Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Korean children's songs, lullabies and improvised pieces by singer Yeahwon Shin with pianist Aaron Parks and accordionist Rob Curto, recorded May 2012 at Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts, produced by Sun Chung. Shin's ECM debut.

Second ECM album by the Billy Hart Quartet, with Mark Turner (tenor saxophone), Ethan Iverson (piano) and Ben Street (double bass), playing pieces by Hart, Turner and Iverson plus one standard. Recorded April-May 2013 at Avatar Studios, New York.

Third ECM album by Norma Winstone (voice), Glauco Venier (piano) and Klaus Gesing (bass clarinet, soprano saxophone): originals plus songs by Nick Drake, Fred Neil, Tom Waits and others. Recorded December 2012 at the RSI Auditorio, Lugano.

First album by the Craig Taborn Trio, with Thomas Morgan on double bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums, playing nine Taborn compositions. Recorded in June 2012 at Avatar Studios, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Third ECM album by Susanne Abbuehl: settings of Emily Dickinson, Emily Brontë, Sara Teasdale, Wallace Stevens and her own lyrics, with Wolfert Brederode, Matthieu Michel and Olavi Louhivuori. Recorded in summer 2012 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines.

Ralph Alessi's first ECM album as a leader: ten original compositions plus a reprise, played with Jason Moran, Drew Gress and Nasheet Waits. Recorded in October 2012 at Avatar Studios, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Debut album of the bass-less Swiss-Italian trio Third Reel: Nicolas Masson (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Roberto Pianca (guitar), Emanuele Maniscalco (drums), sixteen composed and improvised pieces. Recorded February 2012 at the Auditorio RSI, Lugano.

Live duo recording by Lucian Ban (piano) and Mat Maneri (viola): pieces by Ban and Maneri, a joint improvisation and the spiritual Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen. Recorded 5 June 2011 at the Culture Palace, Târgu Mureș, Transylvania.

Guitar trio album by Ralph Towner (classical and 12-string guitar), Wolfgang Muthspiel (electric guitar, voice) and Slava Grigoryan (classical and baritone guitar), with five pieces each by Towner and Muthspiel. Recorded August 2012 at the Auditorio RSI, Lugano.

Studio album by Arild Andersen (double bass, electronics), Tommy Smith (tenor saxophone, shakuhachi) and Paolo Vinaccia (drums), mostly Andersen originals plus Bacharach's Alfie, recorded December 2012 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 2307, 2014.

"It's a generalisation, but Sylvia Hallett scrapes and Clive Bell blows. Bell specialises in reed or pipe instruments from exotic locations, principally South East Asia. Hallett bought a saw for £2.49, mounted a bicycle wheel on a spindle and also plays the more frequently-sighted viola. Bell studied the shakuhachi flute in Tokyo, then lived in Thailand, where he familiarised himself with the brittle vibrations of the khene reed-pipes. This was the beginning of his love for blown instruments tha…

Julia Hülsmann's trio with Marc Muellbauer and Heinrich Köbberling becomes a quartet with English trumpeter Tom Arthurs: band originals plus Feist, Fumi Udo and de Falla, recorded June 2012 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 2306, 2013.

Ketil Bjørnstad's eight-part suite inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni, commissioned by and recorded live at the Molde International Jazz Festival on 21 July 2010, with Andy Sheppard, Anja Lechner, Eivind Aarset, Arild Andersen and Marilyn Mazur. ECM 2300, 2013.

Enrico Rava with the twelve-piece Parco della Musica Jazz Lab plays Michael Jackson songs in arrangements by Mauro Ottolini, recorded live at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, on 20 May and 30 November 2011. Produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 2293, 2012.

Duo album by bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marilyn Crispell: compositions by each, three free improvisations and a solo apiece, recorded January-February 2011 at Nevessa Production, Saugerties, NY, and self-produced. ECM 2292, 2013.

Fifth ECM album by the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble, a sextet with trumpet, tenor saxophone, Hardanger fiddle, cello and drums around Wallumrød's piano and harmonium, playing eleven of his pieces. Recorded at the Auditorio RSI in Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Carla Bley (piano), Andy Sheppard (tenor and soprano saxophones) and Steve Swallow (bass) play five Bley compositions, including three suites. Recorded in April 2012 at the Auditorio RSI in Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher; Bley's first album as leader on ECM itself.

Stefano Battaglia's second trio album for ECM with Salvatore Maiore (double bass) and Roberto Dani (drums): ten Battaglia pieces inspired by imaginary places in literature and myth. Recorded in April 2012 at the Auditorio RSI in Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

First album by Louis Sclavis's Atlas Trio, with Sclavis on clarinet and bass clarinet, Benjamin Moussay on piano, Fender Rhodes and keyboards and Gilles Coronado on electric guitar. Recorded in September 2011 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines.

ECM debut of the Elina Duni Quartet: Albanian traditional songs and new pieces, with Elina Duni (voice), Colin Vallon (piano), Patrice Moret (double bass) and Norbert Pfammatter (drums). Recorded February 2012 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines.

Second ECM album by Food, Thomas Strønen (drums, electronics) and Iain Ballamy (saxophones), with Christian Fennesz, Eivind Aarset, Nils Petter Molvær and Prakash Sontakke. Recorded 2010-2011 at Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Victoria National Jazz Scene and Rainbow Studio, Oslo.

Second ECM album by bassist Michael Formanek, eight original compositions played by his quartet with Tim Berne (alto saxophone), Craig Taborn (piano) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). Recorded December 2011 at Avatar Studios, New York.

Live big-band album: Arild Andersen (double bass) as principal soloist with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra directed by Tommy Smith, in new arrangements of ECM-associated pieces. Recorded October 2010 at Stevenson Hall, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow.

John Abercrombie Quartet tribute to 1960s jazz (Rollins, Davis, Coleman, Coltrane, Evans) with three originals: John Abercrombie (guitar), Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone), Drew Gress (double bass), Joey Baron (drums). Recorded September 2011 at Avatar Studios, New York.

Debut of Trio Libero: Andy Sheppard (tenor and soprano saxophones), Michel Benita (double bass), Sebastian Rochford (drums), with originals, group improvisations and one standard. Recorded July 2011 at the Auditorio RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

ECM debut of the Benedikt Jahnel Trio: Benedikt Jahnel (piano), Antonio Miguel (double bass), Owen Howard (drums), seven Jahnel compositions. Recorded July 2011 at the Auditorio RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

First ECM album by the Billy Hart Quartet: Billy Hart (drums), Ethan Iverson (piano), Mark Turner (tenor saxophone), Ben Street (double bass). Recorded June 2011 at Avatar Studios, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by Batagraf, led by Jon Balke and Helge Andreas Norbakken, with Erland Dahlen, singer Emilie Stoesen Christensen and poet Torgeir Rebolledo Pedersen, recorded in various locations in 2009 and mixed by Olav Torget in 2010/11.

Album by the Tord Gustavsen Quartet, with Gustavsen on piano, Tore Brunborg on tenor saxophone, Mats Eilertsen on double bass and Jarle Vespestad on drums, recorded in February 2011 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by the collective trio Fly, with Mark Turner on tenor saxophone, Larry Grenadier on double bass and Jeff Ballard on drums, recorded in January 2011 at Avatar Studios, New York, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

First ECM album as a leader by saxophonist Tim Berne, with Oscar Noriega (clarinets), Matt Mitchell (piano) and Ches Smith (drums, percussion), recorded in January 2011 at Avatar Studios, New York, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Album by the Bobo Stenson Trio, with Bobo Stenson on piano, Anders Jormin on double bass and Jon Fält on drums, recorded in November and December 2011 at the Auditorio RSI in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Anders Jormin's Latin song cycle for singers Mariam Wallentin and Erika Angell, Fredrik Ljungkvist (clarinets, tenor saxophone) and Jon Fält (drums), with one poem by Pia Tafdrup. Recorded January 2011 at Studio Epidemin, Göteborg.

Debut recording of Marilyn Mazur's quartet Celestial Circle, with singer Josefine Cronholm, pianist John Taylor and bassist Anders Jormin: songs by Mazur and group improvisations. Recorded December 2010 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Live piano duets by Chick Corea and Stefano Bollani: improvisations, Jobim, Caymmi, Waller, Davis, standards and originals, recorded at the Umbria Jazz Winter festival, Teatro Mancinelli, Orvieto, at New Year 2010-2011. Produced by Manfred Eicher.

Enrico Rava's quintet with trombonist Gianluca Petrella, pianist Giovanni Guidi, bassist Gabriele Evangelista and drummer Fabrizio Sferra, in Rava originals and a group improvisation. Recorded October 2010 at ArteSuono Studio, Udine, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Clarinettist Gianluigi Trovesi and accordionist Gianni Coscia play Offenbach themes from his operettas and Hoffmann, fused with their own pieces. Recorded January and March 2009 in Perugia, produced by Manfred Eicher, notes by Umberto Eco.

Third ECM album by the Polish trio of Marcin Wasilewski (piano), Slawomir Kurkiewicz (double bass) and Michal Miskiewicz (drums): originals plus pieces by Eisler, Ornette Coleman, Paul Bley and Hermeto Pascoal. Recorded August 2010 in Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Solo piano album by Craig Taborn, his first as leader for ECM: thirteen pieces of his own, played on a Steinway D. Recorded in summer 2010 at Auditorio RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Dino Saluzzi (bandoneon), Anja Lechner (cello) and Felix Saluzzi (tenor saxophone, clarinet) in eleven pieces, mostly by Dino Saluzzi. Recorded July 2010 at Auditorio RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.