Jimmy Giuffre 3 Graz Live 1961

In the winter of 2012/13, the Haus der Kunst in Munich – one of Europe’s most important museums for contemporary art – hosted the exhibition ECM – A Cultural Archaeology. The goal of curators Okwui Enwezor and Markus Müller was to show the range of the label’s artistic endeavours in music, graphic art, and photography and its creative interchanges with film, theatre and literature. For this exhibition, Manfred Eicher and Steve Lake created this box-set accentuating directions in ECM's rich musical history. Many themes and streams are touched upon here including the range of composition in the New Series, music for and from films, imaginative historical reconstructions, trans-cultural music, ambient minimalism, and jazz and improvisation of many hues, in a collection with a playing time of more than seven hours.

The title of this set by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond refers to his having placed first once again in the alto chair in the Downbeat poll. Released in 1960, First Place Again is the result of an unexpected gathering of the rhythm section of the Modern Jazz Quartet: Percy Heath and Connie Kay, and Jimmy Giuffre 3 guitarist Jim Hall. The four musicians were all unexpectedly at home in New York and took full advantage of cheap, after-hours recording studio time to play out this set of standards and a pair of newer tunes, John Lewis' great blues, "Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West," and "East of the Sun (and West Of The Moon)," from a Princeton University theater work…

Three sessions taken from different periods are included, featuring different versions of the Lighthouse All-Stars. Howard Rumsey's group is heard on their second earliest session (their first was made for the tiny Skylark label), which was also their debut for Contemporary. The band at the time consisted of trumpeter Shorty Rogers, trombonist Milt Bernhart, Jimmy Giuffre and Bob Cooper on tenors, pianist Frank Patchen, bassist/leader Rumsey, and drummer Shelly Manne. In addition to cool jazz numbers, they perform the satirical R&B romp "Big Girl" and (with Carlos Vidal on conga) the rhythmic "Viva Zapata." In addition, the 1953 version of the band (with trumpeter Rolf Ericson, altoist Herb Geller, Cooper, Bud Shank on baritone, pianist Claude Williamson, drummer Max Roach, and Rumsey) has a couple of straight-ahead numbers and a couple of Latin ones…

The title of this set by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond refers to his having placed first once again in the alto chair in the Downbeat poll. Released in 1959, First Place Again is the result of an unexpected gathering of the rhythm section of the Modern Jazz Quartet: Percy Heath and Connie Kay, and Jimmy Giuffre 3 guitarist Jim Hall. The four musicians were all unexpectedly at home in New York and took full advantage of cheap, after-hours recording studio time to play out this set of standards and a pair of newer tunes, John Lewis' great blues, "Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West," and "East of the Sun (and West Of The Moon)," from a Princeton University theater work…