Jazz /
Vagabond
Dominic Miller's third ECM album (2023), eight originals for quartet with Jacob Karlzon (piano, keyboards), Nicolas Fiszman (bass) and Ziv Ravitz (drums), recorded April 2021 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines, produced by Manfred Eicher.
Dach
"Living," wrote John Cage in 1952, "takes place each instant and that instant is always changing. The wisest thing to do is to open one's ears immediately and hear a sound suddenly before one's thinking has a chance to turn it into something logical, abstract or symbolical." Many improvising musicians today pay lip-service to Cage, but very few perform music which really lets sounds be themselves. Since 1993, trombonist and composer Radu Malfatti has been exploring "the lull in the storm", craft…
Entendre
Nik Bärtsch's first solo piano album for ECM (2021): five of his numbered Modul compositions and Déjà-vu, Vienna, played without overdubs, recorded September 2020 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.
Uma Elmo
Jakob Bro's fifth ECM album as leader (2021), a trio with Arve Henriksen (trumpet, piccolo trumpet) and Jorge Rossy (drums), recorded August-September 2020 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.
Once Upon A Time
Eberhard Weber alone on five-string electric bass with live delay loops, in concert at the Théâtre des Halles, Avignon, in August 1994. Released by ECM in 2021, mixed at La Buissonne by Gérard de Haro.
Coda
Michael Mantler reworks his own compositions (1975-2010) into five suites for a chamber orchestra conducted by Christoph Cech, with Mantler (trumpet), Bjarne Roupé (guitar) and David Helbock (piano) as soloists. Recorded September 2019 at Porgy & Bess, Vienna.
Trickster Orchestra
The 23-piece Trickster Orchestra, founded in Berlin in 2013 and led by singer Cymin Samawatie and percussionist Ketan Bhatti, with Wu Wei (sheng), Naoko Kikuchi (koto) and others. Texts in Farsi, Hebrew, Arabic and Turkish. Recorded January 2019, Meistersaal, Berlin.
Shadow Plays
Fully improvised solo piano concert by Craig Taborn, recorded live on 2 March 2020 in the Mozart-Saal of the Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna. Produced by Manfred Eicher; his second ECM solo album after Avenging Angel.
Uneasy
Piano trio album by Vijay Iyer with Linda May Han Oh (double bass) and Tyshawn Sorey (drums): eight Iyer originals plus Cole Porter and Geri Allen. Recorded December 2019 at Oktaven Audio Studio, Mount Vernon, New York; produced by Iyer and Manfred Eicher.
Lost Ships
Songs of love and exile by singer Elina Duni and guitarist Rob Luft, with Fred Thomas (piano, drums) and Matthieu Michel (flugelhorn). Recorded February 2020 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines; produced by Manfred Eicher.
Human
Shai Maestro (piano) with Jorge Roeder (double bass), Ofri Nehemya (drums) and Philip Dizack (trumpet): ten Maestro originals and Ellington's In a Sentimental Mood, recorded in early 2020 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines, produced by Manfred Eicher.
Lonely Shadows
Solo piano album by Polish pianist Dominik Wania, eleven freely improvised pieces recorded in November 2019 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, engineered by Stefano Amerio and produced by Manfred Eicher.
Garden Of Expression
Second album by Joe Lovano's Trio Tapestry, with Marilyn Crispell (piano) and Carmen Castaldi (drums), Lovano on tenor and soprano saxophones, tarogato and gongs: eight Lovano pieces recorded in November 2019 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano.
Return From The Stars
Mark Turner (tenor saxophone) with Jason Palmer (trumpet), Joe Martin (double bass) and Jonathan Pinson (drums): eight Turner compositions recorded in November 2019 at Sear Sound, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher.
La traversée
ECM leader debut of French tenor saxophonist Matthieu Bordenave, in trio with pianist Florian Weber and bassist Patrice Moret: nine Bordenave pieces recorded in October 2019 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines, produced by Manfred Eicher.
Lontano
Second duo album by cellist Anja Lechner and pianist François Couturier: improvisations, original pieces and music by Dutilleux, Kancheli, Brahem, Bach and Ariel Ramírez. Recorded October 2019 at Sendesaal Bremen, produced by Manfred Eicher.
The News
Andrew Cyrille (drums) with Bill Frisell (guitar), David Virelles (piano, synthesizer) and Ben Street (double bass), in tunes by Frisell, Virelles, Cyrille and Adegoke Steve Colson. Recorded August 2019 at Sound on Sound, produced by Sun Chung.
Big Vicious
Debut album of Avishai Cohen's Israeli quintet Big Vicious: Cohen (trumpet, effects, synthesizer), Uzi Ramirez and Yonatan Albalak (guitars, bass), Aviv Cohen and Ziv Ravitz (drums, live sampling). Recorded August 2019 at Studios La Buissonne, produced by Manfred Eicher.
Swallow Tales
John Scofield (guitar), Steve Swallow (bass guitar) and Bill Stewart (drums) play nine Swallow compositions on Scofield's first ECM album as leader. Recorded in one day in March 2019 at the James L. Dolan Recording Studio, NYU Steinhardt, New York.
Arctic Riff
First meeting on record of the Marcin Wasilewski Trio (Wasilewski piano, Sławomir Kurkiewicz double bass, Michał Miśkiewicz drums) with tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano. Recorded August 2019 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines, produced by Manfred Eicher.