July 12, 2024:
I've had a lot of time to listen to music lately, but not much time to write about it: for the last two weeks my spare time and weekends have been busy reprogramming our routines for our "new" updated International Economy Shipping option, which has been unavailable since the shipper only gave us the specifications, literally, on the last day that we could send packages with the previous shipping option. The good news is, the coding is done, we had acceptance from the shipper yesterday, and our first trial box of packages is shipping to our international Squid's Ear reviewers today. Once we've seen the packages moving around the globe and trackable we will once again offer Economy Shipping as an international option. I am leaving for a two week vacation starting this weekend, with Squidco in Carl's capable hands while I'm gone. As soon as I return and we confirm that the service is working we'll announce the option again, probably in the last week of July.
So I apologize for the lack of music insight over the last two weeks, and the upcoming two weeks. I can tell you that music has been flowing into our shop at a rapid pace this last week, and our Recently Releases category and our Just In Stock sections are burgeoning with excellent new albums. Those include four new Tzadik releases, particularly the 5th collection of Zorn compositions performed by Gyan Riley and Julian Lage, Her Melodious Lay. Nine new FMR titles arrived, with two Rick Countryman albums in a trio with legendary percussionist Sabu Toyozumi and bassist Richard Allan Bates, and two new excellent chamber jazz projects from Mezei Szilard.
Thirteen (!) new Creative Sources albums also arrived, with both projects from violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues, along with a diverse set of albums from innovative improvisers to explore. Eight new albums arrived on the French Fou Records label, finding Jean-Marc Foussat in the company of improvisers Daunik Lazro, a great improv rock album from Assassins in a trio with Jac Berrocal, and the quartet of Agnel / Camps / Rieussec / Lazro.
In the rock vein, Moe! Staino issues his Illusion of Consistency, previously a CD & LP package, now as a CD only release. More importantly, he released an album of a powerful composition for guitars, Away Towards the Light , a major and exciting work in 3 parts. I'm still working on the two new albums from Tatsuya Yoshida/Magaibutsu, which likely won't be fully cataloged until I return, but they're both duos with amazing pianist/keyboardist Risa Takeda. I also returned many times to Elton Dean's Unlimited Saxophone Company during my coding, a great sax ensemble that a few times had me asking what this album with Eric Dolphy I was listening to was (it's not Dolphy, by the way, but what an exhilarating album!)
Dolphy is on one of the other two major releases we added just this week, the ezz-thetics by Hat Hut, Ltd. reissue of two Ornette Coleman albums: Double Quartet — Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation To Ornette! Revisited — the Double Quartet album was a ground-breaking release in 1961 both by orchestration and length. The other album from the Who Trio of Michel Wintsch on piano, Banz Oester on double bass and Gerry Hemingway on drums is a live album at the 2023 Jazz Festival Willisau, interpreting well known Duke Ellington pieces and some rather obscure compositions, all focused through modern approaches to improvisation. This latter album really hit home for me, as I've been listening to Duke Ellington chronological releases for my last few month's breakfasts, and reading Terry Teachout's biography of Ellington.
Last, in the compositional world we added three great albums from Another Timbre, particularly the double album of Magnus Granberg's composition Holde Traume, Kehret Wieder! (Sweet dreams, come back!), in two performances, one from his magnificent Skogen ensemble. I've also become an enthusiast of Catherine Lamb's work, and her Curva Triangulus has us discussing the fascinating mix of Renaissance and contemporary approaches she employs, and also researching the fascinating 16th century microtonal Vicentino arciorgano organ that underpins the piece.
Zorn, John (Riley / Lage): Her Melodious Lay (Tzadik)
Featuring some of composer John Zorn's most lyrical work, the duo of guitarists Gyan Riley and Julian Lage continue their collaboration in the series that started in 2015 with The Bagatelles and continues through Midsummer Moons (2017), Book Beri'ah (2019), and Quatrain (2023), as they render Zorn's beautiful merging of eclectic forms inspired by William Shakespeare.
Surplus 1980: Illusion of Consistency [CD] (Surplus Industries)
Composed using an "exquisite corpse" method during the pandemic, where each player provided a partially complete track with instructions to expand their concept, enlisting an incredible set of musicians across the US & Europe, directed by Moe! Staiano, including Jesse Quattro, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, GW Sok, Amy X Neuburg, Darren Johnston, &c &c.
Dean, Elton (w/ Dunmall / Watts / Rogers / Levin): Elton Dean's Unlimited Saxophone Company (Ogun)
Elton Dean's 1989 performance at the Covent Garden Jazz Saxophone Festival in London is reissued, bringing to light the powerful performance from saxophonists Dean on alto sax & saxello, Paul Dunmall on tenor & baritone saxophones, Trevor Watts on alto saxophone, Simon Pickard on tenor saxophone, plus the rhythm section of Paul Rogers on double bass and Tony Levin on drums.
Assassins (Berrocal / Pauvros / Artman): Catalogue (Fou Records)
Agnel / Camps / Rieussec / Lazro: Quartet Un Peu Tendre (Fou Records)
Foussat, Jean-Marc / Daunik Lazro: Trente-Cing Miniutes & Vingt-Trois Secondes (Fou Records)
WHO Trio (Hemingway / Wintsch / Oester): Live At Jazz Festival Willisau 2023 First Visit Live (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Reimagining familiar and more obscure works of Duke Ellington through the lense of contemporary improvisation, including "Mood Indigo", "Black and Tan Fantasy", "Self Portrait of the Bean", "Burmingham Breakdown", &c., from the powerful Who Trio of Michel Wintsch on piano, Banz Oester on double bass and Gerry Hemingway on drums, captured live at the 2023 Jazz Festival Willisau.
Coleman, Ornette: Free Jazz To Ornette! Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Exploring further the concepts of free jazz, saxophonist Ornette Coleman's back-to-back 1961 & 62 albums find the composer and innovator in a ground-breaking double quartet that includes Eric Dolphy, Don Cherry & Freddie Hubbard, Scott LaFaro & Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgns & Ed Blackwell; then with quintet with Scott LaFaro temporarily taking Charlie Haden's chair.
Staiano, Moe: Away Towards the Light [VINYL + DOWNLOAD] (Edgetone)
An exploration of tonal interplay and contrasting rhythms from nine electric guitars, bass, and drums by West Coast percussionist and composer Moe! Staiano (formerly of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum), a work in three movements that features assertive rhythmic structures and intertwining string structures, balanced by beautifully ringing moments of introspection.
Lamb, Catherine: Curva Triangulus (Another Timbre)
Inspired by the geometric and illusory work of artist Bridget Riley, Catherine Lamb's "Curva Triangulus" borrows from Renaissance music that she "warps" by interjecting geometric musical figures, performed by the Proton Ensemble of Bern using traditional, new and historic instruments, all underpinned by the 16th century microtonal Vicentino arciorgano organ.
Granberg, Magnus / Nattens Inbrott / Skogen: Holde Traume, Kehret Wieder! [2 CDs] (Another Timbre)
Two different version of Magnus Granberg's 2021 composition "Holde Traume, kehret wieder!" (Sweet dreams, come back!), first as a quartet performed by the Nattens Inbrott Quartet for which the piece was originally written, and then a second version performed with Granberg's group Skogen as a septet, adding additional parts to the original composition.
Mezei, Szilard : Old Book For Quartet (FMR)
Mezei, Szilard Quartet: Jaguar - Flower (FMR)
Yoshida, Tatsuya x Risa Takeda: YGGDRASILL (Magaibutsu Limited)
Yoshida, Tatsuya x Risa Takeda: Falsifiability (Cbzm Records)
Countryman / Toyozumi / Bates: Lovely Tago (On A Sunday Night) (FMR)
Countryman / Toyozumi / Bates: Lovely Tago (On A Friday Night) (FMR)
I'll be celebrating yet another birthday on this holiday, and my 19th anniversary, so this vacation is a bit longer than I typically like to leave Squidco. However I've worked hard at timing my trip, and while I'm away we've arranged for a number of new releases to come in, so please check out our upcoming release section and have us email you when we get those on the site, hopefully soon after I return. Meanwhile, happy listening, check out some of these albums and others important to you — our catalog continues to grow with a startling number of truly excellent albums!
Squidco Publishing Roundup:
As always, I end with updates to Squidco and The Squid's Ear over the last week. You can see our latest fully cataloged albums in our Recently Section.
You can see new albums as they enter our Just In Stock Section, meaning that we physically have an album and are able to ship it with an order, but that we're not satisfied that we've added all the information we can about that release.
You can also see recent restocks of previously listed items at our Recently Restocked page.
You can ask us to inform you via email of any upcoming release that you're interested in, with no obligation.
July 11, 2024: New @ Squidco:
WHO Trio (Hemingway/Wintsch/Oester) -Live At Jazz Festival Willisau 2023 First Visit Live [CD] (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Ornette Coleman -Free Jazz To Ornette! Revisited [CD] (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
John Zorn (Riley/Lage) -Her Melodious Lay [CD] (Tzadik)
Mark Dresser -In the Shadow of a Mad King [CD] (Tzadik)
John Zorn/Jesse Harris (Marsella/Roeder/Smith/Haden) -Love Songs Live [CD] (Tzadik)
Sam Weinberg Trio w/ Chris Lightcap/Tom Rainey -Impllcatures [VINYL] (Astral Spirits)
Surplus 1980 -Illusion of Consistency [CD] (Surplus Industries)
Moe Staiano -Away Towards the Light [VINYL + DOWNLOAD] (Edgetone)
Magnus Granberg/Nattens Inbrott/Skogen -Holde Traume, Kehret Wieder! [2 CDs] (Another Timbre)
Catherine Lamb -Curva Triangulus [CD] (Another Timbre)
Jurg Frey -Outermost Melodie [2 CDs] (Another Timbre)
Floros Floridis/Ernesto Rodrigues/Guilherme Rodrigues/Ulf Mengersen -Xafnikes Synantiseis [CD] (Creative Sources)
Thanos Chrysakis -Music For Trumpets, Bass Clarinets And Saxophones [CD] (Aural Terrains)
July 11, 2024: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: Franz Koglmann - Near Blue - A Taste of Melancholy (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd) by Paul Serralheiro.
July 9, 2024: New @ Squidco:
William Parker/Cooper-Moore/Hamid Drake -Heart Trio [CD] (Aum Fidelity)
William Parker/Cooper-Moore/Hamid Drake -Heart Trio [VINYL] (Aum Fidelity)
William Parker/Ellen Christi -Cereal Music [CD] (Aum Fidelity)
Mendoza/Hoff/Revels -Echolocation [CD] (Aum Fidelity)
Frank London/The Elders -Spirit Stronger Than Blood [CD] (ESP)
Jessica Pavone -Reverse Bloom [VINYL] (Astral Spirits)
Christina Kubisch/Trondheim Voices -Stromsanger 2022 For Six Voices And Electromagnetic Waves [VINYL] (Important Records)
Phill Niblock -Boston Tenor Index [CD] (Alga Marghen)
Alva Noto -HYbr:ID III [CD] (Noton)
Alva Noto -HYbr:ID III [VINYL 2 LPs] (Noton)
July 9, 2024: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: Nikolaus Gerszewski (Giusto Chamber Orchestra) - 3 Works For Strings (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records, Ltd.) by Massimo Ricci.
July 8, 2024: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: Dominic Lash / Stale Liavik Solberg - Hey Kje (Confront) by Brian Olewnick.
June 27, 2024:
This is a very short but important entry for the week for our international customers: the International Economy shipping option is temporarily unavailable as a shipping option as of June 27, 2024.
In the beginning of May we were advised that the Fedex International Mail Service (FIMS) service was being removed, and that we should switch to Fedex International Connect (FIC), a similar service. That day we requested to be moved to the new service, which we were promised would happen promptly. Instead we have suffered innumerable delays in receiving an agreement, access to FIC, and documentation on the changes we would need to make to our programming to interface with FIC.
FIMS last day to submit packages is today, yet only yesterday did we get access to the new FIC service, and documentation on what we need to program to use the service. We expect the changes to take 2-3 weeks, and we will return with an International Economy option as soon as testing and acceptance is complete. We're frustrated, and we imagine our international customers will be as well. Please know that returning this service is one of our highest priorities.
On a personal note, I continue to be frustrated and shocked by the rise in global shipping costs, particularly over the last decade. We spent a considerable effort to add International Economy shipping so that our international customers would find a cost effective way to bring in new music, and we will ensure that it returns. More recently we've seen the EU & UK take considerable steps to tax their citizens on foreign purchases, with rules so strict that it would cost more for us to broker packages than the cost of many albums. Around the world shipping prices are negatively affecting the exchange of culture, and it truly saddens me.
This week has seen us catch up on new releases, with a number of great albums on their way to us over the next couple of weeks. With the second part of our distribution price sale, some staff down time, and the aforementioned important shipping issues, there wasn't much time to write a blog entry this week. I will list my favorite albums from this week's mailing list, several of which are "Squidco Picks".
Jackson, Tom / T.J. Borden: Parr's Ditch (Confront)
London clarinetist Tom Jackson, active in both free improvisation and contemporary classical music, meets with cellist Tyler J. Borden, who concentrates on the extremes of his instrument through unusual and extended techniques, interpret one of London's "lost rivers"--Parr's Ditch--in three extended, interpretative improvisations of powerful impressions.
Borca / R. Brown / W. Parker / Workman / Nicholson / Murphy / Ibarra / Taylor-Baker: Good News Blues (NoBusiness)
A vital member of groups led by Jimmy Lyons, Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor, Joe Morris and William Parker, bassoonist Karen Borca is heard in two Vision Festival performances under her own name performing her own compositions in trio, quartet and quintet formations with luminaries Rob Brown, William Parker, Reggie Nicholson, Susie Ibarra, Todd Nicholson, Paul Murphy and Newman Taylor-Baker.
Sea Trio, The (Satoh / Yoshihide / Turner): Live in Munich & Bonn [2 CDs] (Confront)
Their second recording after their 2015 trio album Live at Hall Egg Farm on Doubtmusic, the now properly named Sea Trio of Masahiko Satoh on piano, Otomo Yoshihide on electric guitar and Roger Turner on drums & percussion reunite for two impressive 2023 concerts of masterful and often fiery free improvisation, captured in Munich and Bonn, Germany.
Salter Ensemble (Belorukov / Harnik / Kocher / Grom / Beiner / Klammer / Kutin / Lang / Tomazin / Badrutt): Tri Dela (Bruit Editions / Zavod Sploh)
Operating on the border between free improvisation and composition, the international electro-acoustic ensemble Šalter Ensemble present three incredible works composed by members of the ensemble -- Tomaž Grom; Jonas Kocher & Gaudenz Badrutt; and Elisabeth Harnik -- developed with the full ensemble, incorporating jazz, free improvisation, electronics & sound art.
Oxley, Tony Quintet: Angular Apron (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
British percussionist Tony Oxley returned to this piece multiple times after debuting it in the early 1970s, drawing on both European improv and contemporary composed music, heard in this previously unreleased 1992 live performance with the superb quintet of legendary trumpeter & flugelhornist Manfred Schoof, UK pianist Pat Thomas, US bassist Sirone and UK saxophonist Larry Stabbins.
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