Back in stock
I Took Up The Runes
One of the Norwegian saxophonists most outgoing dates, the best-selling “Runes” also marked the first appearance of Manu Katché with the Jan Garbarek group. Centerpiece of the album is the five-part “Molde Canticle”.
When We Leave
*2024 stock* Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick’s expressive playing, which according to the New York Times radiates a “pristine yet penetrating tone”, is remarkably well complemented in the company of his gifted supporting players and fellow travelers. Violinist Håkon Aase, one of the outstanding improvisers of his generation, shadows the leader with lines that draw upon folk traditions as well as jazz. Drummers Helge Andeas Norbakken and Torstein Lofthus mirror their exchanges, as they interact …
Viola
*2024 stock* "Walter Fähndrich's album "Viola" is a beautiful and captivating collection of works for the viola. Fähndrich's skills as a violist are on full display as he expertly navigates through a variety of pieces, showcasing the instrument's rich and versatile sound. From hauntingly melancholic melodies to lively and energetic compositions, "Viola" takes listeners on a journey through a range of emotions. Fähndrich's impeccable technique and emotional depth make this album a must-listen for…
Under The Surface
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 contributes music to the session, the leader herself being responsible for half the programme. Saxophonist Uli Kempendorff’s introduction to Julia’s trio on 2019’s Not Far From Here already brought a new dimension to the group’s interplay – this se…
Far From Over
Keyboardist-composer Vijay Iyer’s energized sequence of ECM releases has garnered copious international praise. Yet his fifth for the label since 2014 – Far From Over, featuring his dynamically commanding sextet – finds Iyer reaching a new peak, furthering an artistry that led The Guardian to call him “one of the world’s most inventive new-generation jazz pianists” and The New Yorker to describe him as “extravagantly gifted… brilliantly eclectic. Far From Over features this sextet of virtuoso im…
Uneasy
Vijay Iyer presents a powerful new trio, in which he is joined by two key figures in creative music, Tyshawn Sorey and Linda May Han Oh. “We have an energy together that is very distinct. It has a different kind of propulsion, a different impulse and a different spectrum of colours”. Repertoire on UnEasy, recorded at Oktaven Audio Studio in Mount Vernon, New York in December 2019, includes Iyer originals written over a span of 20 years, plus Geri Allen’s “Drummer’s Song” and a radical recasting…
Crystal Silence
2025 stock Crystal Silence A cornerstone of ECM’s legendary catalog, Passengers unites vibraphonist Gary Burton with an all-star ensemble: guitarist Pat Metheny, bassist Eberhard Weber, electric bassist Steve Swallow, and drummer Dan Gottlieb. Recorded in January 1976, this album captures a moment of creative synergy and forward-thinking jazz, blending lyricism, subtle groove, and the unmistakable ECM sonic clarity.
The repertoire features original compositions from Metheny, Swallow, and Weber, …
Get The Flu
Originally released in 1990, Get The Flu is the debut album from Karen Mantler-a witty, idiosyncratic songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist-joined by her feline muse, Arnold. Recorded at Grog Kill Studio in New York, the album blends deadpan humor, offbeat storytelling, and jazz-inflected pop across ten distinctive tracks, including “The Flu,” “I Love Christmas,” and “Let’s Have A Baby”. Mantler’s vocals, harmonica, and organ are at the heart of the project, supported by a remarkable e…
More Movies
Original 1980 LP edition, first pressing – printed in the USA. For light relief from his darker, more existential works, Michael Mantler assembled two fine ensembles at the end of the 1970s to play music that might be described as the Thinking Man’s Answer to Fusion. "Like a more mature and musicianly Mahavishnu Orchestra" according to Melody Maker. Two original albums, remastered, on a single CD.
The Epidemics
The Epidemics is an album by Indian violinist L. Shankar and British vocalist, keyboardist and composer Caroline recorded in February 1985 and released on ECM the following year.Elsewhere's Graham Reid included the album in his list of "10 Unusual ECM Albums of the Eighties I Own," and remarked: "This is a kind of post-punk electro-pop outing... Synth pop with very little catchy pop, emotionally flat vocals by Caroline, widdly rock guitar by Vai and bassist Jones probably wondering why he was do…
Entendre
A fascinating solo album from the Swiss pianist, composer and conceptualist best known as leader of the bands Ronin and Mobile, Entendre offers deeper insight into Nik Bärtch’s musical thinking. As the album title implies Entendre is about hearing as a creative process, referencing the patient unfolding of Bärtch’s modular polymetric pieces, with alertness to the dynamics of touch, finding freedom in aesthetic restriction, serving the flow of each piece’s development while also taking the music …
Musik Für Zwei Kontrabässe, Elektrische Gitarre Und Schlagzeug
*2024 stock* "After discovering the unique hand-wringing style of guitarist Christy Doran on Red Twist & Tuned Arrow, I was excited to check out this seemingly neglected record, for which he was again joined by drummer Fredy Studer, only this time, intriguingly enough, with two bassists: Bobby Burri and Olivier Magnenat. Burri is a familiar name in the ECM circuit, having shared stages with Pierre Favre, Manfred Schoof, and Tim Berne, and of course as a member of OM (also with Doran and Studer).…
Zartir
The third album from Levon Eskenian’s remarkable ensemble is its most adventurous to date. As well as reclaiming the music of esoteric teacher G. I. Gurdjieff for folk instrumentation, Zartir situates Gurdjieff in a tradition of Armenian bards and troubadours including Ashugh Jivani, Baghdasar Tbir and the legendary Sayat-Nova. In parallel, an emphasis on pieces for sacred dance reaches its apex in The Great Prayer, an entrancing collaboration between the Gurdjieff Ensemble and the National Cham…
Tabula Rasa
*2024 stock* Original CD and all materials from the original booklet. Music scores of all four compositions of the album. Previously unreleased facsimile of Arvo Pärt’s autographs of “Tabula rasa” and “Cantus”. Introductory essay by Paul Grifftiths. Exclusive photographs from the ECM archive. All texts in English and German. 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. Now, on the occasion …
Nice Guys
*2024 stock. Deluxe packaging* Nice Guys is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, recorded in May 1978 and released on ECM the following year—their debut for the label. The quintet features trumpeter Lester Bowie, saxophinists Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell and rhythm section Malachi Favors Maghostut and Famoudou Don Moye.
Miserere
*2024 stock. Deluxe packaging* For reasons perhaps too numerous to list here in full, Arvo Pärt’s Miserere remains my most cherished of the Estonian composer’s ever-growing book of masterworks. Suffice it to say that its magic lies in its stillness. For such an expansive piece—scored as it is for choir, soloists, organ, and ensemble—it is remarkably introspective. Its opening invocation of Psalm 51 fleshes out a corpus of spoken language made melody. A statement from the clarinet follows every w…
Litany
*2024 stock. Deluxe packaging* The starting point for Litany was a commission received from the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, US. For this reason, Pärt selected an English text as the basis for his composition.
Arvo Pärt: “The English language lacks plasticity which is brought to music with long words. Working with a text in English, I had to make new discoveries and use melodic constructions that I normally don’t use in my music, to extract material from words and sentences. The text for Lita…
L'Ultimo Ricatto
2012 release ** "L'Ultimo Ricatto (title in Italian, songs in English) is the work of a singer-songwriter devoted to the sacred word of folk in all its noblest forms, from English to American, from the 1970s to today. This began with the choice to achieve that warm, personal sound from the recordings, entrusted to the expert hands of the album's co-producer and recording engineer Raffaele Abbate, in his studio in the hills of Genoa, far from the city and its noise. He then decided to test his so…
The Cry Of A Dove Announcing Rain
"In 2022, Eddie Prévost celebrated his 80 th birthday with the series Towards a Bright Nowhere, a series of July concerts at Café Oto that appeared as both a series of four CDs and a documentary. These two CDs document later duo performances from October 2022 to June 2023 with French pianist Marjolaine Charbin, apparently a recent association, and saxophonist John Butcher, a longtime creative partner. Each emphasizes a different dimension of Prévost’s creativity. He’s credited with percussion on…
Painted Shadows
2009 release ** "The latest Plastic Crimewave Sound album 'Painted Shadows' (the title inspired by a practice used in german expressionist films) has a more cosmically devotional vibe than past LPs, touching on eastern folk-blues and elongated kraut-like soundscapes, with new elements of banjo, violin and female voice added to the stew. However, there is still some trademark PCWS rocking, as they still deliver blasts of motor city-type acid-punk, japanese-style skree, and waves of tension and re…