Pierre Favre

It's hard to imagine that a group as bottom-heavy as percussionist Pierre Favre's new ensemble could actually sound light and ethereal. But Fleuve does just that. With a septet featuring two basses, tuba/serpent, percussion and, at times, bass clarinet, there's no shortage of warmth and depth. But with guitar, harp and soprano saxophone fleshing out the middle and top end, Fleuve manages to have both weight and an airy ambience that works, in no small part, due to Favre's carefully crafted compositions and the kind of sonic transparency that's long been a defining aspect of the ECM aesthetic.

Singing Drums brings together some of ECM’s most formidable percussionists in this one-off incarnation of the Pierre Favre Ensemble. For this date, Favre welcomes Paul Motian, Fredy Studer, and Nana Vasconcelos into his fold. The results are, while brilliant, likely to be overlooked due to the special interest of its instrumental makeup. Let this not deter anyone, however, from experiencing its wonders. What I love most about this session is that each player’s style is so instantly recognizable. Between the twangy call of Vasconcelos’s berimbau, the crotales of Favre, the delicate cymbals of Studer, and Motian’s earthly patter, we can easily tease out every thread of conversation being woven before us.

Drummer, composer, arranger, and percussionist extraordinaire Pierre Favre returns to ECM as a leader on this 2007 date with his most recent version of the Pierre Favre Ensemble. As one would expect, this group has a deep bottom end with his own drums, the double bass of Banz Oëster, the bass guitarist Wolfgang Zwiauer, and the tuba and serpent playing of Michel Godard. Middle- to high-end instruments are played by guitarist Philipp Schaufelberger, soprano saxophonist and bass clarinetist Frank Kroll, and harpist Hélène Breschand. ~ AllMusic

"What can a flame remember? If it remembers a little less than is necessary, it goes out; if it remembers a little more than necessary, it goes out. If only it could teach us, while it burns, to remember correctly."

—Giorgos Seferis

This previously unreleased concert recording from 1980 presents a special confluence in the development of free jazz as a wholly international language, with trumpeter Don Cherry and his personal evolution at the centre of the music.