ECM

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

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,

Paul Bley is one of the most influential pianists in the history of jazz. His touch instantly recognizable. Bley’s career, which now spans seven decades, has continued to be a reference for successive generations of musicians. This is unsurprising, given

Having previously joined forces on several Louis Sclavis recordings for ECM (including the clarinetist's last album, Characters on a Wall), Sclavis and pianist Benjamin Moussay have been increasingly focused on their two-way communication in recent years,

Idiosyncratic, large-scale and in its fundamental disposition one-of-a-kind, Florian Weber’s Imaginary Cycle, conceived for the unique instrumentation of brass ensemble and piano, is a hybrid of multiple musical languages that seamlessly blends the harmon

Return of the great American jazz trio that delivered the poll-topping "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway" in 1997. Material heard on "Amaryllis" is by turns thoughtful, touching, joyous and viscerally exciting. Some of the songs are well known – almost classics o

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 his first studio recording as a leader, Bright Size Life was the album that decisively put him on the map as a bright new force with something fresh to say in the context of contemporary jazz. Recorded in Ludwigsburg in December 1975, and produced by

Rekindling the familiarly flowing interplay with fellow travellers Thomas Morgan and João Lobo – the trio’s musical partnership goes back over a decade at this point –, on A New Day Italian pianist Giovanni Guidi moreover expands the group’s instrumental

Silent, Listening is a major addition to ECM's distinguished line of solo piano recordings, featuring one of the outstanding improvising pianists and jazz masters of our time: Fred Hersch. The album features seven original creations and a handful of well-

For the follow-up of his ECM-leader-debut La traversée, French saxophonist Matthieu Bordenave expands his trio of German pianist Florian Weber and Swiss bassist Patrice Moret with the unique sensibilities of drummer James Maddren, whose unrelenting pulse

On his second release for ECM New York-based saxophonist Oded Tzur introduces a heightened sense of urgency and a conceptually augmented approach to his distinctive voice, weaving one underlying musical idea through a series of elaborate and impassioned d

Nitai Hershkovits delivers the entrancing new album, Call On The Old Wise. In this largely improvised solo rendering, the pianist draws from broad influences, ranging from his extensive work in jazz contexts and cuttingedge contemporary explorations to hi

Luminessence, a product of the creative synergy between Keith Jarrett and Jan Garbarek, was recorded in 1974, following their dynamic Belonging album. Jarrett’s melodies resemble Garbarek’s improvisations, reflecting their strong rapport, as noted by Ian

Stephan Micus is a unique musician and composer. He collects and studies instruments from all around the world and creates his own musical journeys with them. This is his 25th solo album for ECM and its sound is dominated by the four-metre long Tibetan du

Frozen Silence is the third ECM release from alto saxophonist Maciej Obara’s Polish-Norwegian quartet, bringing the story forward to its strongest musical statement to date. Alert interactivity is the hallmark of the group’s approach, in a program of new

Wolfgang Muthspiel and his trio, Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums, reach a new creative peak on Dance of the Elders. Here, Wolfgang’s successful stride continues with his unique compositional signature on one hand and the particularly vibrant

On Once Around The Room ECM recording artists and key jazz musicians from several generations unite in a small ensemble to celebrate the musical legacy of drum icon Paul Motian in a big way. Joe Lovano and Jakob Bro lead a party of seven through fiery ori

Recorded in New York in 1975, and produced by Manfred Eicher, Gnu High brought Canadian trumpeter Kenny Wheeler to a new level of international acclaim, for both his impassioned playing and his profoundly lyrical writing. Here Kenny is fronting an extraor

Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos's album Saudades, recorded in March 1979, was the culmination of a dream for a musician who had long yearned to hear the berimbau in an orchestral context. This ‘concerto' for an innovative player of a traditional

On the album Opening, Tord Gustavsen reveals a fresh angle to his particularly unique trio investigations into Scandinavian folk hymns, gospel, chorale and jazz, as he introduces a different voice on bass. With a new fellow-traveller on board and its reco