Today's ECM Playlist

[PoSR77]

Fun going through my collection searching for ECM releases, and finding stuff I had forgotten about!

Medieval; a cross between music and poetry in old French:

https://ecmreviews.com/2010/05/26/proensa/

A sample track:​

And what interesting things you're finding 2leftears!


I listened to this the other day but could not post it in here because...well, of the "new" posting rules. It's an album I kind of forgot about and rediscovered as well!

 

[2leftears]

Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble - Mnemosyne.

I think that exhausts my ECM collection...

 

[PoSR77]

@2leftears well thanks for your contributions, and that last post, since now I can finally post some albums I've listened to lately!

^ info

 

[BobSmith8901]

@2leftears well thanks for your contributions, and that last post, since now I can finally post some albums I've listened to lately!



^ info

Great bunch and I'll be checking out some of them I haven't heard of/listened to in a while. The Mick Goodrick record is a real gem. His chording on Summer Band Camp is amazing and I hear a lot of his rhythm playing influence in Pat Metheny's work, especially on Bright Size Life.

OT: If you like Ben Monder his latest record from 2024 (on another label) call Planetarium is highly recommended. Really interesting stuff.

 

[PoSR77]

Yea, I enjoyed that Mick Goodrick album too! A kind of out-of-nowhere find for me.


Here's a couple I'm listening to today:

 

[BobSmith8901]

Brand new release on 14 March 2025 from ECM New Series. Original recording from 2009. Highly recommended.

"...recorded in Lucerne’s Jesuitenkirche, built in the Baroque era, and long renowned for its exceptional acoustic properties."

Stanza VIII-XXII

The quality of the recording and the natural ambience of the space had me looking around at times outside the headphone space (modded Edition XS streaming from a Shanling M5 Ultra) for what I thought were sounds coming from my house. This record has that rare thing where you can listen with high concentration or do other mental tasks while still being engaged with the music.

https://ecmrecords.com/product/alex...boys-choir-youth-choir-kamer-andres-mustonen/

 

[David A Silva]

Thanks Bob, fantabulous recommendation!

 

[PoSR77]

Continuing with Surman.

A favorite:

And another team up with DeJohnette:

More Surman adds:

^Basically chamber classical with a sax taking the place of more traditional classical brass instruments.

^ Sax and church organ duets. Very unique, even for ECM.

^ And a another shift: mostly fairly standard modern contemporary/creative jazz consisting of sax, jazz guitar, bass and drums.


More Surman today:

^ This is a solo album consisting of Surman playing a variety of woodwind instruments (various clarinets and saxes) with backing synth. I really enjoyed it; it reminds me of his early work.


The title track is a good representation of the album:

^ A three piece group of sax/clarinet (Surman), marimba/vibraphone (Waring), and piano (Ayres). Pretty mellow, pretty good!

 

[JerseyD]

Latest ECM listen. Sorry for the small image. Head-Fi just doesn’t let me post large photos with my iPad, just “Attach files.” Great quartet recording.

 

[PoSR77]

Latest ECM listen. Sorry for the small image. Head-Fi just doesn’t let me post large photos with my iPad, just “Attach files.” Great quartet recording.

Welcome to the thread Jersey D! And nice selection! And don't worry about the image size; it blows up big enough on my computer to clearly see all the details.


Finally ending my run through my Surman collection. I've listened to this twice now and still don't know what to think. I like it, just not sure how much.

Listening to the output of this duo; the latter is brand new. Really like them both; not sure which I prefer. That should change as I get more acquainted with "Defiant Life" as I haven't listened to it enough yet to get a grip on it, unlike "Cosmic Rhythm" which I've listened to for a few years now.

 

[JazzVinyl]

Oh my! I am a long time ECM aficionado...
This is a fantastic album that I love! Have a soft spot for large ensembles:

 

[PoSR77]

Oh my! I am a long time ECM aficionado...
This is a fantastic album that I love! Have a soft spot for large ensembles:

Welcome to the thread JazzVinyl, and what an interesting selection: Rava covers MJ songs! I'm going to have to check that out.


Continuing with some more Vijay Iyer; this is less abstract than some of his material. It's basically very good modern creative jazz:

 

[JazzVinyl]

Welcome to the thread JazzVinyl, and what an interesting selection: Rava covers MJ songs! I'm going to have to check that out.

Thanks!! Glad to have _finally_ found some on here that dig the ECM catalog! Own most of the suggestions you have posted. Longtime John Surman fan, just love him on Bass Clarinet.

Here is an oldie (April of 1984) but a goodie:
John Abercrombie, guitar, Jack DeJohnette, drums and Jan Hammer on keys. Interesting to note they credit Tenor sax to "Mike Brecker".
They often also list "Engineer: Jan Erik Kongshuag".

No bass player! But I promise, you won't miss it! An incredible album for the ECM label called: "Night"

 

[JerseyD]

Yuval Cohen - Winter Poems (2025)
Such a lovely and relaxing album, from the soprano sax playing brother of the more famous clarinetist Anat Cohen and trumpeter Avishai Cohen.

 

[PoSR77]

Thanks!! Glad to have _finally_ found some on here that dig the ECM catalog! Own most of the suggestions you have posted. Longtime John Surman fan, just love him on Bass Clarinet.

Here is an oldie (April of 1984) but a goodie:
John Abercrombie, guitar, Jack DeJohnette, drums and Jan Hammer on keys. Interesting to note they credit Tenor sax to "Mike Brecker".
They often also list "Engineer: Jan Erik Kongshuag".

No bass player! But I promise, you won't miss it! An incredible album for the ECM label called: "Night"

That is a good one! I enjoy Abercromie's output.

Yuval Cohen - Winter Poems (2025)
Such a lovely and relaxing album, from the soprano sax playing brother of the more famous clarinetist Anat Cohen and trumpeter Avishai Cohen.

That looks very interesting...Yuval Cohen sounds familiar, although I don't see any of him as leader in my collection, so I'm going to have to check that out!

EDIT: I see that album just came out on CD, so I'm going to order it. Thanks for the heads up!

^ Here's an "un-ECM" ECM album; it's basically jazz fusion/jazz rock, as one could expect from guitarist Abercromie. Good set imo (heavy 80's type production though, so if that's not your thing...I actually like the "cold/digital" 80's sound a lot across genres), with always welcome sidemen Johnson (bass) and Erskine (drums).