John Ecm

Ketil Bjørnstad's passion for the English metaphysical poet John Donne (1572-1631) is a lifelong affair. The Norwegian pianist-composer's settings of Donne's verse have led to recordings including The Shadow, Grace, the ECM album The Light, and now this important disc. "After working with the texts of John Donne for more than twenty years, I still find new approaches to understanding what he wrote and I find music throughout. It is in the language, in the rhythm, in the silence between the sentences - a passionate quest for meaning and reconciliation. Donne's dramatic life is reflected in the texts and everywhere in them you will find the passion, melodies and sounds".

This set is a little different than most ECM releases, because the trio (guitarist John Abercrombie, organist Dan Wall and drummer Adam Nussbaum) performs a couple of fairly straight-ahead standards – "You and the Night and the Music" and "Long Ago and Far Away" – in addition to six originals, including Wall's rhythmic "Bo Diddy." Not sounding at all like a typical soul-jazz organ group, these musicians take more advanced improvisations, with Wall (whose accompaniment of Abercrombie is quite atmospheric) emerging as the top soloist.

Animato is not so much John Abercrombie's date simply because his name is listed first alphabetically. It is much more the music of Vince Mendoza, who composed six of the eight selections, and whose work on synthesizer is the dominant voice on this set of ethereal progressive instrumental music. Drummer Jon Christensen takes no backseat in urging the music forward with a subtle presence that represents a distinct primal and tribal jazz element. What electric guitarist Abercrombie does is link with Mendoza, merging his own synthesized blends of earth, sky and space to create beautiful textures and soundscapes in tandem with Mendoza's conceptual arrangements and expanded color palates.

John Abercrombie's group recordings on ECM have often come in threes. The Third Quartet, his latest featuring violinist Mark Feldman, bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron, is an apt (and obvious) title, but hopefully not a sign that this is the end of this group's winning streak. Since forming in 2000 it's evolved into one of the best—if not the best—groups of the guitarist's long career.

Recorded live at Boston's Nightstage club in 1988 this album found John Abercrombie both pushing sonic boundaries on guitar synthesizer and, on regular jazz guitar, deepening his relationship to the world of standards. In this trio he had exceptional improvisational support from bass and drums.

This 1987 date teams the iconoclastic pianist with guitarist Bill Frisell, drummer Paul Motian, and British saxophonist John Surman. While it's easy to argue that, with Manfred Eicher's icy, crystalline production, this was a stock date for both the artists and the label, that argument would be flat wrong. Bley was looking for a new lyricism in his own playing and in his compositions. He was coming from a different place than the large harmonies offered by augmented and suspended chords and writing for piano trios. The other band members – two other extremely lyrical improvisers in Surman and Frisell.

In short saxophone and church organ duets, John Surman and Howard Moody follow up their previous orchestral project, Proverbs & Songs from 1998, with this series of improvisations that track through occasional traditional themes, as well as new compositions that have older values and motifs in mind. Surman is his usual brilliant and staunchly individual self, whether playing his trusty baritone sax, bass clarinet, or at times, soprano, while Moody's keyboards provide more of a foundation rather than being on equal footing. Recorded in Oslo, Norway, moods from joyous and active to introspective or pensive are dotted throughout this program that seems like a musical biopic through the life of virtually anyone…

In short saxophone and church organ duets, John Surman and Howard Moody follow up their previous orchestral project, Proverbs & Songs from 1998, with this series of improvisations that track through occasional traditional themes, as well as new compositions that have older values and motifs in mind. Surman is his usual brilliant and staunchly individual self, whether playing his trusty baritone sax, bass clarinet, or at times, soprano, while Moody's keyboards provide more of a foundation rather than being on equal footing. Recorded in Oslo, Norway, moods from joyous and active to introspective or pensive are dotted throughout this program that seems like a musical biopic through the life of virtually anyone…

This 1993 recording of John Abercrombie's trio with a guest appearance by British saxophone giant and composer John Surman is, without question, a trademark ECM session. There's the spacious, pristine, icy production by label boss Manfred Eicher from his studio in Oslo. Next, all the players are ECM staples with the exception of Erskine, who plays everything from pop jazz to classical music. But there are many things that distinguish it as well. For one, Surman is playing here with a fire not heard since the early '70s. Whether he is blowing a baritone or soprano saxophone or his bass clarinet, he's cutting loose. There are long, looping lines that quote everyone from John Carter to Jim Pepper to Eric Dolphy and Ben Webster. His willingness to seek out the heart of dissonance inspires his bandmates, particularly on "The Cat's Back."

John Surman (on baritone, soprano, bass clarinet and synthesizer) meets up with drummer Jack DeJohnette (who also plays congas and electric piano) for this typically introspective and spacy ECM set. Surman's playing (especially on baritone and bass clarinet) during nine group originals is worth hearing.