My apologies on missing a week's entry, but Record Store Day and our attendant sales really did a number on our schedule! Which is no complaint, with thanks to the many happy customers who made the week a success for us — we don't mind running hard to get orders out when the music is so incredible and the customers so perceptive. That said, based on the number of phone calls we received over RSD weekend, apparently if we sold Taylor Swift's latest we would have had an even more successful week... but we prefer to sell the incredibly sophisticated, boundary-less music that we focus on, and we'll let the Swifties fight it out amongst themselves :)

While the sales went on a number of great releases came into our catalog, one of which I expand on below, and the other two most significant I mention here: ezz-thetics by Hat Hut, Ltd released two exceptional albums that we activated at the end of last week. First is the latest Marion Brown "Revisited" album Three For Shepp to Gesprachsfetzen Revisited, remastering and reissuing the composer and saxophonists 1967 & 1968 albums on the Impulse! and German Calig labels. That bring to three albums from ezz-thetics for Marion Brown, whose significant work deserves greater exposure.

Brown, Marion : Three For Shepp to Gesprachsfetzen Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Remastering and restoring Marion Brown's 1967 Impulse! album with Grachan Moncure III, Dave Burrel, Stanley Cowell, Sirone, Beaver Harris & Bobby Capp, and his 1968 album on the Calig label with Gunter Hampel, Steve McCall, Ambrosa Jackson & Buschi Niedergall; two albums of essential "New Thing" work through fascinating composed forms by Brown, plus Archie Shepps' "Delicado"; essential.

Brown, Marion: Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Reissuing two essential albums from saxophonist Marion Brown--Why Not? (ESP, 1968) and Porto Novo (Polydor, 1969)--the first recorded in NY in a quartet with pianist Stanley Cowell, bassist Sirone and drummer Rashied Ali, the second recorded in The Netherlands in a trio with Han Bennink on drums and Maarten Van Regteren Altena on double bass; essential.

Brown, Marion: Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee (remastered) (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Merging and remastering two essential albums from free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown: his 1966 ESP album "Marion Brown Quartet" with trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Johnson and percussionist Rahied Ali; and his 1967 Fontana album "Juba-Lee" in a septet with Reggie Johnson, drummer Beaver Harris, pianist Dave Burrell, trombonist Grachan Moncur III & saxophonist Bennie Maupin.

The second new ezz-thetics is from Cecil Taylor, and initiates a new series from the label conspicuously colored blue: First Visit Archive. This series brings to life never before heard recording from jazz icons; the second release in the series will be from Anthony Braxton, Solo Bern 1984, First Visit. This new archive presents a concert from 1980 at New York City's Fat Tuesday club in a sextet that includes jazz legends Jimmy Lyons, Alan Silva, Jerome Cooper and Sunny Murray, along with lesser-known violinist Ramsey Ameen. That brings to four and some fraction of reissues for Cecil Taylor on the ezz-thetics label, the fractional part the consideration of Taylor's contribution on the Albert Ayler reissue More Lost Performances, Revisited

Taylor, Cecil Unit (w/ Lyons / Silva / Cooper / Murray): Live At Fat Tuesdays 1980 - First Visit Archive [CD + POSTCARDS] (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

A superb and extended live performance from 1980 at NYC's Fat Tuesday jazz club, from the outstanding sextet of forward-thinking free improvisers, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Ramsey Ameen on violin, Alan Silva on double bass & cello, Jerome Cooper on drums & African Balaphone and Sunny Murray on drums, led by Cecil Taylor on piano in an ecstatic concert never previously released.

Taylor, Cecil (w/ Lyons / Dixon / Grimes / Silva / Cyrille): With (Exit) To Student Studies, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Changing approaches to his music with new quartet of Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Alan Silva on double bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums, pianist Cecil Taylor's incredible 1966 concert in Paris presented four extended compositions, here remastered and reissued with a track from a compilation LP--"With (Exit)"--extending his quartet with Bill Dixon on trumpet and Henry Grimes on double bass.

Taylor, Mike: Trio, Quartet & Composer, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Found dead in the Thames River in 1969, pianist & composer Mike Taylor left a legacy of two solid & lyrical jazz albums, of which the complete Trio album and one track from Pendulum are remastered; but he was also a songwriter for the Eric Clapton/Ginger Baker/Jack Bruce band Cream, of which three Taylor compositions with lyrics and vocals by Baker are included.

Taylor, Cecil Mixed To Unit: Structures Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Bringing together two essential and impeccably remastered 1960's Cecil Taylor albums — Cecil Taylor Unit Structures and Cecil Taylor Unit Mixed — presenting both traditional influences and Taylor's unique approaches to modern jazz, featuring two septets with musicians including Jimmy Lyons, Henry Grimes, Archies Shepp, Ted Curson, Andrew Cyrille, Roswell Rudd, Sunny Murray, &c.

Ayler, Albert (incl. Milford Graves, Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Lyons, Sunny Murray, &c): More Lost Performances, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Remastering previously unavailable and vital performances from three configurations of saxophonist Albert Ayler's bands, including their 1967 Newport Festival concert with Milford Graves, their performance at John Coltrane's 1967 Funeral at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in NYC, and an incredible 1962 concert with Cecil Taylor's group with Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray in Copenhagen.

Putting aside the reissues, and before I get to my pick of album of the last two weeks, I'll mention that the latest release from Martin Küchen's Angles ensemble, Angles & Elle-Kari with Strings — The Death of Kalypso is another exception release from the Swedish composer and band leader. The trio of Peter Brötzmann, Majid Bekkas and Hamid Drake, Catching Ghosts, is a unique addition to Brötzmann's catalog through Bekka's transcendent vocals and Guembri work. An excellent collective album comes from the quartet of Marilyn Crispell, Jason Stein, Damon Smith & Adam Shead on the Balance Point Acoustics label.

I have found myself returning to the assertively experimental, improvised rock, jazz & experimental forms from the latest Caveira album on Shhpuma, led by guitarist Pedro Gomes with Pedro Sousa on saxophone, Gabriel Ferrandini on drums and Miguel Abras on electric bass. And I was thrilled to finally see the difficult-to acquire restock of Polweschel's 4-LP box set, Embrace, on the Belgian NI-VU-NI-CONNU label. Joel Futterman & William Parker come together for a 7-part set of magnificent dialogs on Soul City Sound's release, Why. And not in any way the least, Henry Kaiser's latest on Metalanguage, The Lost Chord performed on baritone guitar is a stunning example of solo guitar and effect work, inspired by a poem from Adelaide Anne Procter; while they last, the album comes with a free copy of Kaiser's album Trouble with the Treble.

Futterman, Joel / William Parker: Why (Soul City Sounds)

Having worked together as members of the Kidd Jordan Quartet, pianist Joel Futterman and bassist William Parker recorded these collective duo improvisations in the studio in New York City in 2020, a perfect match of technical mastery pushing the boundaries of free playing through creative use of tonality, rhythm, and harmony from two extraordinarily compatibile improvisers.

Kaiser, Henry: The Lost Chord (Metalanguage)

Focused around a poem by Adelaide Anne Procter titled "A Lost Chord", West Coast guitarist Henry Kaiser invokes the spirit of Procter's words through a stunningly beautiful album of both contemplative and technically excellent work, his first solo album performed on the lower tuned baritone guitar, in 10 tracks inspired by Frith, Xenakis, Evan Parker, Ligeti, &c.
Includes a free copy of Trouble with the Treble while quantities last!

Crispell, Marilyn / Jason Stein / Damon Smith / Adam Shead: Spi-Raling Horn (Balance Point Acoustics)

A collaboration between the working trio of bass clarinetist Jason Stein, double bassist Damon Smith, and drummer Adam Shead, adding pianist Marilyn Crispell, initiated by Smith & Crispell's admiration of painter Cy Twombly, whose artwork graces this album's cover, recorded live and complete in the studio after two live concerts between the quartet; masterful collective improv!

Caveira (Gomes / Sousa / Abras / Ferrandini): Ficar Vivo [VINYL] (Shhpuma)

Originally formed in 2005 by guitarist Pedro Gomes as a Portuguese free rock group, this Lisboa-based band has transformed into this burning quartet that bridges rock and free improv in both savage and brooding moments, from the superb quartet of Gomes on guitar, Pedro Sousa on saxophone, Gabriel Ferrandini on drums and Miguel Abras on electric bass.

Angles & Elle-Kari with Strings: The Death of Kalypso (thanatosis produktion)

The 12th album from Martin Küchen's Angles ensemble is expanded and developed with notations and string arrangements from Alexander Zethson, and the voice of Elle-Kari Sander, in an engrossing album of powerfully compelling jazz rhythms & soloing, orchestral swells and emphatic songs pivoting around the mythology of the nymph Calypso, woven into contemporary concepts; sensational! (also available on LP)

Polwechsel: Embrace [4 LP BOX SET] (NI-VU-NI-CONNU)

The current Polwechsel quartet of Werner Dafeldecker, Michael Moser, Martin Brandlmayr and Burkhard Beins — merging improvisation and contemporary forms for outstandingly paced and conceptualized performance — are joined by luminaries John Butcher, Klaus Lang, Magda Mayas, Andrea Neumann and Peter Ablinger, released in a deluxe 4-LP box set with a 32-page booklet.

Brotzmann, Peter / Majid Bekkas / Hamid Drake: Catching Ghosts (ACT Music + Vision)

A powerful, spiritual and warmly dynamic album of international and cross-cultural free improvisation meticulously recorded live at Jazzfest Berlin in 2022 from the trio of German reedist Peter Brötzmann on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Chicago drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake, and Moroccan guembri player and vocalist Majid Bekkas.

Focus on Matt Lavelle:

To my mind, the album of the week goes to trumpeter Matt Lavelle, whose new album on Mahakala The Crop Circles Suite Part One really caught my attention. I've been aware of Lavelle's work since he released a duo album with guitarist and my friend Barry Chabala. That long-out-of-print album I Like to Play came out in 2007 on Chabala's Roeba label, and gave me a good chance to hear Lavelle's approach to improvising. I then noted Lavelle's work as part of Assif Tsahar's ensemble on his conduction album, The Labyrinth. I learned more about his personal philosophy and spiritual approach through his excellent solo album Cuica in the Third House, where a short narrative opens the album, and his prose and poetry punctuates the album. Other KMB Jazz albums further expose his playing, particularly in the band Eye Contact with bassist Matthew Heyner and drummer Ryan Sawyer. Since then I've followed the trumpeter in bands led by William Parker, Daniel Carter, and Sabir Mateen.

None of this prepared me for the totality and depth of The Crop Circles Suite Part One, which pulls together Lavelle's compositions concepts and personal interests into a fully fleshed set of fascinating compositions performed with a large ensemble. The orchestra has been active since 2010 as a performing ensemble, but not documents Lavelle credits the woodshedding period of pandemic for the development of this suite, which he describes as his life's work. Given the comprehensiveness of the work and its rich details that's clear, and Lavelle explains that this is only the first part of his suite. As I listened to the piece I was reminded of the work of Charles Mingus and his larger ensembles, with their power amidst multiple lines weaving around central themes. It's an immersive set of compositions allowing great freedom to the individual players.

From all that I've heard of Lavelle, his compositions integrate ideas from jazz, composed and experimental approaches exploring sonic territories. His rhythms embrace a wealth of traditions, and his melodies and harmonic structure are strong and often intricately involved. I'm personally drawn to those artists who push boundaries within structure, and this album brings that forward with an ear to compelling the listener, an impressive feat.

Lavelle, Matt & The 12 Houses: The Crop Circles Suite (Mahakala Music)

An album to absorb and get excited over, as Matt Lavelle pursues a long-running dream to bring his 12 Houses Orchestra to record, here in an incredible collection of compositions, just the first set of a larger concept of solid jazz pieces that pivot on astrology and numerology as reflected in time signature, bar lines, melody notes, chords, and intervals; powerful, lyrical, spectacular work!

Mateen, Sabir (w/ Steve Swell / Matt Lavelle / Matthew Heyner / Michael Thompson): Prophecies Come To Pass (577 Records)

Saxophonist Sabir Mateen's NY based Shapes, Textures, and Sound Ensemble with Steve Swell on trombone, Matt Lavelle on trumpet, Matthew Heyner on bass and Michael T.A. Thompson on drums, run though a gamut of post-bop and collective, creative jazz forms with energy, incredible dexterity, and tremendous group interplay, a great example of the modern spirit of jazz.

William Parker: Universal Tonality [2 CDs] (Centering Records)

An incredible performance recorded at Roulette in NYC by a large ensemble of 16 jazz luminaries of various ages, cultures and musical backgrounds, led by composer and bassist William Parker, who explains that Universal Tonality is another name for love, the profusion of which is interpreted by vocalist Leena Conquest in a profoundly inspired concert of magnificent artistry.

Parker, William: Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World (Volumes 1-10) [10 CD BOX SET] (Centering Records)

A 10-album collection in a solid box set of vocal and instrumental suites recorded expressly for this set between late 2018 and early 2020, with women's voices at its core (both on voice & other instruments), taking a vast view of music from around the globe through free improvisation and re-imagined sonic collage, performed by groupings of extraordinary performers.

Eye Contact (Heyner / Sawyer / Lavelle): War Rug (KMB Jazz)

The New York free improvising trio of Matthew Heyner (Test, Malkuth) on bass, Matt Lavelle on trumpet and clarinet and Ryan Sawyer (Tall Firs, Stars Like Fleas) on drums in the follow-up to their 2005 Utech double CD "Embracing The Tide / Making Eye Contact With God", an impressive release of expressive technique and ritualistic drive.

Mateen, Sabir (w/ Steve Swell / Matt Lavelle / Matthew Heyner / Michael Thompson): Prophecies Come To Pass [VINYL + DOWNLOAD] (577 Records)

Saxophonist Sabir Mateen's NY based Shapes, Textures, and Sound Ensemble with Steve Swell on trombone, Matt Lavelle on trumpet, Matthew Heyner on bass and Michael T.A. Thompson on drums, run though a gamut of post-bop and collective, creative jazz forms with energy, incredible dexterity, and tremendous group interplay, a great example of the modern spirit of jazz.

Lavelle, Matt: Cuica In The Third House (KMB Jazz)

The 2007 solo debut of New York free improvising trumpeter Matt Lavelle, here performing on the hybrid instruments, the Bass-Trumpinet and Bass-Clarumpet, introduced and punctuated with spoken word insight and declarations, and using overdubs on selected tracks, making for an intimate and accomplished album of modern free jazz.

Tsahar, Assif & The New York Underground Orchestra: The Labyrinth (Hopscotch Records)

Tsahar's New York Underground Orchestra with an all-star set of New York players including Okkyung Lee, Oscar Noriega, Matt Lavelle, Tatsuya Nakatani, &c. &c performing Tsahar's 10 part "labyrinth".

Squidco Publishing Roundup:

As is typical, 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.

May 2, 2024: New @ Squidco:
Matt Lavelle & The 12 Houses -The Crop Circles Suite [CD] (Mahakala Music)
Luke Stewart Silt Trio (w/ Settles/Crudup or Taylor) -Unknown Rivers [CD] (Pi Recordings)
Marilyn Crispell/Jason Stein/Damon Smith/Adam Shead -Spi-Raling Horn [CD] (Balance Point Acoustics)
Clara Lai (Lai/Reviriego/Roca) -Corpos [CD] (Phonogram Unit)
Sam Newsome/Max Johnson -Tubes [CD] (Unbroken Sounds)
Rob Mazurek -Milan [CD] (Clean Feed)
Rahma Quartet (Rasha Ragab/Christoph Nicolaus/Werner Dafeldecker/Lucio Capece) -"Mercy Is Called Down By Mercy To The Last" Live [CD] (Meenna)
Perturbations -That's Where the Unknown Is [CDR] (Evil Clown)
Leap of Faith/Kane Loggia Hypothesis -Interconnected by Testable Relations [CDR] (Evil Clown)