Ecm Selected

Over these past 30 years of recording for ECM, I've had the wonderful opportunity to record with musicians from all over the globe; not just American jazz players. It's opened me, as well as the listeners, to a wealth of music and musicians that might not ever have been heard otherwise. Manfred's vision, dedication, and integrity should be applauded, and valued, and I look forward to 30 more years of working with him. God only knows what shape my hair will be in by then! ~ John Abercrombie

Bill Frisell has made 14 sideman appearances on ECM but only three records as a leader on the label. His Rarum collection spans the 1980s, highlighting his earlier years. Paul Motian figures prominently in this story, as leader, composer, and sideman; "Mandeville," the leadoff track, is from 1981's Psalm, featuring Motian and Frisell with Joe Lovano, Billy Drewes, and Ed Schuller. Two more Motian tracks follow, then Jan Garbarek's "Singsong," which finds Frisell wailing. Tracks five through 11 feature Frisell as leader and composer: First there's the title cut from his 1982 debut, In Line, a multi-tracked acoustic piece, then three selections from Rambler and three more from Lookout for Hope.

The Rarum series on the ECM label is unique in that it issues "best-of" compilations picked by the artists themselves. While this can be a double-edged sword (oftentimes what an artist and his or her own fans enjoy are two different things), in this case it turns out to be a blessing. Metheny is obviously a fine judge of his own work, both from artistic and popular points of view. The selections are accompanied by an album-by-album overview by Metheny in the liner notes.

Vibraphone innovator Gary Burton recorded a wealth of material for ECM during his 15 year tenure with the label. His anthology highlights the exceptional groups he led in the 1970s and 1980s. Burton’s quartets, quintets, and sextets introduced many remarkable players to a wider public, and these selections feature inspired performances by Pat Metheny, Mick Goodrick, Steve Swallow, Eberhard Weber, Bob Moses, Makoto Ozone and more. “We toured up to two hundred days a year,” Burton recalls. “The recordings we made were snapshots of the evolution of my working bands during this highly productive period.”

Arvo Pärt - Musica Selecta (2015) {2CD ECM New Series 2454/55}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 491 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 338 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 29 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 ECM Records | ECM New Series 2454/55 / 481 1905
Classical / Avant-Garde / Choral / Orchestral / Modern Composition / Miscellaneous (Classical)

As the title and subtitle imply, this is a kind of greatest-hits album, with music selected by ECM label producer Manfred Eicher from the 12 albums on the label devoted to the music of Arvo Pärt. Pärt's music is so malleable that people tend to make their own versions of it rather than collect it, but if you wanted an anthology as a starter box, this would be the one to choose. Eicher has worked closely with Pärt since the 1980s, and he has indeed made a sensible "sequence" out of works that do not have a lot of contrast among them.

Cellist David Darling, best known at the time for his long stint with Paul Winter's Consort, mostly performs spacy ballads on this ECM release. Teamed up in different combinations (three unaccompanied solos, a duet, two trios and a quintet number) with Collin Walcott (who doubles on sitar and tabla), pianist Steve Kuhn, Jan Garbarek (on tenor and soprano), acoustic guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves and bassist Arild Andersen, Darling and his sidemen give the music a wide variety of sounds. However, the sleepy mood is very much in the stereotypical ECM mold, making this set mostly of interest for selected tastes.

For Crystal Silence, the first of several partnerships between Chick Corea and vibraphonist Gary Burton in the 1970s, the two musicians selected an interesting array of material. The compositions on this record are all modern ones, either by Steve Swallow, Mike Gibbs, or Corea himself. It is a mostly down-tempo affair, which allows each player to stretch out and play highly melodic solos over the often difficult changes. In keeping with most ECM releases, there is a distinct presence of European elements to the improvisations. There are few overt blues or bebop phrases, Corea and Burton opting instead for modern melodies to fuel their improvisations. Burton has managed to internalize the Spanish and modal implications of Corea's tunes with little difficulty, and solos with joyful ease through such tracks as "Seсor Mouse."

About Dario Castello and Giovanni Battista Fontana, two Italian composers from the turn of the 17th century, musical scholarship hasn’t much to tell us. We know as little about Castello, who was leading an ensemble at St. Mark’s around 1629, as we do about the exact birth and death dates of Fontana, who came from Brescia and probably perished during the 1630 outbreak of plague in Padua. Yet there are a number of surviving works by both men that reveal them to have been remarkable composers for the violin. Two books by Castello of sonate concertate in one to four parts, in stil moderno with continuo, were printed during the composer’s lifetime. In his new recording violinist John Holloway has selected a number of sonatas from this collection to couple with similar works by Fontana, some originally for violin as well as some conceived for other string or wind instruments.

Jack DeJohnette - Rarum, Vol. 12: Selected Recordings
FLAC | Covers | 350MB

This single-disc collection of eight tracks selected by drummer and composer Jack DeJohnette form his ECM recordings as a leader and sideman must have been difficult to select, at the very least. DeJohnette's own recordings have covered so much ground, and featured so many of jazz's most illustrious players, that choosing even a representative sample is almost impossible. Yet a single disc is what you have. DeJohnette made his selections like a poet, ranging far and wide over his catalog, beginning with "Third World Anthem" from his 1984 Special Edition LP, and then jumping clear to 1997, with the beautiful "Jack In," before shooting back again with "Feebles, Fables and Ferns," to his participation on guitarist Mick Goodrick's In Pas(s)ing album. Thankfully, the glorious "How's Never," from the Gateway debut is here, as are two selections from Pictures. DeJohnette explains very eloquently his reasons for his picks in the liner notes, making this a one-of-a-kind package. Rarum, album for album, is really a fine series of recordings.

~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide