ECM Vinilo y CD

Review: Canadian jazz pianist and composer Paul Bley dropped this solo album in 197 on ECM, a year after he originally recorded it on September 11, 1972. It remains a landmark in ECM's solo piano legacy following Chick Corea's Piano Improvisations and Keith Jarrett's Facing You for the way it weaves a deeply expressive narrative and includes compositions by Carla Bley and Annette Peacock as well as Bley's own innovative reinterpretations of jazz standards. Tracks like 'Harlem' and 'Started' deconstruct familiar melodies into dreamlike abstractions and offer a new approach to free balladry. As biographer Greg Buium notes, the album remains "an imperishable gem."

Review: Freigeweht was originally released in 1981 and marked the debut of Rainer Bruninghaus, the already legendary keyboardist from Eberhard Weber's Colours and the Jan Garbarek Group. He teamed with ECM luminaries Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn, Jon Christensen on drums and Brynjar Hoff on oboe for this project whose leader was hailed by the press at the time as "the most imaginative musician to employ minimal art in jazz" by blending influences like Steve Reich into playfully evolving constructs rather than rigid ideology. Wheeler's and Hoff's contemplative tones enhance Bruninghaus's lyrical themes here and all are driven by Christensen's dynamic propulsion. A truly evocative classic.

Review: Avishai Cohen's last album, 2016's Into The Silence, was an emotional affair, with the Israeli jazz trumpeter delivering a poignant set seemingly inspired by personal tragedy. Cross My Palm With Silver wrestles with different inspirations, namely the ongoing violence in the Middle East. Cohen is joined by regular collaborators Yonathan Avishai (piano), Barak Mori (double bass) and Nasheet Waits (drums) for a set that puts his heartbreaking trumpet solos at the heart of the action. Highlights come thick and fast throughout. They include mournful opener "Will I Die, Miss? Will I Die", the abstract and involving "Shoot Me in the Leg" and the thrillingly upbeat closer "50 Years and Counting".

Review: Call on the old Wise is a magnificently captivating solo album that was largely improvised in the moment. It finds pianist Nitai Hershkovits delivering some of his best work as he draws on a wide array of influences that go from his extensive work in the jazz world to more cutting-edge and contemporary explorations via plenty of his own personal classical music experiences. In it, there's a great balance of light and dark, heavy and more airy as well as rich arrays of colour and timbre. It was recorded in 2022 and produced by Manfred Eicher following his work with Oded Tzur's quartet on two acclaimed albums, Here Be Dragons and Isabela.

Review: The second album from Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith on ECM is a meditation on resilience, sorrow and the human condition. Across four expansive tracks on Defiant Life, Iyer's piano and Fender Rhodes intertwine with Smith's haunting trumpet to create a soundscape that's both urgent and serene. From the solemn depth of 'Sumud' to the shimmering melancholy of 'Floating River Requiem' and the radiant close of 'Procession: Defiant Life' notions of suffering, resistance and hope are explored. The record was recorded in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher. It's a deeply reflective work of emotional and spiritual resonance.

Review: Keith Jarrett's 2016 European tour has already been subject to one vinyl release (Munich 2016 ) and now ECM capture another of the nights on wax. This sumptuous double album documents the pianist's solo performance at Budapest's Bela Bartok National Concert Hall, which the artist is said to have considered something of a homecoming. Comprised of suite-like structures, which are themselves made up of independent "movements", the album is a marvel of spontaneity and resourcefulness. It brims with creative energy and complex abstractions as well as more striped back and soothing pieces.

Review: After years of collaboration on ECM recordings, including Characters On A Wall, French clarinettist Louis Sclavis and pianist Benjamin Moussay now present a collaborative album, Unfolding. With a program of original compositions, of which two-thirds are by Moussay and the rest by Sclavis, they create an intimate and chamber-like dialogue where lyrical moments and playful inventiveness collide. Their improvisations flow patiently and explore each theme with a rare creativity. This warm, exploratory approach highlights the depth of their musical connection, and it was all recorded at Studios La Buissonne in Southern France in March 2024.