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

Happy he's returned to the trio format. Did not enjoy What Was Said at all.

I recently purchased a used vinyl copy of Terje Rypdal's Chaser, which is harder-edged power trio stuff, and I feel compelled to c + p this RYM review of it since I found it amusingly OTT for an ECM record.

"SIDE 1: AMBIGUITY - CRANK
ONCE UPON A TIME - HEROIN
GEYSIR - ANGEL DUST
A CLOSER LOOK - COLUMBIAN RED BUD
SIDE 2: ORNEN - MAI TAI'S
CHASER - JACK DANIELS
TRANSITION - WHITE WINE
IMAGI - BLOTTER ACID
JEFF BECK & STEVE VAI ARE TERJE'S LITTLE BITCHES!!THIS IS AVANT GARDE HEAY METAL JAZZ ROCK FUSION ORGASM!!!!!!!!!!!!!CRANK IT AND SPANK IT!!"

see thats the sort of thing i want to see on RYM, not a thousand little wannabe fantano's telling me about angular riffs and polyrhythms

Now I want a record filled with polyriffs and angular rhythms.

i'm not really that into ecm. what you might call beat digger culture / reissue culture / balearic dj culture has certainly given it a boost, and i totally get the urge to reevaluate genres like smooth jazz, fusion and new age. seems like ecm sits comfortably at the intersection of those, they put out a million records so you can always find something in decent shape, plus they have a clean and minimal aesthetic that avoids being clinical by incorporating nature, fits nicely with the clean nature-incorporating minimal aesthetic in favor w/ hip boutiques, trendy record stores and instagrammers

anyway even though i find the label boring in general, i think everyone should check out john abercrombie / dabve holland / jack dejohnette "gateway" and abercrombie / jan hammer / dejohnette "timeless". the covers look as sedate as anything else on ecm, but it's pure jazz-rock fusion shredding, maybe comparable to mahavishnu orchestra but less triumphant in mood, instead it has a more abstracted, cerebral vibe that reminds me of certain mwandishi stuff ("crossings" maybe)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QDr-atV0Nw

well shit, I have to check out this one

xxp

it's not a surprise to me that Michael Mann is into Terje Rypdal. A lot of his sound is perfectly in line with noirish existential moodiness, in the best sense.

abercrombie / jan hammer / dejohnette "timeless"

I adore the title track to this but it's probably the least "shready" and most ECMesque thing on the record.

I'm a bit like Goldilocks when it comes to ECM releases; I like a few tracks on each but much of the rest I find either too astringent or too smooth. I've listened to about 40 and maybe my favourites are Bennie Maupin's Jewel in the Lotus and the Annette Peacock record.

xps speaking of Gateway and Timeless, my favorite recent ECM discovery is Colin Walcott's Cloud Dance which features John Abercrombie, Jack DeJohnette, and Dave Holland. So it's basically a Gateway record with Walcott as leader on sitar and tabla. Pensively tripped-out space fusion with a "world music" flavor, all done as tastefully as possible. A proper journey through space and time.

Abercrombie's Timeless is an album I want to like more than I do, mainly because I'm not a huge fan timbrally of the organ Jan Hammer uses on it. I get ELP vibes, which is not what I'm looking for on an ECM record. But I can tolerate it for Abercrombie's shredding, and the synths and piano are cool. Also the title track is a total masterpiece.

and a cool page on his own site i just spotted: https://stevetibbetts.com/my-ecm

― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Friday, October 21, 2022 10:08 AM

a month late, but that's a swell link. thank you for sharing.

here's the playlist btw.

there are a grip is sweet late 70s early 80s Ebehard Weber shows on youtube!!

this one it tite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP8_STIT0lE

My difficult in appreciating <i>Timeless</i> is John Abercrombie’s slightly disparaging view of the 1970s fusion portion of his career. This style seemed to be a problem that he only solved at the end of the decade with his more traditional quartet.

xp that's an amazing set, thanks for posting! The Later That Evening band is one of his best combos. I'm also psyched to hear the Colours quartet live in San Francisco 1979.

that SF show is off the chain unbelievable

haven't heard Cloud Dance yet, but I recently fell under the spell of Walcott's Grazing Dreams from around the same time, which has Abercrombie, Don Cherry, Palle Danielsson, etc on it. really amazing, surprised I hadn't heard it, since i love those Codona records ...

saw an amazing Jan Garbarek group show last week at London Jazz Festival - Rainer Brüninghaus on piano (features on all those Eberhard W. lps i love) and Trilok Gurtu on drums/percussion/tons of other things - he in particular being one of the most mindblowing musicians i've ever seen...

perfect sound, 2 hours of non stop goodness. catch them if you can.

Some new titles added to the Touchtone series it seems, including "What Exit" by Mark Feldman.

I'm interested in Third Stream / ECM style jazz and I suppose this thread is the closest, although the boundaries of this kind of fusion are probably wider. I don't understand how this style developed and took over, but it's everywhere isn't it. I had also never realized that Dolmen Music (one of my favorite records) or 18 Musicians were ECM records, but that makes sense.

Anyway, I've listened to Dave Holland, Enrico Rava, Art Ensemble of Chicago, and just now to Eberhard Weber (The Colours of Chloë) which is a beautiful, rich, lively, impressionistic record that plays a little like a prog rock suite. On the other end, I haven't found entry points into Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek or Anouar Brahem in the past. So err, that's my statement of intent to keep digging and try to understand the legacy of ECM.

I still think Feldman, Satie, Cage - Rothko Chapel is one hell of a great ECM recording.

I had also never realized that Dolmen Music (one of my favorite records) or 18 Musicians were ECM records, but that makes sense.

Both of those are on ECM New Series, which I think started out as a bit of a side foray into "contemporary classical" rather than "jazz" territory?

i was going to say - i never really associated ecm with third stream! that might be down to my lack of familiarity with ecm and third stream in general, though

still, i always thought third stream was stuff like george russell?

i think of ECM as like, "chill fusion" or maybe something like quiet storm, but with new age influences instead of disco-era r&b influences

A rare treat today. My local record store had a pile of freebies from which I was able to pilfer seven(!) ECM/Japo titles. Most of them are from the early '80s, so a bit off my radar. Really looking forward to listening with a clean slate.

The ones I picked up are:
Dino Saluzzi - Kultrum (1982)
Egberto Gismonti - Solo (1979)
Jan Garbarek Group - Wayfarer (1983)
Herbert Joos - The Philosophy of the Fluegelhorn (1974)
David Holland - Life Cycle (1983)
Eberhard Weber - Later that Evening (1982)
Katrina Krimsky and Trevor Watts - Stella Malu (1981)

Amazing haul! I like Stella Malu a lot. Have seen that Dave Holland in the wild a few times but it has always been priced a little too high for a speculative buy - free is the perfect price!

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