Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

First ECM album by Django Bates' trio Belovèd, with Petter Eldh (double bass) and Peter Bruun (drums). Recorded June 2016 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by the Gary Peacock Trio, with Marc Copland (piano) and Joey Baron (drums). Recorded May 2016 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second album by Tomasz Stanko's New York Quartet, with David Virelles (piano), Reuben Rogers (double bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). Recorded June 2016 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second and last ECM album by the John Abercrombie Quartet, with Marc Copland (piano), Drew Gress (double bass) and Joey Baron (drums). Recorded April-May 2016 at Avatar Studios, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Third ECM album by pianist Craig Taborn, his first with a quartet: Chris Speed (tenor sax, clarinet), Chris Lightcap (double bass, bass guitar), Dave King (drums, electronic percussion). Recorded May 2016 at Avatar Studios, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Eighteen pieces by Cuban pianist David Virelles for piano, Román Díaz's voice and percussion and the Nosotros Ensemble of strings, woodwinds and percussion, with Thomas Morgan on bass. Recorded May 2016 at Avatar Studios, New York; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Duets by Bill Frisell (guitar) and Thomas Morgan (double bass), recorded live at the Village Vanguard, New York, in March 2016: Motian, Konitz, Frisell originals, Wildwood Flower, Fats Domino and Goldfinger. Produced by Manfred Eicher.

Third album by François Couturier's Tarkovsky Quartet with Anja Lechner (cello), Jean-Marc Larché (soprano sax) and Jean-Louis Matinier (accordion): compositions, improvisations, Vivaldi and an anonymous piece. Recorded April 2016 in Lugano; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second album by Quercus: June Tabor (voice), Iain Ballamy (tenor and soprano saxophones) and Huw Warren (piano) in British folk songs, standards, Dylan and two originals. Recorded December 2015 at Cooper Hall, Frome; produced by Warren and Ballamy.

Third ECM album by saxophonist Chris Potter, six originals with a new quartet: David Virelles (piano, celeste), Joe Martin (double bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums). Recorded June 2016 at Avatar Studios, New York; produced by Manfred Eicher.

ECM debut of guitarist Dominic Miller: eleven pieces, mostly solo on acoustic guitar, with Miles Bould on percussion and drums on five tracks. Recorded March 2016 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, by Jan Erik Kongshaug; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Third ECM album by the Colin Vallon Trio: Colin Vallon (piano), Patrice Moret (double bass), Julian Sartorius (drums). Recorded in 2016 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, engineered by Stefano Amerio and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Solo album by Ralph Towner on classical and 12-string guitar: eleven of his own pieces, two from the Oregon book, and the standard My Foolish Heart. Recorded February 2016 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, in a quintet with Ambrose Akinmusire, Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier and Brian Blade. Nine Muthspiel originals and one Mehldau tune, recorded January-February 2016 at Studios La Buissonne; produced by Manfred Eicher.

ECM leader debut of singer and composer Theo Bleckmann, with Ben Monder (guitar), Shai Maestro (piano), Chris Tordini (double bass) and John Hollenbeck (drums): originals, a Sondheim song and a Chiao Jan poem. Recorded January 2016, Avatar Studios, New York; produced by Manfred Eicher.

First trio recording by Louis Sclavis (clarinets), Dominique Pifarély (violin) and Vincent Courtois (cello), with compositions by all three and collective improvisation. Recorded September 2016 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM leader album by Danish guitarist Jakob Bro, in trio with Thomas Morgan (double bass) and Joey Baron (drums): six Bro pieces and the collective improvisation PM Dream. Recorded November 2015, Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Piano trio album by Aaron Parks with Ben Street (double bass) and Billy Hart (drums): eight Parks originals and Ian Bernard's Find the Way. Recorded October 2015 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Carla Bley's trio with Andy Sheppard (saxophones) and Steve Swallow (bass guitar) plays new Bley compositions, including the three-part title suite. Recorded November 2015 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Duo album by Vijay Iyer (piano, Fender Rhodes, electronics) and Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet), centred on a seven-part suite for the Indian artist Nasreen Mohamedi. Recorded 17-19 October 2015 at Avatar Studios, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Michael Formanek's first big-band album, written for his 18-piece Ensemble Kolossus with Tim Berne, Ralph Alessi, Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis and others, conducted by Mark Helias. Recorded December 2014 at Systems Two, Brooklyn.

Michel Benita's ECM leader debut with his group Ethics: Matthieu Michel (flugelhorn), Mieko Miyazaki (koto), Eivind Aarset (guitar, electronics) and Philippe Garcia (drums). Recorded April 2015 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Avishai Cohen's ECM leader debut, a suite written after his father's death in 2014, with Yonathan Avishai, Eric Revis, Nasheet Waits and Bill McHenry. Recorded July 2015 at Studios La Buissonne, produced by Manfred Eicher.

French violinist Dominique Pifarély's quartet with pianist Antonin Rayon, bassist Bruno Chevillon and drummer François Merville, eight Pifarély compositions. Recorded July 2015 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines; produced by Manfred Eicher.

First trio album by Dutch pianist Wolfert Brederode, with Icelandic bassist Gulli Gudmundsson and drummer Jasper van Hulten, twelve Brederode pieces and one by Gudmundsson. Recorded July 2015 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Trio album led by drummer and percussionist Ches Smith with pianist Craig Taborn and violist Mat Maneri, eight Smith compositions for improvisers. Recorded June 2015 at Avatar Studios, New York; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Mats Eilertsen's first ECM album as leader: his own compositions, first commissioned by the Vossajazz Festival, played by a septet with Trygve Seim, Eirik Hegdal, Harmen Fraanje and Rob Waring. Recorded May 2015 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo; produced by Manfred Eicher.

First album by Thomas Strønen's acoustic ensemble Time Is A Blind Guide, with Kit Downes (piano), Håkon Aase, Lucy Railton, Ole Morten Vågan and two percussionists. Recorded June 2015, Rainbow Studio, Oslo; produced by Sun Chung and Strønen.

Trio album by Tord Gustavsen (piano, electronics, synth bass), Simin Tander (voice) and Jarle Vespestad (drums): Norwegian hymns sung in Pashto plus Rumi and Rexroth settings. Recorded April 2015, Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Debut ECM album of Nik Bärtsch's acoustic quartet Mobile (Bärtsch, Sha, Kaspar Rast, Nicolas Stocker), joined on three pieces by a string quintet. Recorded March 2015 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Largely improvised quartet album by Giovanni Guidi (piano), Gianluca Petrella (trombone), Louis Sclavis (clarinet, bass clarinet) and Gerald Cleaver (drums), recorded in February 2015 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Solo piano recital by Masabumi Kikuchi: nine improvisations, Bonfá's Manhã de Carnaval and his own Little Abi. Recorded live on 26 October 2012 at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Recital Hall, his last solo concert; mixed in Oslo and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Four-part suite by Iro Haarla for jazz quintet (Haarla, Trygve Seim, Hayden Powell, Ulf Krokfors, Mika Kallio) and the Norrlands Operans Symfoniorkester conducted by Jukka Iisakkila. Recorded October 2012 at NorrlandsOperan, Umeå, at the premiere and in following sessions.

Ten settings of poems by Rumi, mostly in Coleman Barks's English versions, by Trygve Seim (saxophones) with Tora Augestad (voice), Frode Haltli (accordion) and Svante Henryson (cello). Recorded February 2015 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Song cycle on the myth of the world tree by Sinikka Langeland (kantele, voice) with Arve Henriksen, Trygve Seim, Anders Jormin, Markku Ounaskari and Trio Mediæval. Recorded February 2015 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM solo album by Norwegian pianist Jon Balke: sixteen short piano pieces set in "sound images" (field recordings, electronics, voices) made with Audun Kleive. Recorded September 2014 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, mixed 2015 in Lugano; produced by Balke and Manfred Eicher.

Third ECM album by Tim Berne's Snakeoil, now a quintet: Berne (alto saxophone), Oscar Noriega (clarinets), Ryan Ferreira (guitars), Matt Mitchell (piano, electronics), Ches Smith (drums, vibraphone, timpani). Recorded December 2014 in Rhinebeck, NY; produced by David Torn.

Song cycle by Ketil Bjørnstad (piano) on thirteen "hotel poems" by Lars Saabye Christensen, sung by Anneli Drecker. Recorded June 2016 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug; produced by Bjørnstad.

Eberhard Weber's companion album to Résumé: bass solos recorded live with the Jan Garbarek Group in thirteen European cities between 1990 and 2007, reworked with his keyboards and Ack van Rooyen's flugelhorn. Mixed November 2014 at La Buissonne; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by trumpeter Ralph Alessi as leader, with Gary Versace (piano), Drew Gress (double bass) and Nasheet Waits (drums), ten Alessi compositions. Recorded September 2014 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, mixed in New York; produced by Manfred Eicher.