ECM: C/D, S&D

im listening to Afric pepperbird right now and jan is cooking skronkily, especially on beast of kommodo and the title track. ayler-esque at times

some very nifty bass from arild andersen also

Beast of Kommodo has been burned into my brain for the better part of 2 decades, such a killer tune

David Darling's Cycles – one of the most beautiful albums ever recorded imo – features some of Garbarek's finest post-skronk contributions, but they're the exception that confirms the rule, alas.

like many others i have used the current state of things as an excuse to go on a deep ecm journey and it's been fuckin great

Speaking of David Darling, it's always puzzling when an artist who has recorded for ECM for decades, stops recording for ECM and puts out work solely on other labels. One starts to wonder if Eicher felt Darling's work in the new millennium to have become too New Agey even for his label.

If that's the actual reason, Manfred Eicher otm.

eberhard weber is the shit

yeah!

I’m fond of his debut. The rest... not so much.

He has his moments.

I’m fond of his debut. The rest... not so much.

― Publius Covidius Naso (pomenitul), Sunday, April 5, 2020 3:25 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the colours of chloë inspired my post! but also i have been digging into the colours box and already disagree

anyone listen to the re-master of ECM001, the immortal Mal Waldron Free At Last album? I'm not much of an audiophile but thought it sounded better in some unknown way.

I listened to whatever is on spotify and it sounded more muscular than most ECM albums.

yeah I don't think he did anything else on ecm, but I think he went through labels like jumpers.

It's a pretty solid album and not all that uncharacteristic for early ECM. I haven't heard the remaster, though – will rectify that soon.

yeah I don't think he did anything else on ecm, but I think he went through labels like jumpers.

He did the one where he plays electric organ for JAPO which is ECM by proxy. Total one-off in a pretty amazing way.

The Call is amazing. I think that is his only turn on electric organ and he should have done it more often

wow @ “the call”

Echo the love for 'The Call.' Krauty goodness. Unfortunately so hard to come across.

Back on the Garbarek chat, I'm no expert on his stuff but I love, love, love the demented squawk he introduces himself with halfway through the first song from Terje Rypdal's s/t album. That whole album is killer and that song/moment especially.

Getting big Bitches Brew/Jack Johnson vibes from this Rypdal album.

i love eberhard weber. amazing krautrock jazz fusion. he's a pioneer imo. i started an unsuccessful topic about him some time back.

The first Rypdal/Vitous/DeJohnette album sounds like a strong precursor to 80s Frisell, especially the Power Tools band.

anybody have any thoughts on this album? i am currently of the opinion that the lineup promises more than the music delivers, but perhaps i need to spend some more time with it.

Recommend Barre Phillips' Call When You Get There (1984) and also Adelhard Roidinger's Schattseite (1982), particularly the second track "Lufti", for some great double-bass vibes.

This earlier Eberhard Weber is amazing, I'd only ever heard Later That Evening before.

I'm on the ECM is perfect right now bus - listening to lots of Weber and Metheny. For Rypdal I've always gone towards Odyssey and After the Rain but the self-titled is classic, too.

For other recommendations, I really like Coruscating by John Surman (from 2000) and the first Azimuth from 1977, which is on Spotify as a threefer with Touchstone and Depart which are a bit meh.

I haven't heard that New Directions album, but did have similar thoughts about Dejohnette's 'Untitled,' which I think is pretty much the same lineup. Still good, and maybe need to spend more time with it. I'm a big fan of his 'Sorcery' album also with Abercrombie (not on ECM, but feels like it could be).

Currently quite enjoying an album by Contact Trio called 'Muzik.' I don't know too much about them, but they're on JAPO - rather rocky and moody stuff! Was there a specific line in the sand for deciding what was released on JAPO?

the steve tibbetts stuff i've heard is pretty incredibly sick (thanks deej) and that's '80s ecm

uhhh chick corea - return to forever (ecm 1022) anyone?

it slaps!

Chick Corea reminds a total blind spot in my exploration of ECM's output. But knowing that the man has recorded at least one entire tribute album to L. Ron Hubbard, it is hard to pull the trigger on buying or downloading his releases.

That first Return To Forever album is interesting. Kind of a more chilled out version of the band, in contrast with Romantic Warrior, which is 100% dedicated to L. Ron, has completely bonkers over the top energy, and is totally worth listening to.

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

Really dig "Sand-Glass" from Yellow Fields, especially the way the electric piano keeps coloring that hypnotic ostinato in all kinds of alien ways.

I always love it when this thread pops back, so suitably inspired I dug out my ECM folder and randomly chose Art Lande's Desert Marauders (with Mark Isham) from 1978 and it's sounding pretty great this morning.

steve tibbetts is the jon hassell of guitar. total goat.

yes the thing i'm getting from the few records i've sampled is that he's a total godlike genius

I was very pleased to learn that Julia Holter is a fan of his.

Back on topic, the first two Return to Forever albums are at least genre classics in my opinion; silly ideological baggage or no. The first one has often struck me as kind of a Latin-tinged distant relative of (dare I say it) In A Silent Way.

lol at this thread coming up so perfect.
first day of panic i loaded up a bunch of ecm on shuffle.
thanks. i need to listen more closely.

and i dig Tibbetts

He was on In A Silent Way so...

xxp

The Tibbets record from last year (Life Of?) is really great. Also soothing.

2018, forgive me.

Looking at the monster ECM discography on wiki: 70s stoner faves I dimly recall incl. two by Gateway (Abercrombie, Holland, DeJohnette), Sargasso Sea, by Abercrombie/Towner, and a couple by Oregon, who incl. Towner and Colin Walcott, also of the groovy Codona (and he played on On The Corner). Oregon seemed pretty invigorating at the time, living up to associations w their name (Pacific Northwest seemed so exotic), and they'd even made an album feat. Elvin Jones before coming to ECM. (Before all that, Music Of Another Present Erawas their perfectly-titled revelation on early 70s late-night freeflow FM.)

Oregon exemplified what came to be called (at least in magazines) The New Acoustic Music, but what David Grisman called "dawg music." Some friends of mine, Grisman heads, also covered "Conference of the Birds," the lyrical, limber, low-key, lovely, misleading title track of the Dave Holland Quartet album: for me, at least, past that and the playful, spare "Q & A," and even though Holland and Barry Altschul=distinctive, leaf-gripping, seed-popping rhythm at the very least, the combination of Sam Rives *and* Anthony Braxton was just somehow too freaky---so I gave up, put it away for at least ten years, then tried again, loved it, it's my favorite ECM of all time!

So I should check The Paris Concert, by Circle, which was Braxton (also played percussion), Holland, and Altschul, with Corea, in his very brief avant-inclined phase, between Miles and Return To Forever and so on (well, there's also A.R.C., Circle minus Braxton, but that would prob be too much Corea for me)

Also belatedly discovered and enjoyed Steve Kuhn, especially albums involving Sheila Jordan. And Metheny's involving Charlie Haden.

And the aforementioned Album Album. others by or involving DeJ., and Art Ensemble/Lester Bowie.

Sam RIVERS I meant

And this one

https://shop.new-art.nl/assets/image.php?width=800&image=/content/img/new_products_queue/14307337350911.jpg

CONTRASTS
SAM RIVERS

Release date: 30.06.1980
ECM 1162
Format : CDLP
Cart
Buy CD€ 15.90
Buy LP€ 20.00
Dave Holland always described Sam Rivers’ groups as his finishing school. It was Sam who instructed him to play “all the music” – inside, outside, atonal, swing, blues, and all the hues of the jazz and chamber music traditions. By the time of Contrasts,Rivers and Holland had been working together consistently for seven years (with Dave’s Conference of the Birds at the start of the story), a powerhouse combination of multi-reeds and double bass. Of the drummers who passed through the line-up, Thurman Barker was one of the most creative, rippling across drum kit and marimba. Young trombone innovator George Lewis had already worked with Holland and Barker in Anthony Braxton groups. For Contrasts everyone was fired up and ready to play.

FEATURED ARTISTS
Sam Rivers Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute
George Lewis Trombone
Dave Holland Double Bass
Thurman Barker Drums, Marimba
TRACKLIST
1CIRCLES
(Sam Rivers)
04:19
2ZIP
(Sam Rivers)
04:44
3SOLACE
(Sam Rivers)
06:57
4VERVE
(Sam Rivers)
5DAZZLE
(Sam Rivers)
09:16
6IMAGES
(Sam Rivers)
03:54
7LINES
(Sam Rivers)

That Circle live is the one 70s ECM vinyl I own, it's real good.

Just bought Yellow Fields and Colours of Chloë on Ebay for $25, hopefully they are in serviceable condition.

important: https://www.instagram.com/ecm_memes/

This is a good one ive been listening to while playing Witcher 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW1npkQEtDo

Those ECM memes are top notch.

And yeah, Dawn Dance is awesome.