ECM s/d.

I think I'm more kindly disposed to the ECM 'sound' (and think that's too often overstated, anyway) 'cos I cld list TONS of great mainstreamish jazz albs they've released: just last year, 'Rosslyn' by John Taylor, 'Extended Play' by Dave Holland, 'Changing Places' by Tord Gustavson and 'Universal Syncopations' by Miroslav Vitous were all really solid ECM recs.

(X-post w/ Jordan -yeah I think that might be the Gustavson rec I just mentioned. And the AEOC 'rarum' collection usefully collects together the best things from the mostly rather patchy 70s/80s ECM albs...)

did JAPO come first ? anyone know what JAPO is and where it fits in ?

I remembered another one that I have to go back and listen to...this John Abercrombie organ trio record called Tactics that I remember being overly blurry and atmospheric (in playing and sound) except for a couple tracks, but I might like it a lot more now.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre200/e255/e25527nfmrt.jpg

Also, those 80s Jack DeJohnette Special Edition records are mostly pretty great, I always mean to check out more of them. I just looked at the ECM website, some of those 'selected recordings' comps look pretty tempting.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00000320E.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

this would be one of my favourite records, the 'touchstone' if you like for my interest in free jazz. Ostensibly on the muso's own JCOA label dating from when it was recorded in the '60s (jazz composers orchestra of _america_ i suppose), yes it turns up packaged and distributed by ECM. I should know, since i've leant several copies of it to people who've liked it so much they've kept it that i've re-bought it 3 times.
Ironic, ridiculous but typical and sad i suppose that it gets shuffled off, not included in ECMs proper catalog. and really Phil ? not available in america? really ?

[img]http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd900/d999/d99906r2msg.jpg[/img]

"Trance" by Steve Kuhn is also excellent.

S.

I've picked up on all of these ECM releases in the last year or so and have enjoyed each of them. Not every record is perfect, but there is some great stuff in there.

The best two Burton records are Passengers and Ring, where Weber guests in his band as a second bassist. Some of the lineups on the Burton records are pretty unique with two electric guitarists (one on 12 string), sometimes two basses, Burton on vibes and a drummer. It is electric jazz, but not really fusion compared to stuff like Weather Report or Mahavishnu.

I've really liked Eberhard Weber's stuff, it is an odd mix of jazz and that minimalist symphonic music like Steve Reich or Phillip Glass. The records sound pretty contemporary sounding considering they are 20-30 years old, in fact some of the more Reich styled pieces would not sound out of place on a Tortoise record. Bill Frisell and Jan Garbarek guest on Little Movements. Pendulum is a Weber overdubbed bass orchestra record. It is a pretty unique sounding record. Overall, it may not be hot and swinging jazz, but I think Weber made some interesting records. The guy pretty much just works as a sideman for the last ten or twelve years or so with Jan Garbarek and hasn't put out but a couple of albums.

On the non-glacier front, Jon Balke & Batagraf's new album blows me away.

Destroy: Heiner Goebbels. Tried, tried, and tried to get into his work, but it didn't happen.

I've got Thimar by Anouar Brahem which has Dave Holland and John Surman, but have only given it a couple of full plays. It hasn't really stuck with me either way.

I've also got a few of the Rarum collections including the one on The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Bill Frisell and Jan Garbarek. I think the Art Ensemble is the best of the three. I like the real icy stuff on the Garbarek album, but some of the I guess world fusion/classical kind of music I did not really get. The Frisell one is also a good listen.

Another ECM artist I have a couple of records by that are pretty good are John Abercrombie's Timeless and a couple of the Gateway trio records with Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland. Cinematic Orchestra must like some Abercrombie, as I think they sampled him a couple of times.

I would like to hear some of Paul Motian's trio albums with Frisell and Joe Lovano. I'd also like to get Ralph Towner's "Solstice".

'universal syncopations' by miroslav vituous is pretty great, and 'suspended night' by tomasz stanko is really great.

any more good shit of recent vintage to check out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqG0oZ2MFBs

I'll rep for that whole album, as well as Lloyd's "Sangam".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gre5LBcYAA

all of dave holland's stuff.

nik bartsch's ronin is pretty decent (not much improvising, very rhythmic, minimal loops in odd-time signatures bumping up against each other, would be good for soundtracking a david mamet movie).

I don't think Holland's on ECM these days though, at least not for "Overtime" (his best from recent years IMO) onward.

oh, you're right

I've really liked Eberhard Weber's stuff, it is an odd mix of jazz and that minimalist symphonic music like Steve Reich or Phillip Glass. The records sound pretty contemporary sounding considering they are 20-30 years old, in fact some of the more Reich styled pieces would not sound out of place on a Tortoise record. Bill Frisell and Jan Garbarek guest on Little Movements. Pendulum is a Weber overdubbed bass orchestra record. It is a pretty unique sounding record. Overall, it may not be hot and swinging jazz, but I think Weber made some interesting records. The guy pretty much just works as a sideman for the last ten or twelve years or so with Jan Garbarek and hasn't put out but a couple of albums.

― Earl Nash (earlnash), Thursday, May 18, 2006 2:46 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark

^^^
These records are really beautiful. I just put on Yellow Fields.

New Valentin Silvestrov album "Sacred Works" on the ECM New Series is tearfully, wonderfully awesome! Kiev Chamber Choir conducted by Mykola Hobdych doing liturgical chants, spirituals, psalms... Picked it up on a whim today from our sadly struggling local classical music specialist and am so pleased I did. Oh wow.

I have Silvestrov's "Requiem For Larissa" already, but will definitely be going back to order the rest of his ECM stuff now.

Also picked up a copy of the new ECM catalogue, which makes for very nice idle browsing.

Wow, hadn't heard Silvestrov before. Gorgeous. Thank you

i'm curious about this album:

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20090922/390097169535.jpg

cuz i love the cover basically. but also cuz i see it described as jazz/krautrock.

scott, u can download from here if you're interested
http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2008/08/wolfgang-dauner-output-lp-1970-germany.html

this julian priester album "love love" is so so so fucking amazing. side long heavy heavy funky spacey jazz. kinda like mwandishi

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/pbksound/2b3f57b3.jpg

the fairly recent Alexei Lubimov disc of all the Debussy Preludes is among the best ever made of those pieces.

All of their Kurtag releases rule.

I wish I had a copy of Kim Kashkashian/Robert Levin's recording of the Brahms Viola Sonatas.

i hate that every time i see the name Kim kashkashian I think Kim Kardashian

though kim kardashian also has an album on ECM. it's a trio record with paul motian and jack dejohnette, i believe.

(gets busy making mock-up ECM album cover featuring a pastoral landscape with the title "sex tape" superimposed in a sans-serif font)

hahahaha!

fun listening to this ECM mix without checking the tracklist first

roffles

kim kardashian is a filthy whore

cheers,
n

celebrity sex tapes are everywhere nowadays

yeah, though i wish i hadn't seen the paul/carla bley one, lots of awkward silences

http://ecmreviews.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/elixir.jpg

This is my favourite ECM release of recent years. I love Marilyn Mazur's band albums a lot too (though the best of those aren't on ECM, but on various Scandinavian lables), but there's just something beautifully primal about the combination of mere percussion and sax... I'm not sure if you should even call this jazz, it's just some deep organic ambient cowbell chants.

Ah, this is what I needed today, Tuomas, thanks!

Recently I picked up a free ECM sampler from 2011 or something, and a Jacob Young track on there called "Time Rebel" really stood out. I'd post a link but it's not on Youtube. Anyway, the tune is just beautiful, especially the percussion. I guess they are playing "time," but damn if I know what it is! The whole album is really, err, impressionistic, really haunted-sounding. The album doesn't deviate stylistically much from the one track I heard, which is fine by me. I will concede that something about the tone of the tone of the trumpet occasionally reminds me of Chuck Mangione, but, well...minor complaint.

Also, TS: Windham Hill Vs ECM? Actually, nevermind, I may start a separate thread for that.

not one mention of Mal Waldron on this thread and he was ECM_001 and pretty fucking badass!

think he was also the first release on japo (ecm sister label?) featuring wolfgang dauner's rhythm section of the time... (add to the list of albums i need to hear)

Sieg Haile off his Moods album is ridic+

I hate that none of this is streaming now that Mog is dead.

Reading about MOG it looks like it was the grandfather? of Apple Music, so does anyone know why ECM isn't on there?

I'd guess that Eicher - a known stickler for sound quality - would not really be into streaming.

Maybe not – but he did license the entire ECM catalogue to MOG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hk7fFzPGxM

Search "Silence" (Charlie Haden) from Magico (Haden, Gismonti, Garbarek). So simple and so sad. The tune is like an arrow made from a feather piercing my heart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW93IP5tnY0