After two ECM albums with the cooperative trio Third Reel, Swiss reedman Nicolas Masson presents a quartet for which he is the sole composer. The group has existed for a decade with unchanged personnel, touring as Nicolas Massons Parallels, and the leaders writing for it always encourages ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Saxophonist and clarinettist John Surman is often characterized as a quintessentially English improviser and composer, and hints of folk music and a pastoral ambience are attributes of his music on well-loved albums like 'The Road to Saint Ives' or his last ECM recording, ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Norwegian drummer/composer Thomas Strønen presents a revised edition of his acoustic collective Time Is A Blind Guide, now trimmed to quintet size, and with a new pianist in Wakayama-born Ayumi Tanaka. Tanaka has spoken of seeking associative connections between Japan and Norway ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Modern Jazz
The great Swedish trio of Bobo Stenson takes a stand against indecision in a decisively beautiful new album. As ever, the trio draws upon a wide range of source materials. A yearning title song by Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez, Bartók’s adaptation of a Slovak folk song, a piece ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Kit Downes’s previous ECM appearance was as pianist on the debut recording of Time Is A Blind Guide in 2015 and he’s critically-regarded as one of the UK’s outstanding young jazz talents. This recording however has little to do with “jazz”, although ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Polish alto saxophone player Maciej Obara makes a striking ECM debut with Unloved, an album whose expressive range embraces tender lyricism and impassioned, fiery, powerful playing. With the exception of the title track - written by Krzysztof Komeda ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Modern Jazz
Siwan, the international collective led by Norwegian keyboardist-composer-arranger Jon Balke, released its ECM debut in 2009 and is now back, rallying its powerful instrumental forces behind a new lead singer, Mona Boutchebak from Algeria. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre:
Declaring that he is “no longer able to ignore overwhelming and outrageous recent world events”, trumpeter and composer Michael Mantler leaves the world of abstract music behind to tackle a host of contemporary evils head-on. ...
Composer: Michael Mantler (1943)
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Crossover Jazz
British pianist Django Bates returns to ECM with one of his very finest constellations, the trio Belovèd, with Swedish bassist Petter Eldh and Danish drummer Peter Bruun, and an aptly named album, The Study of Touch. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Yuuko Shiokawa and András Schiff are heard here in an insightful programme of sonatas for violin and piano which begins with Bach’s Sonata No.3 in E major, ends with Beethoven’s Sonata No.10 in G major, and has at its centre Busoni’s Sonata No. 2 in E minor. ...
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750), Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
J.S. Bach: Suiten für Violoncello
Swiss cellist Thomas Demenga returns to Bach’s suites. “To me, Bach is the greatest musical genius who has ever lived. His music is pure, sublime. It possesses something divine and each musician has a lifetime in which to discover new ways of interpreting it.” ...
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
J.S. Bach: Préludes & Sarabandes
Swiss cellist Thomas Demenga returns to Bach’s suites. “To me, Bach is the greatest musical genius who has ever lived. His music is pure, sublime. It possesses something divine and each musician has a lifetime in which to discover new ways of interpreting it.” ...
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
Maderna & Berio: Now, And Then
Now, and then is a fascinating album which challenges definitions of old and new music. Bruno Maderna’s charming and evocative transcriptions and re-orchestrations of pieces by Frescobaldi, Legrenzi, Gabrieli, Viadana and Wassanaer are brought together with Luciano ...
Composer: Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643), Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690), Luciano Berio (1925–2003), Giovanni Gabrieli (1553-1612), Tommaso Lodovico da Viadana, Unico Wilhelm Graf Van Wassenaer
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
Three brilliant improvisers join Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem in this album, recorded in New York in May 2017. For Brahem and Dave Holland the album marks a reunion: they first collaborated 20 years ago on the very widely-acclaimed Thimar album, a trio recording with John Surman. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre:
Released in time for the great Ukrainian composers 80th birthday on September 30, Hieroglyphen der Nacht features Valentin Silvestrovs music for solo violoncello and for two cellos. German cellist Anja Lechner has had a long association with Silvestrov, ...
Composer: Valentin Silvestrov (1937)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
They are widely recognised as the most exciting young string quartet of the present moment, bringing new insights to contemporary composition and core classical repertoire. In parallel, they have also made surprising and impressive forays ...
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
Complete in itself, this solo album by Armenian pianist Lusine Grigoryan, can also be considered a companion volume to the Gurdjieff Ensemble's critically-acclaimed album of Komitas's music. ...
Genre: Instrumental
Subgenre: Piano
In Gnosis, the Santiago de Cuba-raised and New York-based pianist-composer David Virelles looks towards one melting pot from the vantage point of another. At one level an autobiographical album, a sequence of images conveyed through sound, ...
Composer: David Virelles
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
To date, Stefano Battaglia’s ECM discography has taken the listener to many different places. The Italian pianist has reinterpreted art songs of Alec Wilder on In The Morning, set a dedication to Pina Bausch amid improvised duets on Pastorale, created new ...
Genre: Instrumental
Subgenre: Piano
