Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

ECM debut of Swiss singer Susanne Abbuehl with Wolfert Brederode (piano, harmonium, melodica), Christof May (clarinets) and Samuel Rohrer (drums): settings of E. E. Cummings, songs by Carla Bley, Monk and Prabha Atre. Recorded November 2000, Rainbow Studio, Oslo. CD edition.

The Source (Trygve Seim, saxophones; Øyvind Brække, trombone; Per Oddvar Johansen, drums) with the Cikada String Quartet, Arve Henriksen, Frode Haltli and others. Recorded November 2000 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo; produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM, 2002. CD edition.

Solo double bass album by Anders Jormin, with six short pieces for brass quartet. Bass recorded 17 December 1999 at Artisten, Göteborg; brass recorded 2 October 2000 at Studio Bohus, Kungälv. Produced by Manfred Eicher, released by ECM in 2001. CD edition.

Rosslyn (ECM 1751) is John Taylor's first album as leader on ECM, a piano trio with Marc Johnson (double bass) and Joey Baron (drums), recorded in April 2002 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, and released in January 2003.

Live duo concert by Charlie Haden (double bass) and Egberto Gismonti (guitar, piano), recorded 6 July 1989 at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, Salle Marie-Gérin-Lajoie. Released by ECM in 2001. CD edition.

Charles Lloyd (tenor saxophone) with Brad Mehldau (piano), John Abercrombie (guitar), Larry Grenadier (double bass) and Billy Higgins (drums), recorded December 1999 at Cello Studios, Los Angeles. Ballads, spirituals and Lloyd originals. CD edition.

Second ECM album by Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær, with Eivind Aarset (guitar, electronics), Audun Erlien (bass), DJ Strangefruit and Sidsel Endresen (voice). Recorded in Oslo studios in 1999, released May 2000. CD edition.

Solo album by Mat Maneri on acoustic violin and viola: his own compositions and pieces by Matthew Shipp, Joe Morris, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and Joe Maneri, recorded July 1999 at Gateway Studio, Kingston, produced by Steve Lake. CD, 2001.

Astrakan Café is a 2000 ECM album by Tunisian oud player Anouar Brahem with Turkish clarinettist Barbaros Erköse and percussionist Lassad Hosni, recorded in June 1999 at the Propstei St. Gerold, Austria, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Recorded live at Théâtre Monnot, Beirut on 10 July 2005 at the 5th Irtijal Festival of Improvised Music. Mixed and mastered at The Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago. Limited edition of 1000 numbered copies

Quartet album by violinist Michael Galasso with Terje Rypdal (guitar), Marc Marder (double bass) and Frank Colón (percussion): sixteen Galasso compositions, recorded November 2002 and April 2004 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo. CD, 2005.

Duo album by Gianluigi Trovesi (piccolo, alto and bass clarinets) and Gianni Coscia (accordion): music by Fiorenzo Carpi, John Lewis, Luis Bacalov, a tango and originals, recorded February 1999 at Radio Studio DRS, Zürich. Liner essay by Umberto Eco. CD, 2000.

Sextet album by guitarist John Abercrombie with Dan Wall (organ), Adam Nussbaum (drums), Kenny Wheeler (trumpet, flugelhorn), Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone) and Mark Feldman (violin), recorded September 1998 at Avatar Studios, New York. CD, 1999.

Keith Jarrett alone at the piano in ten jazz ballads and folk songs by Gershwin, Ellington, Kern, Levant and others, recorded in 1998 at his Cavelight Studio in New Jersey while he was recovering from a long illness. Released by ECM in 1999.

Live recording by Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, the Standards Trio, at Orchard Hall, Tokyo, on 30 March 1996: ten standards and bebop tunes, two of them flowing into Jarrett originals.

First duo album by Joe Maneri (alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet, piano) and his son Mat Maneri (acoustic and electric violins, electric viola), recorded October 1997 at Hardstudios, Winterthur, produced by Steve Lake.

Duo album by violinist Dominique Pifarély and pianist François Couturier: nine pieces, mostly their own plus Mal Waldron's Warm Canto, recorded April 1997 at the Festeburgkirche, Frankfurt, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Trio album by Anouar Brahem (oud), John Surman (soprano saxophone, bass clarinet) and Dave Holland (double bass), recorded on 13-15 March 1997 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher and released by ECM in 1998.

Solo piano concert by Keith Jarrett, recorded live at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 13 February 1995: two improvised sets and Over The Rainbow. Remixed at Rainbow Studio, released by ECM in 1997.

Second album by Ketil Bjørnstad's The Sea quartet, with David Darling (cello), Terje Rypdal (guitar) and Jon Christensen (drums). Recorded in December 1996 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher, released by ECM in 1998.

Trio album by pianist Michael Cain, trumpeter Ralph Alessi and saxophonist Peter Epstein, without bass or drums. Recorded in August 1996 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher, released by ECM in 1997.

Solo album by Ralph Towner on classical and 12-string guitar, seven pieces plus the suite Seven Pieces for Twelve Strings. Recorded March 1996, Rainbow Studio, Oslo; produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 1611, 1997.

Tomasz Stanko Quartet with Bobo Stenson (piano), Anders Jormin (double bass) and Tony Oxley (drums): six Stanko compositions plus duo and trio improvisations. Recorded January 1996, Rainbow Studio, Oslo. ECM 1603, 1997.

Duo album by pianist Ketil Bjørnstad and cellist David Darling: twelve parts drawing on William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, mixing composition and improvisation. Recorded May 1995, Rainbow Studio, Oslo; produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 1593, 1997.

Jan Garbarek album of 15 original pieces, many first written for film and ballet, with Rainer Brüninghaus, Eberhard Weber, Marilyn Mazur, Manu Katché, Trilok Gurtu and Mari Boine. Recorded June 1995, Rainbow Studio, Oslo. ECM 1585, 1996.

Michael Mantler's suite of songs and interludes on poems by Giuseppe Ungaretti, sung by Mona Larsen with the Danish Radio Big Band under Ole Kock Hansen and Mantler's chamber ensemble, recorded at Danmarks Radio, Copenhagen, in January 1994.

Live recording by Keith Jarrett's Standards trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, eight American songbook standards played at the Konserthus in Oslo on 7 October 1989, released by ECM in 1995.

Edward Vesala's last ECM album with his band Sound & Fury: twelve of his compositions for horns, harp, accordion, strings and percussion, with Iro Haarla, Jorma Tapio, Pepa Päivinen and others. Recorded 1993-1994 at Sound and Fury Studio, Korkeakoski, Finland. ECM 1541, 1994.

Free improvisations by Paul Bley (piano), Evan Parker (tenor and soprano saxophones) and Barre Phillips (double bass), the first recorded Bley/Parker meeting. Recorded January 1994 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Steve Lake. ECM 1537, 1995.

Live trio recording of Keith Jarrett with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, made on 16 September 1992 at the Deer Head Inn, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania. Seven standards, produced by Bill Goodwin, released by ECM in 1994 (ECM 1531).

Solo album by Eberhard Weber on five-string electric upright bass, with overdubs and loops, nine of his own compositions. Recorded April-June 1993 in Munich, produced by Weber, released by ECM in October 1993 (ECM 1518).

Jan Garbarek (tenor and soprano saxophone), Anouar Brahem (oud) and Ustad Shaukat Hussain (tabla), recorded August 1992 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 1515, released 1994.

Blistering CD of live performances recorded at CBGB in New York in 1992.

Back in stock, CD reissue of what was the 4th Borbetomagus album, originally released on LP by Agaric way back in 1983. The trio of Jim Sauter (reeds), Don Dietrich (reeds) & Donald Miller (guitar). Recorded at In-Roads, NYC. May 7, 1982. "Barbed Wire Maggots is a motherfucker, even now, 23 years after it was recorded. Recorded at In-Roads on Mercer Street, BWM documents a gorgeous evening of extreme sonic dialogue. Sauter and Dietrich's reeds skinny-dip into virtual classicist free mode at time…

CD re-issue of Borbetomagus' 3rd album originally released in 1982. This recording, compiled from concerts in 1981 and 1979, explores the range of sound that this trio could generate. It is best played at high volume, for this is the only way that the subtleties of the music can get through the sheer barrage of sound. This is music to scare your pets; at first listen this record may be mistaken for random noise. A closer listen will reveal that the sound is tightly controlled. The art happ…

Expanded reissue of the debut Borbetomagus album from 1980 with the trio of Sauter, Dietrich and Miller further bolstered by Brian Doherty on electronics. These early recordings have a beautifully corrosive classical avant garde/Industrial edge that is as bluntly beguiling as low-grade splatter. Also features a winning shot of Donald Miller's legendary mullet on the back as well as the previously unreleased "Last Concordat" - bonus! The trio of Jim Sauter (reeds), Don Dietrich (reeds) and Donald…

Jan Garbarek Group album with Rainer Brüninghaus, Eberhard Weber, Manu Katché, Marilyn Mazur and singers Agnes Buen Garnås and Mari Boine, recorded September 1992 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 1500, released 1993.

Second and last album by Aparis: Markus Stockhausen (trumpets, flugelhorn), Simon Stockhausen (keyboards, soprano saxophone) and Jo Thönes (acoustic and electronic drums), recorded July 1992 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo. ECM 1496, released 1993.

Free improvisation session by Paul Bley (piano), Gary Peacock (bass), Tony Oxley (drums) and John Surman (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet), recorded September 1991 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 1488, released 1993.

Solo piano improvisations by Keith Jarrett, recorded live at the Vienna State Opera on 13 July 1991 in two parts of about 42 and 26 minutes. Produced by Manfred Eicher and Jarrett. ECM 1481, 1992.