ECM: C/D, S&D

the hal russell NRG ensemble "the hal russell story".

there are a few others but it's too early and I haven't cared enough about jazz lately to remember.

other good stuff includes gateway, feat. john abercrombie (sp?) who is somewhat similar to bill frisell's at points. also the early, pre-lame, pre-midi pat metheney.

ECM: Found huddled outside a Starbucks beneath the much-maligned umbrella of "NPR Music," or a still-relevant home to transcendent, spacious music with a minimum of fuss? Are they only as good as their classic back-catalogue? Does the New Series wave of innocuous and "tasteful" artistry leave a bad taste in your mouth (or no taste whatsoever)?

IMHO, their Steve Reich issues are some of the finest Reich extant, including the definitive renditions of Music for 18 Musicians, Violin Phase, Octet, etc. I love Anouar Brahem, enjoy Tomasz Stanko, and admire their volume of Silvestrov/Shevchenko's Silent Songs.

That said, I'm not sold on 100% (or even 75%) of what I hear on ECM, but it's one of the few labels that I routinely give the benefit of the doubt if I'm on the fence about wasting $20 from time to time. I'm entirely in favor of their leanings towards artsy European starkness, but I wish Manfred Eicher would learn to get by on less reverb.

I have also been suprised how much parts of Eberhardt Weber albums from the 70s sound like Tortoise.

I think that ECM's huge advertising budget may have been a contributory factor to that particular "ambivalence."

The NY Times and a Seattle paper love the new ECM label album Arco Iris from Moroccan vocalist Amina Alaoui who performs old Andalusian compositions here. I haven't heard it but I am intrigued. Ilxer Sanpaku liked the Jon Balke & Amina Alaoui album Siwan that came out on ECM a year or 2 back.

I also just mentioned it here:
Arabic music (not elsewhere classified)

the other ECM thread

ECM s/d.

Posted this on the Arabic music thread but its an ECM label album

Some of the Amina Alaoui album is a little too samey--melancholy nearly fado-like vocals and minimalist flamenco guitar strumming, but on other cuts her voice is exquisite and the instrumental work just lively enough.

― curmudgeon, Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:12 PM

Is there a comprehensive digital repository for 70s ECM gubbins? Preferably not streaming.

The label has a page on Bandcamp but it's barely a handful of relatively recent releases so far, AFAICT.

Boringly I think iTunes/Amazon are the most reliable. Qobuz have some lossless stuff but it gets pretty pricey: http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q=ecm&i=boutique&f%5Blabel%5D=ECM+Records#results

ECM stuff rarely turns up on streaming services anyway, the old album shows up for a short while on Apple Music and then disappears again.

I'd definitely pay for some sort of digital ECM subscription, either via Bandcamp or Drip or something - all new releases + curated back catalogue selections.

there's tons that never made it to digital in the first place, right?

Pandora, oddly enough, has a decent ECM catalog.

So ECM appears to have popped up on Spotify. So that's nice. Can't find Julian Priester, but Benny Maupin is there, and AEOC.

Only one AEOC album so far - Tribute To Lester. None of their 80s stuff yet.

Urban Bushmen is there, too.

And Full Force!

Not in the US, at least not yet.

Well whaddya know, loads of ECM stuff on Apple Music in the UK now too. Hooray!

I said preferably NOT streaming damnit, Manfred.

I wish someone would do an exploratory ECM back catalog blog like the Kranky one a from few years back.

US Spotify now has Nice Guys, Urban Bushmen, and The Third Decade up, as well as Lester Bowie's All The Magic!/The One and Only and Works, and Roscoe Mitchell's Nine to Get Ready, Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3, Far Side and Bells For the South Side.

God dammit, Eberhard Weber's early records are so beautiful, I've had a couple kicking around for years but never afforded them the proper attention, what a fool.

The Colours Of Chloë might just be the most ECM-y record of all.

good call, I was just thinking of something to stream right now.

I wonder if Joni was paying attention, some of Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is very reminiscent of Weber's music.

I started this rather unsuccessful topic some while back.

Nik Bärtsch's RONIN have a new album out.

What is his best album?

I'm undecided on that but I loved his last one Continuum, and I think both Stoa and Holon are A+. I haven't listened to his band for a while tbh. Luckily ECM are streaming now so it's easy to access his music. Although he looks disturbingly like a shaved barl-head Tony Blair - I don't judge ppl on looks!

He also looks disconcertingly like the singer form Disturbed

Continuum is amazing and I'll probably buy this new one

^^^ This album is Awase Amaze.

yep!

this band/composer are so consistently good, they've never put out anything less than A+ imo.

Listened to Albanian jazz vocalise Elina Duni last weekend, really good. First vocalist on ECM or am I missing any?

Anettete Peacock, Meredith Monk just off the top of my head

lol Annette

June Tabor released at least one album on ECM!

oh, there are literally loads of vocal albums.

Thanks - I've missed these!

SEARCH - Eberhard Weber Later That Evening 1982

SEARCH — Eberhard Weber all

searching that rn sounds great!

As mentioned by others, Elina Duni is not the first vocalist on ECM by a long shot, though she is certainly a fine one. But one ECM vocalist I feel has been overlooked, and could have been a breakout star like Duni, is Cymin Samawatie. She and her band Cyminology have recorded three fine albums on ECM, but they do not seem to have gotten much attention beyond Germany.

really feeling new Tord Gustavsen album tonight, sort of textbook downbeat, bluesy ECM piano trio classicism, but quite powerful and moving stuff.

thanks for the recommendation, sounds very good indeed

Svante Henryson has to be the only ECM recording artist that was a former member of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force.

This is one of the more odd musical connections I recently found out about.

One of the great pleasures of record shopping these days is regularly finding forgotten ECM gems for super cheap. A few days ago I picked up a nice vinyl copy of Ralph Towner's second Solstice album, Sound and Shadows for $2. It's darker and more subdued than the first one but just as good to my ears. Lovely flute work from Garbarek on the last track, and Weber's bass is sublimely liquid as usual.

i just picked up Garbarek's Dis the other day for $4, well worth iit

surprised i hadn't heard it before (since I'm a big codona fan), but I picked up Collin Walcott's Grazing Dreams recently — extremely sweet stuff w/ don cherry, abercrombie, palle danielsson, etc.

Really enjoying Kenny Wheeler’s "Around 6" from 1980. The opening track is somewhat stereotypical ECM (i.e. very melodic), and that goes on for several minutes. But then comes an Evan Parker freakout that veers into free jazz. I’m sure this horrified some listeners, but I love it.

Came across this stunning record, Jakob Bro & Joe Lovano's tribute to Paul Motian. Two drummers (Joey Baron and Jorge Rossy) and THREE bassists, but it still manages to be delicate and spacious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8lvPNG-vsQ

https://ecmrecords.com/product/once-around-the-room-a-tribute-to-paul-motian-jakob-bro-joe-lovano/#tab_description

Been going through some of my ECM LPs and Rainer Bruninghaus’ Freigeweht feels like a peak of some sort of ECM feeling that I love - beautiful recording, lots of tastefully deployed synths, smooth playing and a production sheen over everything but also real sort of uneasy… like I feel it is reductive to describe this stuff through the prism of Soundtrack-ness, but it could be the soundtrack to some inscrutable UK sci fi film from 1983… like if they had filmed A Dream of Wessex maybe

Anyway it is so good

(ahem)
if you're reading this, you need to check this shit out immediately. stop whatever you're doing. it's on spotify.

fyi-

Profile:

Steve Eliovson (born in 1954 – died March 15, 2020)

South-African jazz guitarist, having recorded his critically acclaimed debut Dawn Dance in 1981, Eliovson completely disappeared from the music industry for reasons as of yet unknown.

The Quiet Funeral of a Great Guitarist - Steve Eliovson - Born: 1954 - Died: 15 Mar 2020

uhm. yeah. i don't wanna start throwing around hyperbole, but it's really good. spare and haunting, but like all of my favorite environmental music classics, a deeper emotional element. a very unique searching quality to the vibe here.

and also- it's another of those ecms that crosses over into takoma/new primitive territory. if you like the more sparse moments of steve tibbetts, dawn dance doesn't come with any higher recommendation.

The opening of Dawn Dance immediately recalls Yes (And You And I) and I think I hear too many influences (oriental, flamenco) to make it work for me, also the rhythm is a little off to me.

Really loving Marc Johnson's solo bass record 'Overpass', maybe the solo bass record I've ever heard (out of not very many, I suppose).

Obsessed (I'd like to post other tracks but only a couple are on youtube, the whole record is streaming though)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNdB8szK9Rk

Just discovered this 1989 album by AM4, not on YouTube but on streaming channels: wild mix of spoken word, soprano saxes, and piano (prepared and otherwise). Feels like performance art, kind of like Meredith Monk. Enjoying it a lot, including their version of Ornette Coleman' "Lonely Woman."

Wolfgang Puschnig
Alto Saxophone, Alto Flute, Hojak, Shakuhachi

Linda Sharrock
Vocals

Uli Scherer
Piano, Prepared Piano, Keyboards

I just realized there are samples on that ECM page linked above ^^. The opening track is super quiet until about 30 seconds in.

Also just listened to that Marc Johnson track Jordan posted. So good too.

Linda Sharrock

sold

Eazy if you haven't heard that "Paradise" LP she did with Sonny and Ilhan Mimaroglu get it now :)

The opening track is super quiet until about 30 seconds in.

okay wow

if you turn it up to where you can just hear what's going on, the sax when it enters will scar you for life

holy shit

also this is awesome TY

ok not sure anything else on this lives up to the first track
i like it don't get me wrong

Flagging that Paradise LP to listen to soon - thanks! And yeah, the first song ("Streets and Rivers") really is the standout.

Paradise is incredible

I'm on my biannual 'Bennie Maupin's *Jewel in the Lotus* is on ECM!' reconnaissance. What a record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4nWCNerR7c

Love that one of Maupin's credits is 'reeds'. Flex.

I've listened to a few Rypdal records, very intriguing but he can get a little abstract for me.

Now I've got around to the expanded Odyssey reissue and this is a lot more full-bodied (or "rock", maybe) than his previous records. Despite the tracks mostly being very, very long they seem more vital than a lot of the other stuff of his I've heard.

It's not on ECM but Maupin's follow-up record Slow Traffic to the Right is an intelligent compromise between some of the virtues of Jewel in the Lotus and the commercial/easy-listening/funky tendencies of the era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMIkv0-aQdk

Posted in the obituary thread, but RIP guitarist Ralph Towner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6FNcN7KXRU

bummer, i had matchbook with gary burton for a while and enjoyed it. from the obit thread:

Oh man, I've been listening to so much Ralph Towner over the last 5 years. He has tons of good stuff on ECM.

― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Sunday, January 18, 2026 10:52 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

does anyone have a good recommendation or two?

I like the group alb Solstice and the self-explanatory Solo Concert - I could go with a good guide to the Oregon stuff myself...

Second the Solstice album, but I was more into his work with Oregon tbh. The recent archival “1974” live album is really good.

Also watched the Live at Molde Jazz 1975 set on YouTube twice today, so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m7VIHR9lYk

Aforementioned 1975 show, such a treat and love the attentive, beautiful looking Norwegian crowd.