Him From February 2015

Jerry Williams Jr. reinvented himself in the late ‘60s as Swamp Dogg, releasing the landmark 1970 album Total Destruction to Your Mind; it introduced the world to a smart, funny artist who wrote poignant, profound songs about the world around him. The man himself considers this set to be that landmark album’s spiritual equal. Whether he’s singing about nuances of race and racism in the title track or on “Prejudice Is Alive and Well,” asking what happened to a soul music superstar on “Where Is Sly,” or working through Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” and a few other covers, this is pure timeless Swamp Dogg–styled R&B, soul, and funk.

All This and World War II is a 1976 musical documentary that juxtaposes Beatles songs, performed by a number of musicians, with World War II newsreel footage and 20th Century Fox films from the 1940s. It lasted two weeks in cinemas and was quickly sent into storage. The original intention of the filmmakers was to use actual Beatles music in the film. The decision to use other artists covering Beatles music was made by the film's producers after they realised additional money could be made through a soundtrack album. The decision was a sound one, as the soundtrack actually generated more revenue than the film. The album reached number 23 on the UK album charts, with a total of seven weeks on the chart.

Though Gefion is Jakob Bro's debut as a leader for ECM, the guitarist is a seasoned veteran in the recording studio. The Danish guitarist has been releasing under his own name for the Loveland label since 2003. He has also recorded on ECM before, first as a member of Paul Motian's band for 2006's Garden of Eden (the great drummer later returned the favor on one of Bro's records), and as part of Tomasz Stanko's group for 2009's Dark Eyes. Bassist Thomas Morgan has played on a couple of the guitarist's recordings over the past six years and appeared on Stanko's 2013 date Wislawa. Jon Christensen, the veteran drummer whose free-floating, whispering restraint has made him iconic, played with Stanko in the latter years of the 20th century.

Gefion, named for the Norse goddess associated with ploughing, prophecy and premonition, is the ECM leader debut of Danish guitarist Jakob Bro. Bro first recorded for ECM with Paul Motian on Garden of Eden in 2004, followed by Tomasz Stanko’s Dark Eyes album of 2009. The guitarist’s feeling for melody, sound-colour and atmosphere served him well in those contexts, as it does here in the realization of his own free floating ballads and drifting, spacious-yet-focused pieces.