ECM Recommendations

So many great albums to choose from, but I'll get the ball rolling with a few suggestions. I'm assuming you're mostly after jazz, or jazz-influenced music, as ECM also have a "New Series" imprint for classical recordings.

Kenny Wheeler:
Double, Double You
Gnu High
Angel Song

Keith Jarrett:
Koln Concert
Belonging

Anat Fort:
A Long Story

Kim Kashkashian & Robert Levin:
Asturiana (not jazz, but a beautiful album of piano/viola duets)

Tomasz Stanko:
Suspended Night
Lontano
Dark Eyes

John Taylor:
Rosslyn

Jan Garbarek:
Loads of stuff, probably, but I'm a little out of touch with his output

Ralph Towner and Paolo Fresu:
Chiaruscoro

Louis Sclavis:
Lost on the Way

Manfred Schoof:
Resonance

Bobo Stenson:
Cantando

Enrico Rava:
New York Days
Tati

Stefano Bollani:
Solo
Stone in the Water

etc
etc

One way forward might be to search for ECM on Amazon, and see what catches your eye. Or wait for further recommendations here - I'm sure there will be many :-)

Regards
Nigel

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
Graham,
Adrian is your man for this.
He has most of them in his Den.
Stu

I second that.

Of the albums that Jan Garbarek has made for ECM, 'Officium' stands out. He's playing ad lib over the Hilliard Ensemble (a vocal quartet) singing mediaeval church music.

Neither jazz, nor plainsong, but wonderful music, beautifully recorded.

After the success of that CD, the same artists released a 2CD set called 'Mnemosyne' which is good, but doesn't pack quite the same punch. But get the first and, if you like it, try the follow-up.

This has been covered a lot recently. A search under ecm would be a good place to start.

Any of the Tord Gustavsen albums would be good, or my favourite ECM of last year; Anouar Brahem's 'The outstanding eyes or Rita'.

Nigel

quote:

Originally posted by ewemon:

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
Graham,
Adrian is your man for this.
He has most of them in his Den.
Stu

I second that.

yup - I'd be amazed if he didn't chip in!

Don't forget Paul Bley's "Open to Love" on ECM - a beautiful, and influential, solo piano album. Bley never got the commercial recognition of Jarrett, but is superior in my opinion. If you like this CD, you may wish to seek out some of his work on Steeplechase, which is of uniformly high quality.

My kind of thread! I am out tonight waiting for Air to come on stage at the Roundhouse. So I will do a proper reply when I get back from Bristol late tomorrow.

But as already mentioned a nice entry to ECM is via Tord Gustavsen - any of his trio albums Changing Places, The Ground and Being There.

If you fancy popping over the border into Sussex you would be welcome for an ECM listening session. And even though they are not on ECM i'll do another plug for EST

Paul Bley w/Oxley/Peacock/Surman "In The Evenings Out There" - excellent.

Jimmy Giuffre w/Bley/Swallow "Fusion/Thesis" is absolutely essential - recorded in 1961 and remastered and reissued by ECM; this is the record/music that influenced Manfred Eicher to start a label like ECM in the first place. I think it is the only album in the entire ECM catalogue that is a reissue from another label.

Some nice Eberhard Weber albums, "The Colours of Chloe" and "The Following Morning" being my favourites. (Kate Bush was a big fan of Weber, so much so he guests on a few of her albums).

And if you are feeling very adventurous, the Evan Parker Electroacoustic Ensemble.

quote:

Jimmy Giuffre w/Bley/Swallow "Fusion/Thesis" is absolutely essential - recorded in 1961 and remastered and reissued by ECM; this is the record/music that influenced Manfred Eicher to start a label like ECM in the first place. I think it is the only album in the entire ECM catalogue that is a reissue from another label.

One of my desert island CDs. Recorded almost fifty years ago but it still sounds revolutionary. Some of the greatest music ever recorded, in my view.

Wow, tooo much choice

Thanks for the feedback all.

actually, Graham, it would be interesting to update us and tell us how you get on. I'm sure there are a few people looking at the ECM catalogue and feeling overwhelmed. Its 40 years old now, isn't it?

if you also want to explore Baroque music please try John Holloway.

the playing and sound (beauty of the instruments) are outstanding.

Graham, I strongly urge you to start your journey with this first step: take advantage of an incredible download deal at Amazon.com:

ECM - Rarum Box Set 2: Selected Recordings IX - XX

http://tinyurl.com/pdfaxg

Normally I wouldn't suggest mp3s for music that depends so much on sonic quality (although these actually sound pretty darn good), but this sampler of 124 tracks of fantastic and diverse music (many of which are from albums I've suggested in my list below), from Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Egberto Gismonti, Dave Holland, Jan Garbarek, John Surman, Eberhard Weber, Bill Frisell, Jack DeJohnette, and many other fantastic musicians. This really is an amazing deal ... 12 discs worth of uncommonly beautiful music for $18. Such a deal! You really can't beat that, and you'll be able to find out what you like and delve deeper into full CDs.

This is just a very selective list, and admittedly somewhat skewed toward my own tastes. There are many aspects of the ECM catalog that aren't reflected here ... take this as a decidedly limited "suggested" list. Also, I've confined the list to just a few suggestions from each artist, but really could have included almost all of their albums. But the list would have been ten times as long!

These are all essential ECM classic albums:


John Abercrombie

• Gateway

Paul Bley

• Open, to Love

Anouar Brahem

• Le pas du chat noir

Gary Burton

• Dreams So Real

Gary Burton and Chick Corea

• Crystal Silence

Bill Frisell

• In Line
  
• Rambler

Jan Garbarek

• I Took Up the Runes

Jan Garbarek with The Hilliard Ensemble

• Officium

Egberto Gismonti

• Dança Das Cabeças

Charlie Haden, Jan Garbarek, Egberto Gismonti

• Magico

Jon Hassell (with Brian Eno)

• Power Spot

Dave Holland

• Conference of the Birds

Keith Jarrett

• Belonging
  
• Facing You
  
• Personal Mountains

Marc Johnson

• Bass Desires

Art Lande

• Rubisa Patrol

Charles Lloyd

• The Water Is Wide

Pat Metheny

• Bright Size Life

Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays

• As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls

Pat Metheny Group

• First Circle

Arvo Pärt

• Tabula rasa

Steve Reich

• Music For 18 Musicians

Terje Rypdal

• Waves

Steve Swallow

• Home

Ralph Towner

• Blue Sun
  
• Solstice

Ralph Towner and Gary Burton

• Matchbook

Vassilis Tsabropoulos/Anja Lechner

• Chants, Hymns and Dances

Eberhard Weber

• The Colours Of Chloë
  
• Fluid Rustle

Eberhard Weber and Colours

• Silent Feet

Kenny Wheeler

• Gnu High

Enjoy!

Fred

quote:

Originally posted by hungryhalibut:
This has been covered a lot recently. A search under ecm would be a good place to start.

Any of the Tord Gustavsen albums would be good, or my favourite ECM of last year; Anouar Brahem's 'The outstanding eyes or Rita'.

Nigel

Silly me... I meant 'The Astounding Eyes of Rita'. But the album is outstanding!

Nigel

quote:

Originally posted by Graham Russell:
I'd like to start exploring ECM album...any pointers to good ones and where to start?

Cheers
Graham

Graham, at the risk of sounding like a broken record...join Spotify and then enter

quote:

label:ecm

into the search engine.

There is a vast amount of ECM stuff for you to try for free/£10 a month.

I am a newcomer to the world of ECM but I have found an undiscovered country of enjoyment contained within their back catalogue.

Gordon

I agree with Gordon on the spotify idea. It gives you the opportunity to try before you buy as the catalogue is huge.

Here is a thread I started back in 2004 on ECM (under a diff name) and there are a lot of good recommendations here.
ECM Recommendations

Lots of good stuff here both ECM and non ECM.
Here..

ECM is famous for the very high technical quality of the records they make. A sizable fraction of their catalog is too much "ambient music" for my taste. Others are fantastic including

Dave Holland quartet Conference of the birds
Chick Corea, Gary Burton Crystal silence
Keith Jarrett Facing you
Art ensemble of Chicago Full Force
Old and new dreams Lonely Woman
Jack Dejohnette New rags
Art ensemble of Chicago Nice guys
Circle Paris concert
Jack Dejohnette Special Edition
Keith Jarrett Jarrett 5 Survivor suite
Keith Jarrett Jarrett 4 The Köln concert

Recommended ECM albums....too many to count but her are my favouries

Jack Dejohnette - Oneness
Ralph Towner - Solo Concert
Keith Jarrett - Melody at night with you

and too many more to mention

What I am reminded now having read the recommendations in this thread, is that ECM is very diverse even if it is known for a 'certain sound'. I can only add to Fred's list or Nigel's as I look at my collection. We can choose which Garbarek or Metheney we prefer I am sure. So don't be put off by one record!

I would just add Charles Lloyd who has not been mentioned thus far. Very different from his late 60's output and very special. And please please listen to Kenny Wheeler, any of them!

have fun
james

j

quote:

Originally posted by lutyens:

I would just add Charles Lloyd who has not been mentioned thus far. Very different from his late 60's output and very special.

Actually, I did list Lloyd's beautiful album The Water Is Wide, and there are others of his on ECM just as beautiful. Different from his late 60s work in some respects, but similar at the core. Not to mention that both Jarrett and DeJohnette were mainstays of Lloyd's group back then.

All best,
Fred