Search Results for: ECM

ECM Records All-Star Night :: The Village Gate, New York City, January 1976

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The most beautiful sound next to silence comes to NYC. This “all-star night” of ECM-related performers is a delight, with some unique performances and collabs. Manfred Eicher’s esteemed label had been around since the late 1960s, but Keith Jarrett’s blockbuster surprise, The Koln Concert, brought ECM closer to the mainstream in 1975. Jarrett wasn’t there for this evening’s celebration, but the All-Stars shine bright without him.

Pat Metheny Group (ECM, 1978)

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Guitarist Pat Metheny recently described music as a “carrot”, “I am still figuring out what the stick is,” he concluded to Ross Simonini in The Believer. That idea of constant investigation permeates Metheny’s nearly 50 year music career as well as his first s/t LP with his Pat Metheny Group.

John Surman :: Upon Reflection (ECM)

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Here’s something to get lost in, the hypnotic world of British reedman John Surman, courtesy of his 1979 ECM effort, Upon Reflection. Recorded in Oslo, with production helmed by Manfred Eicher, the recording finds Surman in widescreen form experimenting with sequencers and synthesizers in addition to his duties working bass clarinet and baritone/soprano saxophone.

Keith Jarrett: No End, Newness and the Power of the Low-Key Jam

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Keith Jarrett didn’t have to make a rock album filled with noodly guitar and muted boogie. But he did, and in its unusually obvious imperfections, eccentric choices and rambling longueurs, it shows the famously demanding pianist at his most mercurial and relaxed. In his perpetual hunt for wells of inspiration and rivers of feeling, Jarrett’s curious detour still leads to some fascinating backwaters and rewarding reservoirs.

The Telepathy Is Evident :: Nels Cline on Consentrik Quartet & His Old CD Wallet

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With his fourth album for Blue Note Records, guitarist Nels Cline introduces the Consentrik Quartet: Cline on guitar with saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, bassist Chris Lightcap, and drummer Tom Rainey on drums. Gathering noir-ish soundscapes, agile jams, and what Cline dubs “abstract and floaty ballads,” Consentrik Quartet bristles with energetic currents. He joins us to discuss forming Concentrik Quartet, the influence of Jimmy Giuffre and Paul Bley, the unpredictability of Wilco, and the contents of his old CD wallet.

Takuro Okada :: The Near End, the Dark Night, the County Line

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The stateside debut of a versatile Japanese guitarist focuses on mostly solo work, largely recorded at home over a period of years. Encompassing ambient ECM mellowness, electronic urgency and tangy noir, The Near End, the Dark Night, the County Line shows us an eclectic musician stubbornly chasing tranquility and always restlessly on the move.

Jan Erik Vold & Jan Garbarek :: Hav (1971)

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In 1969 Norwegian poet Jan Erik Vold teamed up with compatriot and a young tenor saxophonist Jan Garbarek who would provide the musical backdrop to his debut poetry record Briskeby Blues. A fantastic record in its own right, but notable here for laying the groundwork for its successor – Hav, in 1971. By this point Jan Garbarek had also released his own debut album in The Esoteric Circle and had just recorded his masterpiece Afric Pepperbird towards the end of 1970.

Total Blue :: S/T

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The Los Angeles-based trio of Nicky Benedek, Alex Talan, and Anthony Calonico have been making music together in various configurations for well over a decade. Their newest project, the outstanding Total Blue, takes the ingredients of smooth jazz and world fusion–fretless bass, muted horns, piles of synthesizers, global rhythms–and vaporizes them into a shimmering mist. The result is one of the most alluring things to come out of LA’s adventurous post-jazz scene.

Jakob Bro :: Taking Turns

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Recorded in 2014 but somehow only released late last year, this multi-generational session delivers ensemble playing and collective improvisation at an extraordinarily high level. Danish guitarist Jakob Bro is joined on Taking Turns by a murderer’s row of talents — Lee Konitz (alto/soprano sax), Andrew Cyrille (drums), Bill Frisell (guitar), Jason Moran (piano) and Thomas Morgan (double bass) — for seven marvelously moody pieces.