Stanko’s first for ECM, and a splendid introduction to the “predatory lyricism” that is the Polish trumpeter’s stylistic trademark. "I can only imagine the reactions Tomasz Stanko garnered with Balladyna, his first recording for ECM. The no-holds-barred “First Song” jumps into action with that hard swing that can only come from Dave Holland. ....
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Free Jazz
Keith Jarrett’s account of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Württemberg Sonatas is a revelation. “I’d heard the sonatas played by harpsichordists, and felt there was a space left for a piano version,” says Jarrett today. This outstanding recording, made in May 1994 and previously unreleased, finds the pianist attuned to the expressive implications of the sonatas in ...
Composer: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Instrumental
"A Time To Remember" is a continuation of the special synergy that inhabited Elina Duni’s acclaimed Lost Ships and finds her regrouping with that album’s quartet of guitarist Rob Luft, Matthieu Michel on flugelhorn and Fred Thomas on percussion and piano. As the title suggests, the notion of ‘time’ pulls through the programme like a theme, connecting ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Vocal
Violinist Nils Økland and keyboardist Sigbjørn Apeland, musical partners for thirty years, have long explored the interface of Norwegian traditional music and improvisation. Glimmer, an exceptionally beautiful and touching album, takes as its starting point Norwegian folk music. Apeland’s collection of pieces from local singers who ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Crossover Jazz
After dedicating past ECM New Series recordings to the works of contemporary composers Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Helena Tulve and most recently Cyrillus Kreek, the Vox Clamantis choir, under the direction of Jaan-Eik Tulve, turns its attention towards Norwegian composer Henrik Ødegaard with a fine-drawn programme of liturgical ...
Composer: Henrik Odegaard (1955)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chant
Jacob Young’s fourth leader-recording for ECM not only presents the guitarist’s first pass at the guitar trio format, but moreover offers a broader view of his compositional pallet, as he, bassist Mats Eilertsen and drummer Audun Kleive explore a wide variety of pulsations, temperaments and styles, all tied together by Jacob’s always melodic ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
The third album from Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry extends its spacious and lyrical approach, with deep listening and intense focus. “Our Daily Bread is fueled by the rhythm spirit of expression that projects the mysterious world of music that lies ahead,” says master saxophonist Lovano in his liner note, addressing his elegantly fluid pieces and ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Dominic Miller wurde von Peter Ruedi in der Weltwoche als "großer, gelassener Erzähler" bezeichnet, und Vagabond, die dritte Aufnahme des Gitarristen für ECM, könnte sich als sein bisher poetischstes Werk erweisen. Auf dem Album erzeugt er gemeinsam mit Ziv Ravitz am Schlagzeug, seinem langjährigen Begleiter Nicolas Fiszman ... #!EN!#> Dominic Miller has been called “a great, serene storyteller” by Peter Ruedi in the Swiss weekly Weltwoche, and Vagabond, the guitarist’s third recording for ECM, might prove his most poetic tale to date. After Dominic’s debut Silent Light (2017), which captured the guitarist in solo performances with occasional percussive ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
The Danish String Quartet bring their highly acclaimed Prism project to its conclusion. In each volume of this series a particular Bach fugue is connected to a late Beethoven quartet which, in turn, is connected to a quartet by a later master: “A beam of music is split through Beethoven’s prism,” in the Danes’ words. ...
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Anton Webern (1883-1945)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
The focus of Zsófia Boros’s third recording for ECM’s New Series is split two-ways, with one spotlight turned towards contemporary compositions from Argentina and the other on the multiple-idioms spanning music of French composer Mathias Duplessy. Fanfare magazine has spoken of the Vienna-based Hungarian guitarist in glowing terms, noting her ...
Composer: Quique Sinesi (1960), Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983), Carlos Moscardini (1959), Joaquin Alem (1975), Mathias Duplessy (1972)
Genre: Guitar
Subgenre: Classical Guitar
The Bobo Stenson Trio’s ability of covering far-reaching idioms and wide-ranging repertoire within the scope of their personal diction has become both hallmark and custom, inspiring the New York Times to say the pianist “makes sublime piano-trio records without over-playing. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
Ralph Alessi’s fourth appearance as a leader for the label follows a singular album run that’s been met with nothing but praise from The New York Times to The Guardian. The latter lauded Ralph’s previous recording Imaginary Friends (2019) for its “elegant balance ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
An ECM artist for his entire musical career, US guitarist Ralph Towner has built up a unique body of work in his recordings for the label. Central to his oeuvre are his solo albums, the first of which, Diary, was issued 50 years ago. At First Light extends this great tradition, ...
Genre: Guitar
Subgenre: Classical Guitar
Harmonious sounding extravagances: In this inspired collaboration with conductor and baroque violinist Stefano Montanari, the masterful Italian reedman Gianluigi Trovesi extends the line of musical enquiry posited on his Prufumo di violetta album. Supported by a cast of players well-versed in the ancient sounds of period instruments and the art of historical performance practice, Trovesi ...
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
This powerful New Series album represents “a résumé and a departure” for Thomas Zehetmair, a summing up of his work with the Royal Northern Sinfonia. In his years as Music Director of the British chamber orchestra, Zehetmair was noted both for bringing compelling new music into the repertoire and for ...
Composer: Bella Bartók (1881-1945), John Casken (1949), Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Orchestral
This “short diary (of loss)”, as drummer Sebastian Rochford calls it, is offered as “a sonic memory, created with love, out of need for comfort.” It is dedicated to Rochford’s father, Aberdeen poet Gerard Rochford, 1932-2019, and to his family. Seb, one of ten siblings, wrote most of the music shortly after Gerard’s death ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
After Mette Henriette’s critically acclaimed, self-titled first recording comes Drifting – an album pervaded by trio conversations of idiosyncratic and original expression. Mette: “Drifting vividly captures a moment in time. I can hear everything still growing – in motion – on the record and how present my imagination is. ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Contemporary Jazz
The creative partnership of bassist Anders Jormin and singer/violinist/violist Lena Willemark has brought forth special music over the last two decades. Near the beginning of their association, first given exposure in 2004 with the album In Winds, In Light, Jormin observed, “How Lena Willemark manages to preserve her local musical ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre: Crossover Jazz
In a continued balancing act of combining inventive contemporary works with traditional classical repertoire on ECM New Series, this time the duo of Italian sisters Gazzana – violinist Natascia and pianist Raffaella – ventures back to the 19. century for impassioned interpretations of Robert Schumann’s sonata op. 105 and Edvard Grieg’s sonata ...
Composer: Tonu Korvits (1969), Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
Once Around the Room: A Tribute to Paul Motian
On Once Around The Room ECM recording artists and key jazz musicians from several generations unite in a small ensemble to celebrate the musical legacy of drum icon Paul Motian in a big way. Joe Lovano and Jakob Bro lead a party of seven through fiery originals that recall the ...
Genre: Jazz
Subgenre:
