++ NEW RELEASE ++
“Words Unspoken” the new album by John Surman and his quartet with Thomas Strønen, Rob Luft and Rob Waring is out today: https://ECM.lnk.to/WordsUnspoken
The quartet will play concerts in the coming months:
17 April: G-Live Lab Helsinki, FINLAND
18 April: G-Live Lab, Tampere, FINLAND
7 May: Maijazz, Stavanger, NORWAY
More dates tba.
“ECM is setting the bar high with this reissue series. Jazz at its highest level of creation” - Jazzwise
ECM’s audiophile vinyl-reissue series will continue its trajectory in March 2024, with the release of the title-lending Jan Garbarek recording of Keith Jarrett compositions for string orchestra and saxophone – Luminessence – from 1975.
Pre-order here: https://ECM.lnk.to/Luminessence_LP
++ NEW ON VINYL ++
++ NEW ON VINYL ++
Keith Jarrett’s interpretation of ‘Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Württemberg Sonatas’ is available on CD and digitally. The 2-LP Tip-On Gatefold vinyl edition will be released in February.
https://ECM.lnk.to/CarlPhilippEmanuelBach_LPFP
“Words Unspoken”
“Words Unspoken” the new album by John Surman and his quartet with Thomas Pohlitz Strønen, Rob Luft and Rob Waring. Will be released on 16 February. Pre-order and listen here: https://ECM.lnk.to/WordsUnspoken
The album title alludes to the instant musical understanding found by the members of this nimble quartet assembled by great British reedman John Surman. „My idea was to put together some musical ideas that would offer a collective sense of purpose but still be open enough to allow each of us to suggest other ways of developing the material together. Everything fell into place immediately. But I soon realized it wasn‘t so much the musical ideas that made it work, it was the musicians.” Surman and US vibraharpist Rob Waring – both residents of Oslo – had previously collaborated in John’s Invisible Threads trio with Nelson Ayres, but the associations with Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen and UK guitarist Rob Luft were new. With these four quick-witted players, all debate takes place in the music, stimulated by Surman’s strongly melodic themes and improvisational imagination.
** NEW RELEASE **
‚Compassion‘ , the new album by Vijay Iyer and his trio with Linda May Han Oh on double bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums is now available on CD, 2-LP and digital: https://ECM.lnk.to/Compassion
“[Compassion] revels in dynamics that are calibrated with great care and, at times, achieve startling force” – Wall Street Journal
++ NEW RELEASE ++
The Blue Land‘ – The new quartet album by Matthieu Bordenave with pianist Florian Weber, bassist Patrice Moret and drummer James Maddren is now available on CD and digital:
https://ECM.lnk.to/TheBlueLand (Vinyl coming soon)
Vijay Iyer - Compassion (new album: 02.02.)
++ NEW ALBUM : 02 February ++
'Compassion' the new album by Vijay Iyer and his trio featuring bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey will be released on CD, 2-LP and digital on 02 February.
Pre-order now and listen here: https://ECM.lnk.to/Compassion
The New York Times captured the special qualities of this group, pointing to the trio’s flair for playing “with a lithe range of motion and resplendent clarity… while stoking a kind of writhing internal tension. Crucial to that balance is their ability to connect with each other almost telepathically.” Compassion, Iyer’s eighth release as a leader for ECM, continues his drive to explore fresh territory while also referencing his forebears along the way, two of them long associated with the label. The album includes a powerful interpretation of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed,” which Iyer selected as an indirect homage to the late Chick Corea. Another tip of the hat comes with “Nonaah,” a whirlwind of a piece by avant-garde sage Roscoe Mitchell, a key mentor for the pianist. Then there are Iyer’s own melodically alluring, rhythmically invigorating compositions, ranging from the pensive title track to the hook-laced highlights “Tempest” and “Ghostrumental.”
++ NOW ON VINYL ++
The Vinyl LP of ‚Zartir‘ by Levon Eskenian Gurdjieff Ensemble is out today!
Get your copy here: https://ECM.lnk.to/Zartir
++ NEW RELEASE ++
On SONGS OF FATE, Gidon Kremer approaches scores by Baltic composers Raminta Šerkšnytė, Giedrius Kuprevičius, Jēkabs Jančevskis and the Polish-Jewish composer Mieczysław Weinberg together with his Kremerata Baltica chamber ensemble and soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė.
CD and digital album are now available. Order and listen here: https://ECM.lnk.to/SongsOfFate
Nitai Hershkovits - Call on the old wise (NOW ON VINYL)
++ NOW ON VINYL ++
The Vinyl LP of Nitai Hershkovits ’s solo album ‘Call on the old wise’ is out today!
Get your copy here: https://ECM.lnk.to/CallOnTheOldWise
On 1. March, Afric Pepperbird, the album that signalled the arrival of four Norwegian improvisers – Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen – at the fledgling ECM label will be released as part of the LUMINESSENCE series.
Pre-Order now: https://ECM.lnk.to/AfricPepperbird_LP
The new vinyl edition comes in a tip-on gatefold sleeve with unreleased photos from the archive.
Recorded in Oslo in September 1970, Afric Pepperbird was released on New Year’s Day in 1971. Half a century later, it still conveys the freshness and excitement of discoveries being made. It was the start of a lifelong association with each of the musicians, whose influence was soon to reach far beyond the borders of their homeland. In extended passages on Afric Pepperbird, with Christensen and Andersen stretching out, it’s quite often Rypdal effectively holding the centre with taut chords. Everybody is roaring here, with Garbarek deep into his free jazz vocabulary. “Garbarek should be heard,” wrote reviewer Joe Klee in DownBeat. “I would venture that not since Django Reinhardt has there been a European jazz musician so original and forward-looking as this young Norwegian.”
++ NEW ALBUM COMING SOON ++
'Compassion' the new album by Vijay Iyer and his trio featuring bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey will be released on CD, 2-LP and digital on 02 February 2024.
Pre-Order now and listen to the new track ‘Compassion’ here: https://ECM.lnk.to/Compassion
The New York Times captured the special qualities of this group, pointing to the trio’s flair for playing “with a lithe range of motion and resplendent clarity… while stoking a kind of writhing internal tension. Crucial to that balance is their ability to connect with each other almost telepathically.” Compassion, Iyer’s eighth release as a leader for ECM, continues his drive to explore fresh territory while also referencing his forebears along the way, two of them long associated with the label. The album includes a powerful interpretation of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed,” which Iyer selected as an indirect homage to the late Chick Corea. Another tip of the hat comes with “Nonaah,” a whirlwind of a piece by avant-garde sage Roscoe Mitchell, a key mentor for the pianist. Then there are Iyer’s own melodically alluring, rhythmically invigorating compositions, ranging from the pensive title track to the hook-laced highlights “Tempest” and “Ghostrumental.”
ARVO PÄRT - TRACTUS
ARVO PÄRT - TRACTUS is available on CD, download and streaming: https://ECM.lnk.to/Tractus
'Tractus' emphasizes Arvo Pärt compositions that blend the timbres of choir and string orchestra. New versions predominate, with focused performances from the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under Tõnu Kaljuste’s direction that invite alert and concentrated listening.
Arvo Pärdi Keskus / Arvo Pärt Centre
Dance Of The Elders by Wolfgang Muthspiel
'Dance Of The Elders' by Wolfgang Muthspiel with Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums is available on CD, VINYL and digital platforms.
https://ecm.lnk.to/DanceOfTheElders
Dance of the Elders is the group’s follow-up up to the much lauded Angular Blues, which The Times called a “quietly impressive album”. Here Wolfgang’s successful stride continues, with his unique compositional signature on the one hand and the particularly vibrant interchanges with his trio colleagues on the other. The guitarist’s writing and approach to jazz is heavily folk-induced but equally inspired by classical music – both aspects are presented clearly throughout the album. Brian’s floating percussive injections and Scott’s nimble counterpoint on bass complement Wolfgang’s acoustic and electric playing in fluid interplay over intricate polyrhythms and adventurous harmonic landscapes.
Sinikka Langeland - 'Wind And Sun'
Sinikka Langeland - 'Wind And Sun' is available on CD and digital: https://ECM.lnk.to/WindAndSun
Sinikka Langeland: vocal, kantele
Mathias Eick - Official: trumpet
Trygve Seim: tenor and soprano saxophones
Mats Eilertsen: double bass
Thomas Strønen: drums
“Being in a room with Sinikka Langeland is like being charmed into a northern forest under a night sky”, wrote Fiona Talkington in Songlines. “Her presence and her voice are magical, but when she plays her kantele you can almost feel nature itself quivering with joy.”
The expressive arc of Sinikka’s music extends from the archaic to the experimental. Rooted in folk forms but wide-open in its perspectives it demands – and on Wind and Sun gets – particularly resourceful interpreters. Langeland’s new group isan optimum assembly of Norwegian musicians, each of them an ECM bandleader in his own right, all of them contributing ideas to the ongoing musical conversation – and, as Sinikka says, “taking things further in their incredible improvised solos.” For her song texts this time, Sinikka turns to the writings of poet and novelist Jon Fosse, one of Norway’s most important contemporary authors. Fosse has described the process of writing as “an act of listening” and wrestles with questions of faith in his work in a way that resonates with Sinikka’s fascination with “natural mysticism”. Wind and Sun, Sinikka Langeland’s seventh ECM album, was recorded at Oslo’s Rainbow Studio in September 2022 and mixed at Munich’s Bavaria Tonstudio in March 2023.
Once Around The Room
Once Around The Room – the highly acclaimed septet album led by Joe Lovano and Jakob Bro is available on VINYL, CD and digital: https://ECM.lnk.to/OnceAroundTheRoomFP
“Once Around the Room” is a variously raw and delicate balance of collective improvisation, quirky themes and haunting harmonies recorded by an A-list septet.” - John Fordham, Theguardian
“A tribute to an extraordinary musician calls for an extraordinary line-up”
Chris Pearson, The New York Times
“the group plays orchestrally, listening to andcomplimenting each other, even as they stay true to Motian’s concept of boundaryless post bop.”
Michael Toland, Big Takeover Magazine
Elina Duni - ‘A Time To Remember’
Elina Duni ‘A Time To Remember’ is out on CD, download and streaming: https://ecm.lnk.to/ATimeToRemember
‘A Time To Remember’ is a continuation of the special synergy that inhabited Elina Duni’s acclaimed ‘Lost Ships’ and finds her regrouping with that album’s quartet of guitarist Rob Luft, Matthieu Michel on flugelhorn and Fred Thomas Music on percussion and piano. As the title suggests, the notion of ‘time’ pulls through the programme like a theme, connecting music from different parts of the world – traditionals, popular songs and original compositions – in performances of deep lyricism but also fleet-footed folklore. The repertory spans Albanian and Kosovan traditionals, American songs like the Broadway classic “I’ll Be Seeing You” and Stephen Sondheim’s musical ballad “Send In The Clowns” as well as originals by Rob and Elina. Commenting on the group’s last effort, Jazzwise said that “the sum of Duni and Luft’s work together seems greater than their individual achievements, where concept and conceptualisation have combined to produce a classic.” ‘A Time To Remember’ should confirm that proposition and further expands on the qualities explored previously.
Meredith Monk – The Recordings | ECM New Series
"Meredith Monk – The Recordings” – a compelling celebration of Meredith Monk’s singular oeuvre on ECM New Series.
The 13-CD box set containing all of Meredith Monk's ECM recordings was released last year and is available here: https://ECM.lnk.to/MeredithMonkTheRecordings
Included are the albums Dolmen Music, Turtle Dreams, Do You Be, Book of Days, Facing North, ATLAS, Volcano Songs, mercy, impermanence, Songs of Ascension, Piano Songs, and On Behalf of Nature. Each album is a revelation.
This beautifully designed box set incorporates a 300-page book reprising all original liner notes, as well as new texts and interviews. Additionally the book includes an introductory essay by Frank J. Oteri, “The Worlds of Meredith Monk”, an autobiographical text by Meredith titled “The Soul’s Messenger” and a preface by Manfred Eicher. Plus: previously unpublished photographs, quotes from the press, archival documents, and more.
Robert Levin - W.A. Mozart’s piano sonatas
American pianist and Mozart-scholar Robert Levin recorded the first complete interpretation of W.A. Mozart’s piano sonatas on the composer’s own fortepiano (Anton Walter, 1782).
This comprehensive, 7-CD box set also comprises unfinished fragments by the Austrian composer, here completed by Levin in consideration of Mozart’s idioms and the compositional mannerisms of his era.
https://ecm.lnk.to/MozartPianoSonatas
Keith Jarret – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Württemberg Sonatas
Keith Jarrett’s interpretation of ‘Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Württemberg Sonatas’ is available on CD and digitally. The 2-LP Tip-On Gatefold vinyl edition will be released in February.
https://ecm.lnk.to/CarlPhilippEmanuelBach
