Jazz /
Driftwood
Trio album by Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel (acoustic and electric guitar) with Larry Grenadier (double bass) and Brian Blade (drums), his first ECM album as leader. Recorded May 2013 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo; produced by Manfred Eicher; released 2014.
Shadow Man
Second ECM album by Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Berne (alto sax), Oscar Noriega (clarinets), Matt Mitchell (piano) and Ches Smith (drums, vibraphone). Recorded January 2013 at the Clubhouse, New York, produced by Berne and David Torn.
One Is The Other
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.
Baida
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.
Mira
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.
In Full View
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.
Rava On the Dance Floor
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.
Trios
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.
Small Places
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.
Celebration
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.
Within A Song
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.
All Our Reasons
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.
Year Of The Snake
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.
Snakeoil
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.
Tribe
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.
Faithful
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.
The Rub And Spare Change
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.
Live at Birdland
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.
Dark Eyes
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.
Mostly Coltrane
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.