Ecm 1285

Three CD box set of Chick Corea’s piano music, reminding us that the distinguished solo piano tradition at ECM started in 1971 with Corea’s spontaneously-recorded volumes of improvisations and jazz tunes (all by Chick save for Monk’s “Trinkle, Tinkle” and Wayne Shorter’s “Masqualero”). The “Children’s Songs”, recorded in 1983, are finely-honed yet playful solo piano miniatures that can be related to the tradition of Bartók’s “Mikrokosmos” and Kurtág’s “Játékok”. Violinist Ida Kavafian and cellist Fred Sherry join Chick for an “Addendum”. Booklet includes liner notes by Chick Corea and Neil Tesser, plus archive photos.

John Abercrombie - Timeless (1975) {ECM 1047}
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© 1975 ECM Records | ECM 1047
Jazz / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz / Fusion / Guitar

Guitarist John Abercrombie's first in a long line of recordings for ECM was also his debut as a leader. Teamed up with Jan Hammer (who here plays organ, synthesizer, and piano) and drummer Jack DeJohnette, Abercrombie plays four of his originals, plus two by Hammer. These performances differ from many of the guitarist's later ECM dates in that Hammer injects a strong dose of fusion into the music, and there is plenty of spirited interplay between those two with fine support by DeJohnette. Thought-provoking and occasionally exciting music that generally defies categorization.

Formed in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1972 and named after Coltrane’s darkly convulsive album, the members of OM were initially inspired as much by the rock of Jimi Hendrix as by the new developments taking place in improvisation. “Electric jazz – free music” was their rallying cry, and they played it loudly. All in their early 20s when the group was launched, the members of OM achieved an early success at the Montreux Festival in 1974 which helped to put them on the map, and brought them to the attention of ECM. Four albums were recorded for ECM’s sister label Japo, between 1975 and 1980: “Kirikuki”, “Rautionaha”, “Om with Dom um Ramao” and “Cerberus”.

Charles Lloyd - Rabo De Nube (2008) {ECM 2053}
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© 2008 ECM Records | ECM 2053
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Saxophone

Since returning to music in 1989 Charles Lloyd has made 13 recordings for ECM. They constitute one of the most important bodies of work in jazz of the last two decades. The newest, Rabo De Nube, is Lloyd’s first live quartet recording for ECM, his first album with Jason Moran, and one of his finest achievements. Lloyd’s ensembles have always included very strong pianists like Keith Jarrett, Michel Petrucciani, Bobo Stenson and Brad Mehldau. None have been as creatively volatile as Moran, whose percussive densities might seem incompatible with Lloyd’s fluid, often tender tenor saxophone. But Lloyd makes Moran more lyrical, and Moran makes Lloyd wilder.

Keller Quartett - Ligeti String Quartets & Barber Adagio (2013) {ECM New Series}
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© 2013 ECM New Series | ECM 2197
Classical / Chamber Music

György Ligeti was a member in good standing of the musical avant-garde of the mid-20th century, while Samuel Barber was, at the same time, one of the most prominent neo-Romantic composers. They would seem to be an odd couple on this 2013 release on ECM New Series, for Ligeti's two string quartets and Barber's Molto adagio from the String Quartet No. 2 (known in various arrangements as "Barber's Adagio") appear to come from opposing camps, if not different worlds.

Victor Kissine - Between Two Waves (2013) {ECM}
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© 2013 ECM New Series | 2312
Classical / Chamber Music

Following on from Victor Kissine’s luminous orchestration of Schubert’s String Quartet in G Major (ECM 1883) and his own “Zerkalo” with Kremer and friends (ECM 2202), here is the first ECM album devoted entirely to the compositions of the composer from St. Petersburg. The flavour of the sea pervades the three recent compositions heard here, variously inspired by the poetry of Mandelstam and Brodsky: the concerto for piano and string orchestra “Between Two Waves”, the Duo (After Osip Mandelstam) for viola and violoncello, and “Barcarola” for violin, string orchestra and percussion. All three pieces are dedicated to the collaborating players – Gidon Kremer and the musicians of Kremerata Baltica.

Specially priced limited edition anthology with selected tracks from ECM releases of 2000. As with "Selected Signs I" (1997), the album, assembled by producer Manfred Eicher, creates its own atmosphere and reveals a suite-like logic and continuity.

Keith Jarrett - In The Light (1974) {2CD Set, ECM 1033/34 rel 2000}
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© 1974, 2000 ECM Records | ECM 1033/34 / 835 011-2
Classical / Jazz / Modern Creative / Piano / Harpsichord

Even before his solo concerts became popular successes, Keith Jarrett was clearly getting a free hand from ECM founder Manfred Eicher, as this ambitious double album of classical compositions proves. In this compendium of eight works for all kinds of ensembles, the then-28-year old Jarrett adamantly refuses to be classified, flitting back and forth through the centuries from the baroque to contemporary dissonance, from exuberant counterpoint for brass quintet to homophonic writing for a string section.

Saxophonist/clarinetist and composer Louis Sclavis has displayed a relentless pursuit of the unknown in his recordings for ECM in particular and in his long career in general. Take L'Imparfait des Langues, for instance, his 2007 outing for ECM. While he's never used two bands that were exactly the same on his recordings for the label, this one is easily his most adventurous. The only remaining member of his past ensembles is drummer par excellence Francois Merville. The other bandmembers – alto saxophonist Marc Baron; keyboardist, guitarist, and electronician Paul Brousseau; and guitarist Maxime Delpierre – are all younger musicians who have very diverse musical backgrounds.

Paul Bley, Evan Parker, Barre Phillips - Sankt Gerold Variations (2000) {ECM 1609}
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© 2000 ECM Records | ECM 1609
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Microtonal / Piano

ECM brought this trio of innovative free jazz veterans together for the first time to make the critically-acclaimed "Time Will Tell" album in 1994 - since then, it has become a popular institution on the touring circuit. "Sankt Gerold" is a live album, taped at the Austrian mountain monastery that has been the site of many distinguished ECM recordings, and it roves through many different moods. Parker and Phillips goad Bley toward some of his most abstract and experimental playing, yet they also respond to his more lyrical improvisational impulses. All three musicians are changed by the context. This is free music making at its purest.