Kaiju Project is a Japanese inspired jazz group formed by the half-Japanese pianist Aseo Friesacher. Their initial idea was to bring old folk songs into a new modern context, but in addition to their compositions, this group has found their very own musical direction: a perfect blend of traditional Japanese music and modern creative jazz. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Crossover Jazz
"Two worlds become one: Classical and jazz blend with a beautiful blow." Magne Thormodsæter is an ECM-alumni, bassist, and in- demand session musician. On L’arte della persuasione, he fuses two worlds with the full force of a beautiful blow. A 35- minute story told in five acts, it pits a high-caliber classical ensemble against a jazz group. The result is captivatingly unclassifiable. ...
Composer: Magne Thormodsæter
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Crossover Jazz
Forget-Me-Not - eine Trio-Produktion der Pianistin und Komponistin Yelena Eckemoff mit Mats Eilertsen am Kontrabass und Marilyn Mazur am Schlagzeug - präsentiert eine noch einmalige und wirklich ausgereifte Kompositionsarbeit von Yelena Eckemoff, die ebenso ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
A leading Norwegian bassist for over 30 years, ECM legend Arild Andersen forges promising relationships with two rising stars - Daniel Sommer (drums) and Rob Luft (guitar) in an expansive, playful exploration of song and collective improvisation. ‘As Time Passes’ is set to release on April 26th on April Records. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Free Jazz
Silent, Listening is both a highly individual musical offering and an important contribution to ECM’s line of innovative solo piano recordings. It finds US pianist Fred Hersch, one of jazz’s most outstanding soloists, putting a poetic emphasis on alert, open improvisation while also embracing original compositions and a ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
With three critically acclaimed albums under their belt, Swedish trombonist Karin Hammar’s Fab4 boasts international recognition from publications including Downbeat Magazine, over 50 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify and over 10 million streams to date. Their upcoming record ‘Opening’, featuring Rita Macotulli. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Leading Danish trombonist Lis Wessberg is grounded by the concept that a strong melody, and a rich sound are the two most important elements in composition and performance. A continuation of the refined contemporary answer to the ‘Cool Jazz’ sound she’s been cultivating for the past 30 years, her sophomore album ‘Twain ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Nils Økland is interested in the journeys and dialogues of music across time and space, a music without national and traditional borders. At the same time, he is also very inspired by local music from many places and often prefers old fiddlers and singers who have a unique personal playing style. ....
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
“It has always fascinated me hearing from people the many different images and messages that any one piece of music can conjure up in their imaginations,“ says the British reedman John Surman in the liner note for his new quartet album. “Quite often the impressions and stories can be widely varied, and yet somehow seem ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
The combination of Espen Eriksen Trio and UK saxophone giant Andy Sheppard is truly a match made in jazz heaven, and in the words of Andy: “I knew from the first time I heard the trio play that I would fit right in. I loved the melodic sense and vibe and was thrilled when I was invited to guest with the trio in London in 2016”. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Pianist-composer Vijay Iyer follows his acclaimed 2021 ECM disc Uneasy — the first to showcase his trio featuring bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey — with Compassion, another creative leap in league with these two gifted partners. The New York Times captured the distinctive qualities of this group, pointing to the trio’s flair for playing “with a lithe range of motion and resplendent clarity…
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
For the follow-up of his ECM-leader-debut La traversée, French saxophonist Matthieu Bordenave expands his trio of German pianist Florian Weber and French bassist Patrice Moret with the unique sensibilities of drummer James Maddren, whose unrelenting pulse adds deft counterpoint to the group’s already idiosyncratic sound. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Mysterious tunes and soundscape: A striking musical rapport between Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen and Dutch pianist Harmen Fraanje is palpable in the duo’s quietly lyrical investigations on Touch of Time. These are delicate melodies and textures, flowing between two musicians, who are deeply in tune with nuances of tone-shadings and the ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Composer/singer/musician Jan Bang is known for albums and live performances in collaboration with Jon Hassell, Sidsel Endresen, Tigran Hamasyan, Nils Petter Molvær, David Sylvian, Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset and Erik Honoré. After a string of instrumental releases and two song based albums with the collaborative ...
Genre: Songwriter
Subgenre: Contemporary
Poetic nuances: “Gidon Kremer has perhaps never before revealed himself as intimately and as existentially focused as on this recording”, observes Wolfgang Sandner in his liner note accompanying the Latvian violinist’s new album Songs of Fate. Together with his Kremerata Baltica chamber ensemble ...
Composer: Raminta Šerkšnytė (1975), Giedrius Kuprevičius (1944), Jēkabs Jančevskis (1992), Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Vocal
Three years after her critically acclaimed debut, "Diving" (2014), Ellen Andrea Wang returns with "Blank Out" on Jazzland Recordings. Her accompanists on this sonic adventure are Erland Dahlen (drums) and Andreas Ulvo (Keyboards), while Wang provides vocals, bass and some keys. The music that pours out of this trio is eclectic, fearlessly dipping into different ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
With his inspired arrangements for folk instrumentation, Levon Eskenian has brought about a re-evaluation of the music of G.I. Gurdjieff (ca. 1877- 1949) and given us many new insights into the sources that inspired the Armenian-born esoteric teacher, philosopher and composer. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Crossover Jazz
Strands (Live at the Danish Radio Concert Hall)
“When we walked out on stage it felt like a homecoming,” says guitarist Jakob Bro of this texturally spacious and emotionally charged live recording from Copenhagen, on which three of the defining protagonists of improvisation in Denmark, leading musicians from three generations of Danish jazz, come together. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Tractus emphasizes Arvo Pärt compositions that blend the timbres of choir and string orchestra. New versions predominate, with focused performances from the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under Tõnu Kaljuste’s direction that invite alert and concentrated listening. From the opening composition Littlemore ...
Composer: Arvo Pärt (1935)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Choral
Call on the Old Wise is Nitai Hershkovits’ first record for ECM, presenting his powerful pianistic ingenuity in a largely improvised solo setting. Nitai’s improvisations unfold like compositions being created in real-time: “It’s like I’m playing with several periods of music at once, but in a sort of augmented-reality-environment,” ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
