Yamamoto for Polkadots & Moonbeams, a great set that moves between composed material and spontaneous improvisation. Melody and lyricism are strong elements here as the two masterful players trade ideas and shape remarkably song-like music together.
Fred Frith joins German brothers Cornelius Claudio Kreusch and Johannes Tonio Kreusch for the two-CD set Pink / Neon, an album of experimental improvisation using electric guitar and effects, classical and prepared guitar, piano and Polaris. This is an album to get lost in, as they spontaneously develop forms around music that resists easy definition, moving through acoustic textures, electronics, drones, noise and more elusive territory. No doubt I'm a huge Frith fan, and this introduces two players I was unfamiliar with in an engaging and engrossing set of interactions.
Last but hardly least, the German label Yatak Records has reissued and remastered two albums by percussionist and free vocalist David Moss: 1984's Full House and its 1985 follow-up, Dense Band. If you're not familiar with Moss' work, this is a great way to jump in, and for those who have followed him since the '80s and the burgeoning Downtown NY scene, it's a great opportunity to hear these albums in freshly remastered form. The '80s were a wild time for genre-colliding music in NYC, and Moss was an important part of that world, working with an extraordinary range of musicians including Tom Cora, George Lewis, George Cartwright, Andrea Centazzo, Eugene Chadbourne, and many others.
 Sorey, Tyshawn / Pat Thomas: Red Sulphur (Otoroku)
In their first meeting, drummer Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Pat Thomas deliver a fiercely dynamic live improvisation at Cafe OTO, moving through dense clusters, inside-piano resonance, metallic percussion, brushes, string slides and sudden silences with remarkable precision, building a volatile dialogue that shifts between thunderous rhythmic density, delicate texture and sharply focused spontaneous interplay.
 Fowler, Chad / Eri Yamamoto: Polkadots & Moonbeams (Mahakala Music)
Alto saxophonist and flutist Chad Fowler joins pianist Eri Yamamoto for an intimate duo session balancing composed material with spontaneous song forms, moving between grief, memory, tenderness and celebration through deeply lyrical improvisation, including Fowler's elegiac "Ash" and the standard "Polkadots and Moonbeams," recorded by Jim Clouse at Park West Studios.
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Amanda Irarrazabal:
Sylvia Lim:
Tom Challenger & Evan Parker:
Louis Armstrong:![John Tilbury: At Home [4 CD BOX] (Another Timbre)](https://www.teuthida.com/productImages/misc4/37729.jpg "John Tilbury: At Home [4 CD BOX] (Another Timbre)")
John Tilbury:
LDL (Leimgruber/Demierre/Lehn):
Magda Mayas' Filamental:
Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Torres / Schlippenbach / Kellers:
Parkins / Rasmussen / Sawyer:
Gerry Hemingway / Izumi Kimura / Frank Gratkowski / Christian Weber:
Ehrlich, Marty: OPEN AIR: The Complete Saxophone Quartet Compositions of Julius Hemphill [2CDs] (Out Of Your Head Records)
