ECM

An essential document of European jazz in the 1970s, and a recording that still sounds magnificent today, Balladyna exerted an enduring influence on successive generations of improvising musicians – in Poland and Finland above all, though it also cast its

Grammy Award–winning titan of jazz saxophone Joe Lovano, hailed by The New York Times as “one of the greatest musicians in jazz history,” and virtuoso guitarist Julian Lage have enjoyed a long journey of mutual artistic admiration. This new electrifying e

With so much virtuosity living inside bassist Gary Peacock and guitarist Ralph Towner, one might expect from this duo a showcase of lively showmanship. And while this is most certainly at its heart, on the whole we are given an understated album recorded

Guitarist John Scofield and bassist Dave Holland, two of jazz’s contemporary masters, have played together over the years in contexts including projects with Herbie Hancock and Joe Henderson and a spirited co-led band with Joe Lovano and Al Foster. Memori

With Seeing, Tord Gustavsen begins an intricate new chapter in his series of acclaimed trio recordings, initiated in 2003 with Changing Places – an album that is today considered a classic. “The new recording with its compact, concentrated song forms, ref

Wolfgang Muthspiel and his trio with Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums goes into its third recording venture swinging, setting the stage for what may be the group’s most adventurous trio recording. As has become custom, Wolfgang alternates bet

Estonian vocal ensemble Vox Clamantis and their leader Jaan-Eik Tulve have established themselves among the leading interpreters of Arvo Pärt's music over a quarter-century of close collaboration with the composer – a relationship that builds on the almos

Introducing a new piano trio from Norway, Tord Gustavsen’s young group – already making waves in the Far North where “Changing Places” has soared into the pop charts – is telling new stories within the framework of the jazz tradition. This is music that s

Musical messages from Oslo, New York, Basel and Lugano – recorded between 2018 and 2022 – are juxtaposed and recombined on an absorbing recording that features Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen solo and in a series of duets. With such partners as Craig Tab

After Mette Henriette’s critically acclaimed, self-titled first recording comes Drifting – and album pervaded by trio conversations of idiosyncratic and original expression. With Johan Lindvall returning on piano, new addition Judith Hamann on cello and h

After his acclaimed solo album Silent, Listening, Fred Hersch comes back on ECM with Drew Gress and Joey Baron for a new trio recording: The Surrounding Green. Masterful trio interplay reliant on deeply honed three-way communication and a refined sense of

Back with a newly formed quintet, Benjamin Lackner presents a different and exciting side of his composer approach. Trumpeter Mathias Eick is the sole returnee from Lackner’s debut, Last Decade, and can be heard in striking dualism with Mark Turner’s idio

Joe Lovano and his Polish conspirators from the Marcin Wasilewski Trio are endowed with an especially adventurous spirit on their second joint endeavor for ECM. On Homage, the quartet investigates the type of free-flowing interplay and expansive passages

For Lullaby, Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick draws on the quartet formation in a program that includes some of his most exploratory and improvisatory qualities to date, with a cast of ECM familiars Kristjan Randalu and Ole Morten Vågan on piano and bass,

Julia Hülsmann’s quartet resurfaces with a fresh Norwegian voice on horn in tow and presents an attractive batch of originals that finds the group thoughtfully exploring common ground with a knack for adventure. As on past outings, each quartet member con

Taking Turns, recorded in New York’s Avatar Studio a decade ago, finds Danish guitarist Jakob Bro joined by a multi- generational cast of improvisers, highly distinctive players all. Lee Konitz, Andrew Cyrille, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran and Thomas Morgan

The Danish String Quartet’s new album is a “retracing of musical pathways across the North Sea, a journey through the sounds of traditional music from Northern Europe, taking us from Denmark and Norway to the Faroe Islands, and to Ireland and England.” It

In 1984, ECM brought a new sound into the musical world with the release of Arvo Pärt’s, Tabula Rasa, the first album on the label’s New Series imprint. The record also marked the intersection of some of the most longstanding, significant musical collabor

With “daring and visionary spirit”, to quote a Downbeat review from the year of this album’s release, master improvisers John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette forged a unique vision of trio interplay on their first joint effort under the Gate

Drummer Gard Nilssen’s ECM leader debut follows acclaimed recordings for the label with the Maciej Obara Quartet and with Mathias Eick. Elastic Wave presents Nilssen’s powerful trio with fellow Norwegian André Roligheten on reeds and Swedish bassist Pette