The music on 72 Orchard Street ranges from the edgy, powerchord-driven opening track — full of tricky unisons on the intricate head between Wogram’s trombone and Suhner’s alto sax — to the mellow and melodic “Clinton Avenue” — showcased by a warmly melodic trombone solo from Wogram and an equally affecting legato solo from the leader — to the cool, darkly-hued, ECM-ish “Eiszeit” and the chops-busting “Birds,” ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
There is a searching, yearning quality to Naked Truth, and a raw beauty and vulnerability in Avishai Cohen’s trumpet sound throughout. Very much music-of-the moment, found and shaped in the course of a remarkable recording session in the South of France, Naked Truth takes the form of an extemporaneous suite. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Weinberg: Sonatas for Violin Solo
The three sonatas of Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg, written in 1964, 1967 and 1979, are among the most richly creative and technically challenging 20th century works for solo violin, and their radical expressivity draws the listener in. Gidon Kremer, a key figure in the revival of interest in Weinberg’s ...
Composer: Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Instrumental
Jame’s Newton’s 1977 self-released solo-debut, ‘Flute Music’ is an unheralded gem of the 70’s jazz underground. An album that showcases a diverse range of styles and fervent cross-pollination, while retaining a clear sense of direction and cohesion. An artist funnelling their wild expression into multiple facets of “The New Music”, ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Free Jazz
As a pianist, as a composer, and as a critic, Ethan Iverson has long celebrated both the rich tradition and continuous evolution of jazz. So, it seems only fitting that he would eventually take his place on the roster of Blue Note Records, which has provided a home for innovation rooted in the music’s foundations throughout its eight-decade history. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Kit Downes joins forces with long-time collaborators Petter Eldh on bass and James Maddren on drums for a carefully assorted piano trio programme that treads gentle lyricism and bold creative outbursts in equal measures. Downes, whose prior ECM offering Dreamlife of Debris was termed a “work of otherworldly beauty” by BBC Music Magazine, carves out some of his most ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
"Clover" is a new project, resulting from a long friendship, an intense collective experience and also a desire to play pure, refined music. After 20 years of close artistic and personal collaboration already put into action by the creation of the Yolk Label and a number of other joint projects, the three friends Alban Darche, Sebastien Boisseau and ....
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Fazer’s music cannot simply be described as Jazz; the Munich band is shaped by the experimental pop music of Talk Talk, the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti, the Krautrock of Can and the dub techno of Rhythm & Sound, but masterfully take aspects of all this and more, to create their own sonic identity. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Modern Jazz
Leoš Janáček: On An Overgrown Path
On An Overgrown Path, Leoš Janáček’s 15 pieces-spanning piano cycle, is here presented in a reshaped guise, arranged for string orchestra and played by the Camerata Zürich under lead violinist Igor Karsko’s direction. This is the premiere recording of the adaption, written by Daniel Rumler in 2017. ...
Composer: Leos Janacek (1854-1928)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
Jorge Rossy turns to vibraphone and marimba and delivers a trio set filled with momentous originals for his ECM leader-debut. Marked by their immediate melodic appeal, the vibraphonist’s lines are in lively interplay with his colleagues, Robert Landfermann on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums. After Jorge’s recent contribution on drums to Jakob ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Enrico Rava, long a key figure in European jazz, has been a mentor for successive generations of Italian players. His celebratory Edizione Speciale, recorded live at the Middelheim Festival in Antwerp, brings together a team of young improvisers who play his music with fire and élan, accompanying his fountain of melodic ideas, ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Modern Jazz
"Subaqueous Silence", pianist Ayumi Tanaka’s leader debut for ECM – following critically acclaimed releases with Thomas Strønen (Lucus, Bayou) – is a strikingly original statement. Tanaka met bassist Christian Meaas Svendsen and drummer Per Oddvar Johansen shortly after arriving in Oslo a decade ago and they have been developing their musical ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Kurtág: Six moments musicaux; Officium breve / Dvořák: String Quintet, Op. 97
On their ECM New series debut, the Boston-based Parker Quartet, hailed by the Washington Post for “exceptional virtuosity and imaginative interpretation,” play music of György Kurtág and are joined by violist Kim Kashkashian, one of the quarter’s early mentors, to play Dvořák. ...
Composer: György Kurtág (1926), Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
J.S. Bach: Three Or One - Transcriptions by Fred Thomas
Fred Thomas is an ECM artist who studied at the Royal Academy of Music and is one of London's most sought after multi-instrumentalists and composer/arranger/producers. Here is Johann Sebastian Bach in transfigured light: with organ chorale preludes, vocal cantata movements and orchestral sinfonias 24 pieces ...
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
Shadow Plays (Live at Konzerthaus, Wien / 2020)
Craig Taborn’s Avenging Angel album was widely praised for the fresh ideas it brought to the solo piano idiom. “It reflects Mr Taborn’s galactically-broad interests,” said the New York Times, “along with his multifaceted technique,” while the Guardian saluted Craig’s “genius (there is no other word for it)" and his “world of whispered, wide-spaced figures, ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
The story of Mary Magdalene has been a source of comfort for many women, and research has shown that medieval ballads about Mary Magdalene are often sung by single mothers. Young women who were outcasts must have found some measure of consolation in the songs about Mary, who bore children with her father, ....
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Sinikka Langeland
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Vocal
Mathias Eick is among the most immediately recognizable soloists to have emerged from the Norwegian jazz scene, and his wistful trumpet sound and strongly melodic compositions have met with a positive response around the world. When his ECM leader debut The Door was issued in 2008, US magazine JazzTimes described the ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
“Their years together have resulted in an ensemble with an utterly symbiotic creative flow,” observed Don Heckman in the Los Angeles Times, when the Marcin Wasilewski Trio was first making its presence felt on the international jazz scene. The improvisational communication among the players has continued to deepen with the ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Noteland is an exercise in pure collaboration. Built around Jon Neher’s piano improvisations, it is free flowing in form and meter. Each member contributed freely but also remained open to having their playing completely recontextualized. Travis Packer’s electric bass is tightly moored to the piano while Dalton ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Modern Jazz
The hard-hitting and mesmerising debut from Swedish producer Petter Eldh and his drum project. Swedish Producer Petter Eldh announces his new album “Projekt Drums vol. 1” which embraces his love of heavy beats, psychedelic sounds and musical collaboration. This first volume is made of six diverse tracks from some ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Avantgarde Jazz
