Ecm 1285

Ralph Alessi - Baida (2013) {ECM}
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© 2013 ECM Records | ECM 2321
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Trumpet

There are magic moments when an artist can be said to have well and truly “arrived.” For Ralph Alessi, the release of Baida – his ECM debut as a bandleader – is just such a moment, despite his already extensive resume. Among those in the know, Alessi is renowned as a musician’s musician, a first-call New York trumpeter who can play virtually anything on sight and has excelled as an improviser in groups led by Steve Coleman, Uri Caine, Ravi Coltrane, Fred Hersch and Don Byron, as well as leading his own bands.

Anouar Brahem - Khomsa (1995) {ECM 1561}
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© 1995 ECM Records | ECM 1561 / 527 093-2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Avant-Garde Music / Middle Eastern Traditions / Oud

Anouar Brahem’s third leader date for ECM explores the oud player’s incidental music for Tunisian film and theatre as interpreted by a shifting nexus of musicians, new and old alike. His compositional side takes precedence this time around, for it is accordionist Richard Galliano who lights the foreground with “Comme un depart” and hardly recedes until “Des rayons et des ombres,” the latter a superbly jazzy romp with Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen. Bassist and drummer, respectively, add buoyancy to “E la nave va” and “Aïn ghazel,” culminating in the shadow of Jean-Marc Larché’s soprano for the title track.

Stephan Micus - Inland Sea (2017) {ECM 2569} (Complete Artwork)
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© 2017 ECM Records | ECM 2569
Folk / World Music / Experimental / Spiritual

Inland Sea is Stephan Micus’ 22nd solo album for ECM, each one taking his audience on musical journeys to far-flung places and unique sound worlds. For decades, he has been travelling, collecting and studying musical instruments from all over the world and creating new music for them. Micus often combines instruments from different cultures and continents that would never normally be played together, adapting and extending them, and rarely playing them in a traditional manner. The instruments then become a cast of characters that help tell the particular story of that album. While he plays nine different instruments on Inland Sea, the lead role belongs to the nyckelharpa – a keyed fiddle from Sweden, with an array of other instruments and vocals providing layers and textures throughout.

Danish String Quartet - Thomas Adès, Per Norgård, Hans Abrahamsen (2016) {ECM New Series 2453}
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© 2016 ECM Records | ECM New Series 2453
Classical / Chamber Music

The Danish String Quartet has had some wildly original programming ideas; here they settle for just a well-thought-out set of contemporary pieces. All three of these string quartets are early works by composers who have since gone on to renown; at the time of the album's 2016 release, Hans Abrahamsen was gaining lots of attention from well beyond his native Denmark.

Nils Okland - Monograph (2009) {ECM 2069}
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© 2009 ECM Records | ECM 2069
Jazz / Nordic Folk / Contemporary Jazz / Chamber Jazz / Fringes of Jazz

First ECM solo album from the Norwegian violinist who has gained many friends for his work with the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble. Økland’s solo music is strongly inspired by the rich Norwegian fiddle tradition and its freedom, variation and individuality, yet what he plays is not purely ‘folk music’ rather a reinvention of folk forms, with free improvisation and contemporary composition also powerful influences. The ‘personality’ of the instruments themselves is also an inspiration: on “Monograph” Økland makes the most of the ‘drone’ qualities of the viola d’amore and the Hardanger fiddle (he plays both old and modern models) as well as an old violin from 1700, in a recital of subtle and melodic invention.

Dave Holland - Extended Play: Live at Birdland (2003) {2CD Set ECM 1864-65}
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© 2003 ECM Records | ECM 1864-65
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Creative / Double Bass

Shockingly, Extended Play is Dave Holland's first live album for ECM, a label he has been associated with for 30 years! Holland's standing quintet – featuring trombonist Robin Eubanks, saxophonist Chris Potter, drummer Billy Kilson, and vibes and marimba virtuoso Steve Nelson – are, according to today's jazz standards, a veteran ensemble. On this Birdland date from 2001, they offer ample evidence as to why they are one of the most highly regarded ensembles in the music today. The material on this double-disc collection is, predictably enough, mostly taken from the band's studio releases. But that's where predictability ends.

Eberhard Weber - Encore (2015) {ECM 2439}
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© 2015 ECM Records | ECM 2439
Jazz / Post Bop / Chamber Jazz / Fusion / Bass

Encore is a companion volume to Résumé the widely-praised solo album issued in 2011. Eberhard Weber returns once more to the many live recordings of his tenure with the Jan Garbarek Group, isolating his bass solos and reworking them into new pieces with the addition of his own keyboard parts. “I became what you might call a composer of New Music,” says Weber, “with the proviso that I make use of old things.”This season’s special guest is veteran Dutch flugelhorn player Ack van Rooyen.

Glauco Venier - Miniatures - Music For Piano And Percussion (2016) {ECM 2385}
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© 2016 ECM Records | ECM 2385
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Creative / Piano

The fifteen ‘miniatures’ of this modestly-titled recording include new music vignettes, composed and improvised, by Italian pianist Glauco Venier. This is Venier’s first solo album for ECM, following three albums with Norma Winstone and Klaus Gesing. Miniatures is a quiet and thoughtful disc, in which solo piano is augmented by subtle, discreet percussion. In addition to his primary instrument, Glauco plays gongs, cymbals and bells, the lightly-struck metals creating an attractive ambience, at times like wind-chimes in the breeze. Miniatures was recorded at Lugano’s RSI studio and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Nicolas Gombert - Missa Media Vita In Morte Sumus - The Hilliard Ensemble (2006) {ECM New Series 1884}
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© 2006 ECM Records | ECM New Series 1884
Classical / Renaissance / Choral

The music of Flemish composer Nicolas Gombert (accent it like "Dilbert"), active in the first generation after Josquin in the 1530s and 1540s, has remained almost completely untouched by the growth in audience enthusiasm for Renaissance music in recent years. Is this because, according to one of those music-historical sidelights reproduced in the notes here, Gombert was once fired from a job for committing "gross indecency" with a choirboy? More likely it's the relatively unchanging texture of his unaccompanied choral music; although it is far from inexpressive, it is quite dense. His language is derived from that of his mentor Josquin, but there are no high-relief points of imitation to grab onto, no moments of lucidity. It's sort of a Renaissance wall of sound, dark-colored, but with flashes of intense red and blue.

Ben Monder - Amorphae (2015) {ECM 2421}
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© 2015 ECM Records | ECM 2421 / 471 9555
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Guitar Jazz

Guitarist Ben Monder first recorded for ECM as a member of the Paul Motian Band on “Garden of Eden” in 2004, and Amorphae was originally conceived as a series of duets for Ben and Paul. A first exploratory duo session was recorded in 2010. After Motian’s death the following year it was decided to expand and complete the project with another highly influential and innovative drummer, Andrew Cyrille, adding also Pete Rende on synthesizer on two pieces.