Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Third ECM album by Nik Bärtsch's Ronin: Nik Bärtsch (piano), Sha (alto saxophone, bass clarinet), Björn Meyer (bass), Kaspar Rast (drums), Andi Pupato (percussion). Recorded March 2010 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines, produced by Manfred Eicher.

ECM debut of bassist Michael Formanek: six of his compositions played with Tim Berne (alto saxophone), Craig Taborn (piano) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). Recorded June 2009, Charlestown Road Studio, Hampton (NJ); released 2010.

Duo album by Keith Jarrett (piano) and Charlie Haden (double bass): eight standards and love songs recorded in March 2007 at Cavelight Studio, Jarrett's home studio in New Jersey. Produced by Jarrett and Manfred Eicher, released 2010.

Second ECM album by the Berlin quartet Cyminology: Cymin Samawatie (voice, Farsi lyrics of her own), Benedikt Jahnel (piano), Ralf Schwarz (double bass), Ketan Bhatti (drums, percussion). Recorded January 2010, Rainbow Studio, Oslo; released 2011.

Live quartet recording by Lee Konitz (alto saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Charlie Haden (double bass) and Paul Motian (drums), playing six standards without rehearsal at Birdland, New York, in December 2009. Produced by Manfred Eicher, released 2011.

Third Tarkovsky-inspired album by pianist François Couturier, with Anja Lechner (cello), Jean-Louis Matinier (accordion) and Jean-Marc Larché (soprano saxophone): nine compositions and three group improvisations. Recorded December 2009, Auditorio RSI, Lugano; released 2011.

Third ECM album by drummer Manu Katché: eleven originals with Tore Brunborg (saxophones), Jason Rebello (piano, Rhodes) and Pino Palladino (bass), plus guests Jacob Young (guitar) and Kami Lyle (voice, trumpet). Recorded December 2009, Studios La Buissonne; released 2010.

Ten pieces by Stefano Battaglia, each named after a mythical or literary place, played by his trio with Salvatore Maiore (double bass) and Roberto Dani (drums). Recorded November 2009 at the Auditorio Radiotelevisione Svizzera, Lugano; released 2011.

Eighteen short duets by Michael Mantler, partly notated and partly improvised, for classical pianist Per Salo and jazz guitarist Bjarne Roupé. Piano recorded June 2010 at Studios La Buissonne, guitar August 2010 in Copenhagen; released 2011.

Solo ECM debut of New York singer, keyboardist and cantor Judith Berkson: her own songs, jazz standards, Schubert, cantorial music and Yiddish song, with voice, piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes and Hammond. Recorded April 2009 at Artesuono, Udine, produced by Steve Lake.

Second ECM album by Christian Wallumrød's sextet with Eivind Lønning, Gjermund Larsen, Tanja Orning, Giovanna Pessi and Per Oddvar Johansen: through-composed chamber music recorded June 2009 at Auditorio Radio Svizzera, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Trio of Finnish drummer Markku Ounaskari, pianist Samuli Mikkonen and Norwegian trumpeter and singer Per Jørgensen improvising on Russian psalms and Karelian, Vepsian and Udmurt folk songs. Recorded May 2009 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo.

First album by Tomasz Stańko's quintet with Alexi Tuomarila, Jakob Bro, Anders Christensen and Olavi Louhivuori: eight Stańko pieces and two by Krzysztof Komeda, recorded April 2009 at Studios La Buissonne, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by Israeli pianist Anat Fort and the first by her working trio with Gary Wang (double bass) and Roland Schneider (drums), ten Fort originals. Recorded February 2009, Rainbow Studio, Oslo; ECM, 2010.

Tord Gustavsen's first ensemble album after his trio trilogy, with Tore Brunborg (saxophones), Kristin Asbjørnsen (vocals, W.H. Auden settings), Mats Eilertsen (double bass) and Jarle Vespestad (drums). Recorded January 2009, Rainbow Studio, Oslo; ECM, 2009.

Steve Kuhn, Coltrane's pianist in early 1960, plays Coltrane pieces and two standards with Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone, tárogató), David Finck (double bass) and Joey Baron (drums). Recorded December 2008, Avatar Studios, New York; ECM, 2009.

Louis Sclavis quintet album on themes from Homer's Odyssey, with Matthieu Metzger (saxophones), Maxime Delpierre (guitar), Olivier Lété (electric bass) and François Merville (drums). Recorded September 2008, Théâtre de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines; ECM, 2009.

Live recording by Roscoe Mitchell and The Note Factory (Corey Wilkes, Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer, two bassists, two drummers), made on 17 March 2007 at the Stadtsaal, Burghausen, during the Burghausen jazz festival. Released by ECM in 2010.

Duo album by Ralph Towner (classical, 12-string and baritone guitars) and Paolo Fresu (trumpet, flugelhorn): Towner originals, two improvisations and Blue in Green. Recorded in October 2008 at Artesuono, Udine, produced by Manfred Eicher, released by ECM in 2009.

ECM debut of Cyminology: Cymin Samawatie (vocals), Benedikt Jahnel (piano), Ralf Schwarz (double bass) and Ketan Bhatti (drums, percussion), singing Farsi texts by Samawatie, Rumi, Hafez and Forough Farrokhzaad. Recorded in 2008 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, released in 2009.

Stefano Bollani's Danish trio with Jesper Bodilsen (double bass) and Morten Lund (drums), playing originals and pieces by Veloso, Jobim and Poulenc. Recorded in October 2008 at Avatar Studios, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher, released by ECM in 2009.

An improvising quartet featuring four of the finest and most innovative musicians, who have extended the ranges of their respective instruments - piano, saxophones, harp and double bass - into new, uncharted territories. As well as having exceptional techniques, they are all virtuoso listeners, so that these first two performances as a quartet sound as if they have being working together for years. 68 minutes.

First ECM album by the Julia Hülsmann Trio: Julia Hülsmann (piano), Marc Muellbauer (double bass), Heinrich Köbberling (drums). Recorded in March 2008 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher, released in 2008.

Live album by Arild Andersen (double bass, live electronics) with Tommy Smith (tenor saxophone) and Paolo Vinaccia (drums), recorded in September 2007 at Belleville, Oslo, and the Drammen Theatre. Produced by Manfred Eicher, released by ECM in 2008.

Song cycle on the life of Aisha by Marc Sinan (guitar) and Julia Hülsmann (piano, compositions) to texts by Marc Schiffer, with Yelena Kuljić (voice), Lena Thies (viola), Marc Muellbauer and Heinrich Köbberling. Recorded March 2008, Rainbow Studio, Oslo.

Anouar Brahem (oud) with Klaus Gesing (bass clarinet), Björn Meyer (bass) and Khaled Yassine (darbouka, bendir), eight Brahem compositions dedicated to Mahmoud Darwish. Recorded October 2008, Artesuono Recording Studio, Udine, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Gianluigi Trovesi (piccolo and alto clarinet, alto saxophone) with Marco Remondini, Stefano Bertoli and the Filarmonica Mousiké conducted by Savino Acquaviva, in a suite on Italian opera from Monteverdi to Puccini. Recorded September 2006, Teatro Serassi, Villa d'Almè (Bergamo).

ECM debut of Fly, the leaderless trio of Mark Turner (tenor and soprano saxophone), Larry Grenadier (double bass) and Jeff Ballard (drums). Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York, in 2008 and produced by Manfred Eicher. CD, ECM 2067, 2009.

Enrico Rava's quintet with Stefano Bollani (piano), Mark Turner (tenor saxophone, his ECM debut), Larry Grenadier (double bass) and Paul Motian (drums): nine Rava pieces and two group improvisations. Recorded February 2008, Avatar Studios, New York.

This is a document of one of the solo gigs by the modern sax legend and presumed bearer of the hallowed flame of Black American free jazz when he made his first trip to Japan.

Seven one-movement concertos by Michael Mantler for soloists including Mantler, Roswell Rudd, Majella Stockhausen and Nick Mason, with the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin under Roland Kluttig. Recorded 2007-2008 in Berlin, Pernes-les-Fontaines and Union City.

Eberhard Weber reworks twelve solo bass sequences recorded live with the Jan Garbarek Group between 1990 and 2007, adding keyboards, saxophone and selje flute by Garbarek and percussion by Michael DiPasqua. Mixed in 2011 at Studios La Buissonne.

Jazz quartet album by John Surman (baritone and soprano saxophones) with John Abercrombie (guitar), Drew Gress (double bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums). Seven Surman originals plus tunes by John Warren and Billy Strayhorn. Recorded September 2007, Avatar Studios, New York.

Duo album by Trygve Seim (soprano and tenor saxophones) and Frode Haltli (accordion): Seim originals, Armenian traditional music, Gurdjieff and Bob Marley's Redemption Song. Recorded June 2007 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Jon Balke (keyboards, conductor) and Amina Alaoui (voice) set Andalusian, Sufi and Christian mystical poetry with Kheir Eddine M'Kachiche (violin), Jon Hassell (trumpet, electronics) and Bjarte Eike's Barokksolistene. Recorded 2007-2008 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo.

Live recording of Terje Rypdal's suite Crime Scene, commissioned by Nattjazz, with his quartet (Palle Mikkelborg, Ståle Storløkken, Paolo Vinaccia) and the Bergen Big Band directed by Olav Dale. Recorded May 2009 at Nattjazz, Bergen.

First ECM solo piano album by Marilyn Crispell: seven improvised Vignettes and other pieces of her own, plus Jayna Nelson's Cuida Tu Espiritu and Arve Henriksen's Stilleweg. Recorded April 2007 at Auditorio Radio Svizzera, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Duo album by Enrico Rava (trumpet) and Stefano Bollani (piano): originals by both, Bruno Martino's Estate, Jobim and Moacir Santos, plus a free improvisation. Recorded November 2006 at Auditorio Radio Svizzera, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Third and last album of Tord Gustavsen's ECM trilogy, with Harald Johnsen (double bass) and Jarle Vespestad (drums). Twelve Gustavsen pieces and one by Johnsen, recorded December 2006 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Miroslav Vitous (double bass, compositions, arrangements, production) with a shifting ensemble including Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, Gary Campbell and Gerald Cleaver, plus orchestral and choral samples. Recorded 2004-2005 in Clavesana, Italy. CD, ECM 2013.