Muzica ECM Records

• Testeaza in showroom Cotroceni

1972

Chick Corea - pian electric
Joe Farrell - flaut, saxofon sopran
Flora Purim - voce, percutie
Stan Clarke - bas
Airto Moreira - tobe, percutie

Steve Huey ( AllMusicGuide ): "The legendary first lineup of Chick Corea's fusion band Return to Forever debuted on this classic album (titled after the group but credited to Corea), featuring Joe Farrell on soprano sax and flute, the Brazilian team of vocalist Flora Purim and drummer/percussionist Airto Moreira, and electric bass whiz Stanley Clarke.

It wasn't actually released in the U.S. until 1975, which was why the group's second album, Light as a Feather, initially made the Return to Forever name. Nonetheless, Return to Forever is every bit as classic, using a similar blend of spacy electric-piano fusion and Brazilian and Latin rhythms. It's all very warm, light, and airy, like a soft breeze on a tropical beach -- hardly the sort of firebrand approach to fusion that Miles Davis, Tony Williams, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra were exploring, and far less rooted in funk or rock.

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

2018

Wolfgang Muthspiel - chitara
Ambrose Akinmusire - trompeta
Brad Mehldau - pian
Larry Grenadier - contrabas
Eric Harland - tobe

Where The River Goes carries the story forward from Rising Grace, Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel’s widely acclaimed 2016 recording, returning his cast of musicians to the same studio in southern France, for more of the intuitive magic and deep listening that characterised the earlier album. “The disc’s ambience,” said Downbeat of Rising Grace, “is meditative yet optimistic and joyful. Percolating grooves propel the flow; elemental melodies and classical harmonies provide signposts.”

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

2011

Louis Sclavis - clarinet, bas clarinet
Benjamin Moussay - pian, claviaturi, Fender Rhodes
Gilles Coronado - chitara electrica

Louis Sclavis’s band of the season is the Atlas Trio, an ensemble with a global reach of reference. Chamber-improvisation, polyrhythmic grooves, minimalistic pulse patterns, enveloping ambience, rhapsodic piano and funky Fender Rhodes, distorted guitar, clarinet soliloquies, contrapuntal themes, free group playing, a bit of everything. An open-form aesthetic applies in multi-facetted music simultaneously exploratory and involving. Recorded in the South of France last September, the album - Louis’s ninth for ECM – features a programme of new Sclavis compositions, and is issued in time for tour dates including a major showcase at the Europa Jazz Festival in Le Mans.

• Numar discuri: 1
• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: CD

2019

Larry Grenadier - contrabas

Larry Grenadier’s The Gleaners is a profound and highly creative album, harvesting influences from many sources, its title inspired by Agnès Varda’s film The Gleaners and I. In between his own pieces here, including a dedication to early hero Oscar Pettiford, Grenadier explores compositions by George Gershwin, John Coltrane, Paul Motian, Rebecca Martin and Wolfgang Muthspiel.

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: Normal

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1993
Jan Garbarek - saxofon tenor si sopran
The Hilliard Ensemble:
David James - contratenor
Rogers Covey-Crump - tenor
John Potter - tenor
Gordon Jones - bariton

Recorded in a heavily reverberant Austrian monastery, the voices sometimes develop in overwhelming waves, and Garbarek rides their crest, his soprano sax soaring in the monastery acoustic, or he underscores the voices almost unobtrusively, echoing the voices, finding ample room to move around the modal harmonies yet applying his sound sparingly.

Those with nervous metabolisms may become impatient with this undefinable music, but if you give it a chance, it will seduce you, too. [ AllMusic ]

"Officium is what Coltrane hears in heaven."

• Numar discuri: 2
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Contemporana
• Tip Album: VINIL

‘Blue Maqams’ will not only go down as one of the year's best ECM Records releases; it's a classic-in-the-making that should ultimately be considered one of the label's very best recordings in its nearly fifty-year history. [ John Kelman, All About Jazz ]

• Numar discuri: 2
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1981

Ralph Towner - chitara clasica, double-six
John Abercrombie - chitara acustica, , electrica, mandolina electrica

John Abercrombie is unique among guitarists in that whenever he becomes enraptured his sound becomes neither louder nor more pronounced but becomes somehow mysterious, liberated. Ralph Towner, on the other hand, revels in the crackling ruptures that so characterize his playing. Yet these roles seem reversed in this follow-up to the duo’s Sargasso Sea. A far more fragile carnation than its predecessor, it seems to forego the usual bag of tricks in favor of something more, as the album’s title would imply, reflective. This is especially apparent in the three improvisations with which the set list is dotted, and nowhere more so than in “Late Night Passenger,” where Abercrombie’s laddered filaments provide stunning berth for the other’s muted, jangling starlight. [ ecmreviews ]

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

• Testeaza in showroom Cotroceni

1990
Jan Garbarek - saxofon tenor si sopran
Rainer Bruninghaus - pian
Eberhard Weber - bas electric
Nana Vasconcelos - percutie
Manu Katche - tobe
Bugge Wesseltoft - sintetizator
Ingor Antte Ailu Gaup - voce

ecmreviews:
"By 1990, Jan Garbarek had for decades been searching for that one key, navigating a landscape of peaks and valleys, only to find it slumbering within the runes which, with this album, he eponymously took up. [...]

Balancing note and movement, Garbarek hones something truly special in the five-part “Molde Canticle,” which draws out the album’s deepest anatomies. Above all, the piece is about time. It speaks in a language that moves us. The gyroscopic quality of Part 2 hums around the centrifugal force of Garbarek’s lyricism as he scales ever higher.

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1974

Keith Jarrett - pian
Jan Garbarek - saxofon sopran si tenor
Palle Danielsson - bas
Jon Christensen - tobe

AllMusic: "On Keith Jarrett's first recording with his "European" quartet -- Jan Garbarek (sax), Palle Danielsson (bass), Jon Christensen (drums) -- he stakes out somewhat less abrasive territory than that which his "American" foursome was exploring at this time.

Garbarek sports a neutral, vibratoless tone that occasionally reaches an emotional climax; the rhythm section is supportive and just loose enough. The record operates at its strongest level when Jarrett locks the quartet into his winning gospel mode on "'Long as You Know You're Living Yours" and the tense drive of "Spiral Dance"; the reflective numbers are less compelling. Still, this LP-turned-CD successfully bucked the powerful electric trends of its time and holds up well today."

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1989

Keith Jarrett - pian
Gary Peacock - bas
Jack DeJohnette - tobe

AllMusic: "The Keith Jarrett Standards Trio gets back down to business with two CDs' worth of familiar and perhaps not-so-familiar tunes, recorded in one evening in Cologne, Germany. There is a concept this time, for all the standards carry a dedication to some jazz man or woman who performed them -- and they are not predictable choices; Lee Konitz for "Lover Man," "It's Easy to Remember" for John Coltrane, "All of You" for Miles Davis, etc.

Almost every number has a reflective solo piano introduction, with one of the notable exceptions being Jarrett's rolling, convoluted opening variations on "All the Things You Are" (Sonny Rollins). "Solar" (the Bill Evans tribute) has challenging, fractured interplay between Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock, and it directly segues into Jarrett's own obsessive "Sun Prayer," which seems to lose its way after a fine start.

• Numar discuri: 2
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

Luminessence, ECM’s new audiophile vinyl-reissue - cut from the original analog master tapes

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1980

Pat Metheny - chitara acustica si electrica
Charlie Haden - contrabas
Jack DeJohnette - tobe
Dewey Redman - saxofon tenor
Michael Brecker - saxofon tenor

AllMusicGuide : "Pat Metheny's credibility with the jazz community went way up with the release of this package, a superb two-CD collaboration with a quartet of outstanding jazz musicians that dared to be uncompromising at a time when most artists would have merely continued pursuing their electric commercial successes. [...]

The two original LPs were organized so that the more distinctive Metheny fusions were on sides one and four and the overt jazz tracks occupied sides two and three."

• Numar discuri: 2
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1986

Keith Jarrett - pian
Gary Peacock - bas
Jack DeJohnette - tobe

AllMusic: "Once Keith Jarrett gets into a concept, he likes to keep those tapes rolling. This two-disc live outpouring from a Standards Trio gig at Munich's Philharmonic Hall was the biggest offering from this group up to that time (it wouldn't hold that distinction for long) -- and once again, Jarrett treats his brace of pop and jazz standards with unpredictable, often eloquently melodic and structural originality.

To cite a pair of highlights: "Autumn Leaves" always seems to bring out an endless flow of invention from Jarrett, and "The Song Is You" gets off to a rollicking start and maintains a nearly relentless energy level for 17 minutes, closing with a Spanish vamp. Again, the rapport with his onetime jazz-rock associate, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and bassist Gary Peacock is total; DeJohnette's mastery of shifting cymbal patterns while maintaining the pulse acts on the trio like a loose tether made of carbon steel. There is a considerable amount of Jarrett vocalizing, though; sometimes he sounds like a tortured animal. "

• Numar discuri: 2
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1974
Ralph Towner - chitara clasica, chitara cu 12 corzi, pian
Jan Garbarek - saxofon sopran si tenor, flaut
Eberhard Weber - bas electric, violoncel
Jon Christensen - tobe, percutie

Down Beat: “Solstice inspires through its expressive openness… revealing depth of texture, nuance and meaning.” Perfect Sound Forever: “The LP is not only one of the moodiest ever published by ECM, but by anyone.” Solstice, recorded 1974, belongs to the great early production projects of ECM, with a new band formed in the studio. It’s the first of Towner’s recorded encounters with the European players, and this US-Norwegian-German quartet has a character all its own. Ralph’s synthesis of classical guitar technique and jazz improvisational skills inspires all participants on now-famous tunes including “Nimbus” and “Oceanus”. (Many future associations grew out of this meeting, including the Garbarek/Towner collaboration on Dis, and the integration of Eberhard Weber into the Jan Garbarek Group, and of Jon Christensen into Weber’s Colours band.)

Initially published in September 1975, vinyl is reissued in April 2017 as audiophile pressing taken from the original analog tapes.

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

Pentru prima data pe vinil !

Nils Petter Molvaer - trompeta, chitara electrica, chitara bas, percutie, sampling
Eivind Aarset - chitara electrica, efecte, ambient treatments
Ulf W. O. Holand - sampling
Morten Molster - chitara electrica
Roger Ludvigsen - chitara acustica, percutie, dulcimer
Rune Arnesen - tobe
Reidar Skar - sampling, claviaturi

ecmreviews:
"Khmer marks a monumental occasion: namely, the debut leader date of Nils Petter Molvær. Fresh off the boat of Small Labyrinths, the Norwegian trumpet player came out of left field with one of those rare albums that becomes second nature after only one listen. NPM, as he is also known, epitomizes ECM’s transcendental spirit with a collage of unbridled passion and integrity. Combining influences as diverse, if not also as intimately connected, as rock, ambient, dub, techno, and jazz, he deploys his mercurial fleet in a sea of samples, breakbeats, and smooth dives. Also carrying over from the Small Labyrinths session is hard rocker Eivind Aarset, who bookends the album with his e-bow guitar treatments and foils the delicate additions of free improviser Morten Mølster along the way. Mari Boine band regular Roger Ludvigsen adds six strings and more, playing prepared guitar and dulcimer, and along with drummer Rune Arnesen fleshes out the band’s acoustic signature. Yet it is keyboardist Reidar Skår and co-producer Ulf W. Ø. Holand who give the music just the kick it needs to hit the ground running. Holand, whose Lydlab is two floors above Oslo’s hallowed Rainbow Studio, provided samples and enough studio time to help shape the album into what it has become, while Skår brought his magic touch to said samples and others, manipulating them into an organic whole. The result is a classic that fits snugly alongside ECM’s all-time best.

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: Normal

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1974
John Abercrombie - chitara
Jan Hammer - orga, sintetizatoare, pian
Jack DeJohnette - tobe

This evergreen stands tall in the ECM forest. There is no sense of competition, only mutual reveling in a distinctly nuclear sound. One could easily call it fusion, but if anything it is fused with itself, for it has created every element it seeks to combine. Timeless indeed.

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1971 - Keith Jarrett, pian solo

AllMusicGuide:

"Facing You is one of the most important recordings in contemporary jazz for several reasons, aside from being beautifully conceived and executed by pianist Keith Jarrett. It is a hallmark recording of solo piano in any discipline, a signature piece in the early ECM label discography, a distinct departure from mainstream jazz, a breakthrough for Jarrett, and a studio prelude for his most famous solo project to follow, The Koln Concert. "

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

2014

Vijay Iyer - pian
Stephan Crump - contrabas
Marcus Gilmore - tobe

"Though Break Stuff is Vijay Iyer's third appearance on ECM in less than year, it is the debut offering from the longstanding trio on the label. The pianist and composer has been working with bassist Stephen Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore for more than a decade. They've issued two previous recordings together. Iyer usually works conceptually, and Break Stuff is no exception. In the press release he states that "a break in music is still music: a span of time in which to act. [ AllMusic ]

• Numar discuri: 2
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: Jazz
• Tip Album: VINIL

1990

Anouar Brahem - oud
Bechir Selmi - vioara
Lassad Hosni - percutie

Recorded in 1990, Barzakh was the ECM debut of Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem, and an album that immediately captured the attention of press and public with its gracefulness and authority. “Phenomenal…this is pure Arab music, without ‘world music’ frippery,” wrote Karl Lippegaus in Stereo. Brahem is joined here by Bechir Selmi, the sensitive violinist from the Musical Ensemble of Tunis, and percussionist Lassad Hosni, whose earthy frame drum and speeding darbouka would come to be important components of later Brahem recordings including Conte de l’incroyable amour and Astrakan Café. Beyond the improvisatory brilliance, Barzakh gave notice also of Brahem’s gift for writing arresting themes and luminous melody, as illustrated by “Raf Raf”, “Parfum de Gitane”, “Kerkenah” and other pieces here.

Initially published in April 1991, vinyl is reissued in October 2017 as audiophile 180g pressing.

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: World
• Tip Album: VINIL

1977
Egberto Gismonti - chitara, pian, voce, flaute
Nana Vasconcelos - percutie, berimbau, voce

Egberto Gismonti’s Dança das Cabeças (recorded 1976) was the first ECM disc from the brilliant Brazilian guitarist and pianist and the first document of Egberto’s collaboration with percussionist Nana Vasconcelos. It was a revelatory blending of sounds, Gismonti’s finely sculpted compositions irradiated by Nana’s Afro-Brazilian rhythm concept and his rainforest sounds. Dança das Cabeças won the German Record Critics Prize as Album of the Year in 1977.

Initially published in March 1977, vinyl is reissued in October 2016 as audiophile pressing taken from the original analog tapes.

• Numar discuri: 1
• Greutate Vinil: 180g

• Gen muzica: World
• Tip Album: VINIL