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Improv & Jazz | Experimental | Compositional | Rock/RIO/Prog |
Just In | Restocked | New in Used | Upcoming |

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UPDATE
January 15, 2021 "You must surrender yourself to music. You practice your instrument to get some sort of control over it But when you play for real, I think you must lose yourself and let the music come out, Then it becomes a spiritual thing." —Paul Dunmall |
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Creative Artists | ||||||||||||
• Joshua Abrams' Cloud Script • Martin Blume/Lou Houtkamp/Steve Beresford • Audrey Chen/Phil Minton • Paul Dunmal Sextet (Dunmall/Pursglove/Foote/Saunders/Owston/Bashford) • Paul Dunmall with Metcalfe/Owston/Jozwiak • Jean-Luc Guionnet • In Layers (Dos Reis/Govaert/Martinsson/Vicente) • Lisbon Improvisation Players • Metal Chaos Ensemble • MoE w/ Mette Rasmussen/Ikuro Takahashi • MPT Trio (Mela/Paz/Trujillo) • Matthias Muller/Eric Normand/Petr Vrba • Sun Ra • Sun Ra And His Outer Space Arkestra • Sun Ra Arkestra • Trevor Taylor • John Zorn Azoth • John Zorn Turner Etudes (Stephen Gosling) |
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Essential Labels | |||||||||||
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Jazz & Improvisation | ||||||||||||
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Abrams', Joshua Cloud Script: Cloud Script (RogueArt) Double bassist Joshua Abrams provides the compositions for this studio album performed with Ari Brown on tenor sax, Jeff Parker on guitar and Gerald Cleaver on drums, an exceptional quartet of master improvisers who balance lyrical and soulful playing with explorative impulse, fueled by an empathetic responsiveness that only a long history of collaboration can engender. |
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Blume, Martin / Lou Houtkamp / Steve Beresford: Shed 1 (FMR) A superb concert of masterful collective improvisation captured live at LOFT Cologne in 2018 from the trio of Luc Houtkamp on tenor saxophone & clarinet, Steve Beresford on piano & objects, and Martin Blume on drums & percussion, in three extended improvisations, thoughtful work building to periods of powerful passion while maintaining a reflective introspectiveness. |
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Chen, Audrey / Phil Minton : Frothing Morse (Tour de Bras) Two innovators of free vocal improvisation come together for a concert at Santa Chiara Nuova Church during the 2015 ImprovvisaMente festival in Lodi, Italy, setting aside Chen's cello and electronics to focus on pure voice interactions, each using their unique language and technique in a single 37 minute performance of intrepid, inexplicable and unique improv. |
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Dunmal, Paul Sextet (Dunmall / Pursglove / Foote / Saunders / Owston / Bashford): Cosmic Dream Projection (FMR) A studio project led by Paul Dumall on alto & tenor saxophones and alto flute, recorded while on touring hiatus during the pandemic, composing six passionate and melodically charged works performed by the brilliant sextet of Percy Pursglove on trumpet, Richard Foote on trombone, Steven Saunders on guitar, James Owston on bass, and Jim Bashford on drums. |
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Dunmall. Paul with Metcalfe / Owston / Jozwiak: Unmasked (FMR) The other side of Paul Dunmall's characteristic saxophone work is heard here on the alto flute, bringing Dunmall together with fellow flutist Neil Metcalf and the rhythm section of James Owston on bass and Tymek Jozwiak on drums for four exceptional improvisations that focus more on interaction and less on soloing, showcasing all four through sophisticated performance. |
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Guionnet, Jean-Luc: Solo A La Decollation (Tour de Bras) Emphasizing unusual aspects of the pipe organ, composer and typically reedist Jean-Luc Guionnet (Hubbub, Return of the New Thing) performs solo on the organ at the Church of the Decollation of Saint-Jean Baptiste in L'Isle-verte, Quebec, Canada, taking a sound-oriented approach to the instrument with a minimalist attitude through four extended performances. |
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In Layers (Marcelo Dos Reis / Onno Govaert / Kristian Martinsson / Luis Vicente): Pliable (FMR) Portuguese guitarist Marcelo Dos Reis and trumpeter Luís Vicente, Icelandic pianist Kristján Martinsson and Dutch drummer Onno Govaert release their 2nd album, moving from the studio to a live concert at Salão Brazil in Coimbra in 2018, performing six collective improvisations of explorative and technically advanced, cutting edge free improv. |
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Lisbon Improvisation Players: Motion (Clean Feed) A precursor to his Motion Trio, this is a 2002 studio recording led by saxophonist Rodrigo Amado performing on baritone & tenor saxophones, with US West Coast saxophonist Steve Adams on soprano & tenor saxophones, Acacio Salero on drums, plus New York bassist Ken Filiano, improvising over six works that show the depth and mastery of each individually and collectively. |
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Metal Chaos Ensemble: Don Quixote (Evil Clown) An epic journey through diverse improvisational approaches within a composed framework, using heavy percussion of unusual & world origins, electronics, rock/groove elements and prepared mixes created from samples, from the Boston duo of David Peck (PEK) on reeds & an arsenal of devices & sources, and Yuri Zbitnoff on drums & percussion, with narration points along the way. |
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MoE w/ Mette Rasmussen / Ikuro Takahashi: Painted (Relative Pitch) During their 2019 Japan Tour, the collaboration of the Norwegian experimental rock band MoE and alto sax virtuoso Mette Rasmussen extended their trio with legendary drummer Ikuru Takahashi to record this energetic, rough and tumble album exploring the boundaries between free improvisation, skronky rock, and other confrontational, conceptual crossover forms. |
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MPT Trio (Mela / Paz / Trujillo): Volume 1 (577) Influenced by both free jazz and Caribbean folk music, the NYC-based MPT Trio, led by Francisco Mela (Crash Trio, Joe Lovano, McCoy Tyner, John Scofield, Kenny Barron, Gary Bartz), presents a stylistically innovative sound on their debut album, presenting eight original pieces blending diverse musical traditions with contemporary & avant-garde jazz structures. |
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Muller, Matthias / Eric Normand / Petr Vrba: Triche! (Tour de Bras / Circum-Disc) A set of informed avant/abstract acoustic and electroacoustic improvisations recorded in the studio in Austria in 2019, from the transatlantic trio of Euro free jazz legend, trombonist Matthias Muller, Quebec bassist Eric Normand on electric bass, and innovative trumpeter Petr Vrba also deploying electronics, the trio's interaction focused on patient and inspired sonic detail. |
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Sun Ra And His Outer Space Arkestra: A Fire Side Chat With Lucifer (Modern Harmonic) This reissue of the 1983 Saturn Research LP presents two aspects of the Sun Ra Arkestra, the first side with the 80's classics "Nuclear War" along with "Retrospect" and "Makeup"; the second side presenting the extended and more experimental "A Fireside Chat with Lucifer", a 20 minute well balanced, open framework that allows for both melodic soloing and extended free exchanges. |
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Sun Ra Arkestra: Swirling [2 LPS] (STRUT / Artyard) The first new Sun Ra Arkestra album in twenty years, recorded in Philadelphia under the direction of saxophonist Marshall Allan, with long-standing Arkestra members including Danny Ray Thompson, Michael Ray, Vincent Chancey, Knoel Scott, Cecil Brooks, Atakatune, Elson Nascimento and Tyler Mitchel, with new material and new renderings of classic Ra compositions. |
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Sun Ra: Egypt 1971 [4 CDs] (STRUT) Originally released in 3 LPs as Live in Egypt on Thoth Intergalactic and then as the Saturn albums Dark Myth Equation Visitation, Nidhamu & Horizon, this set reissues and expands the 1971 Sun Ra tour recordings: The Mena House Hotel in Giza; a concert at Hartmut Geerken's in Heliopolis; a live Cairo TV channel broadcast; and a concert at Cairo's the Ballon Theatre. |
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Taylor, Trevor: Oscillations 12 Tone Music For Jazz Quintet (FMR) Exploring the jazz tradition through 12 tone serial tone row scales, along with graphic scores & other variations, from UK composer Trevor Taylor, also on drums & vibraphones, in a quintet with Shanti Paul Jayashina on trumpet, Josh Ison on saxophones, Dan Banks on piano, and Jose Canha on Double Bass, in a set of tunes that beautifully balance freedom and lyricism. |
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Compositional | ||||||||||||
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Zorn, John (Stephen Gosling): The Turner Etudes (Tzadik) A suite of short pieces for solo piano subtitled "Images and Impressions for Piano", composed by John Zorn and performed by frequent Zorn interpreter Stephen Gosling, the works inspired by the sketches of English painter J.M.W. Turner, embracing influences including Ligeti, Scriabin, Bach, Glass, Debussy, Bartok, Berio, Feldman, Xenakis, Schoenberg &c. |
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Zorn, John: Azoth (Tzadik) Two compositions by John Zorn for solo cello and two works for cello and rhythm section, performed by cellists Jay Campbell (JACK Quartet) and Michael Nicolas (Brooklyn Rider, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)), with drummer Ches Smith and bassist Jorge Roeder taking the rhythm chairs; exciting and innovative compositions in virtuoso performances. |
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Recent Reviews on The Squid's Ear | ||||||||||||
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Stay Current With Squidco | ||||||||||||
We're never quite caught up with new releases that constantly come in our door, and we don't like to rush a release to our homepage. That said, the following releases have already been stocked at Squidco, and are able to be ordered. In most cases we have images, often have samples, and some basic description of each release.
• You can see the newest additions to our catalog in our Just In Stock Section.
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Squidco Workspace | ||||||||||||
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