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Return To Forever I havenāt listened to since I retired my turntable, in the previous century.
Maybe I need to try it again.
Wonderful set, I have them all. āLast Danceā is especially poignant because it was effectively Charlie Hadenās farewell before his progressing neurodegenerative illness, post-polio syndrome, made him too sick to play.
Who knew Kim Kardashian had such taste (Rothko Chapel) ?!
I was the same Anders - had a listen recently, it still stands up, really good
You can never seem to have enough ECM albums. And thereās always a new one to get. Iāve been collecting ECM since the early 80s and have 439 at latest count. Finding the Top 4 is very hard, howeverā¦
1. Angel Song - Kenny Wheeler - have probably played this more than any album in my jazz collection. It just never gets old.
2. Bass Desires - Marc Johnson - The combination of Bill Frisell and John Scofield hits on all cylinders every time, especially Samurai Hee Haw.
3. Sangam - Charles Lloyd - This album with Zakir Hussain on tablas just goes over the top and blows me away every time.
4. Rubicon - Mats Eilertsen - I just got this one today. And itās amazing, melodious and deep
Cheers, Robert
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I love everything I have with the sadly departed Kenny Wheeler, who I never managed to hear live even though Iāve been lucky to catch many of his regulars like Dave Holland. On ECM, I have and much enjoy Deer Wan and Songs for Quintet but I had missed Angel Song, an oversight I obviously need to correct. From Charles Lloyd, I have pretty much everything he recorded on ECM and more recently on Blue Note. Iāve been very lucky to catch him live several times in the last decade, and heās coming back here to Northern California very soon 
Need to check out your other recommendations too, Bass Desires looks very interesting. Scofield and Frisell together, now thatās something I didnāt realize existed, even though I am pretty familiar with both separately both recorded and live.
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They are fantastic albums. In this order:
1 - Implosions (STEPHAN MICUS);
2 - The Kƶln Concert (KEITH JARRETT);
3 - Blue (TERJE RYPDAL, THE CHASERS);
4 - Wichita Falls, Wichita Falls Falls (PAT METHENY, LYLE MAYS);
I am very sorry to leave out of this list Private City, Silent Feet, Musique Mecanique and Twelve Moons;
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Wow!
Iām new around here and I just found this thread. After reviewing the posts the only thing I can say is WOW! and to paraphrase an old expression - this is not your grandmotherās ECM thread.
I am very impressed with the depth and knowledge my fellow Roon users have of the great ECM catalog. Most, if not all, of own favorite ECM recordings are listed in this thread, including āConference of the Birdsā! What a surprise and pleasure it is to see that the music discussions around here will be more than just the rehashing of the same old tired 20 or so classic jazz recordings that always show up on so many forums when jazz is mentioned.
And so along with āConferenceā I see that Ralph Townerās āSolsticeā is listed along with many great Keith Jarrett recordings. And even Jan Garbarekās āI Took Up the Roons (sic)ā
As I said, color me impressed!
In 2018, I bought 16 ECM downloads. All worthy, but here are my top 4:
- Lebroba: Andrew Cyrille/Wadada Leo Smith/Bill Frisell
- Where the River Goes, Wolfgang Muthspiel
- The Other Side, Tord Gustavsen Trio
- Obsidian, Kit Downes
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ECM, I have absolutely no idea what this is?
Something special and really absorbing. Fascinating, although definitely not for the faint-hearted, nor for the ones that only like their voices pure and clear as a bell.
āThe music of Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian made its first ECM appearance on Alexei Lubimovās Der Bote . Yet it wasnāt until violist Kim Kashkashian reflected deeply on her own Armenian roots that his sound-world, along with that of the nationās treasure Komitas (a.k.a. Soghomon Soghomonian, 1869-1935), came into its deserved own. The result is a fortuitous one, not least because of Kashkashianās unwavering dedication to her instrument and its limitless possibilities. Hayren interlocks Mansurianās earthen sensitivities with Komitasās visionary roots for a blend that is at once supra-paradigmatic and forged on a shared oral connection between those who perform and the very earth on which they stand. The programās title deliberately evokes the poetic style much revered in Armenia, and the implications could hardly be more appropriate, for while Mansurian is like a brittle page, Komitasās typography is bold and crisp.
Although the album is made up mostly of chamber pieces such as Havik , in which the viola seems on the verge of losing its foothold, surprises await us as Mansurian not only takes to the piano but also adds his actual voice into the rippling waters of his surroundings. The polished arrangements encase every raw lullaby in a lantern, such that the quietude of songs like Garun a feels like the shadow of the dying light of Krunk . His is not a voice to be praised for its technical prowess, but one to languish in for its unabashed descriptiveness. Mansurian seems to mimic Kashkashianās gravelly emotions, if not the other way around. This is music that flirts with pitch as the wind might with a tree branch: no matter how much it bends, its essential form remains intact. One can say the same for Chinar es , which feels on the verge of utter collapse from the weight of its openness. And it is a fine musician indeed who can become even more vocal in her instrumental rendition of Krunk , which while timorous is by virtue of its lilt a caress on whatever part of the brain is activated when we read moving literature. After an alluring piano solo in Oror , sounding for all like a plaintive interlude in an Eleni Karaindrou soundtrack, Kashkashian and percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky untie every subtle knot to be found in Mansurianās Duet for viola and percussion . What starts as a soulful postlude burrows into an 18-minute cavern of living darkness. The melodies are self-aware, dented by marimbas and gongs, and point like a compass needle to the truest north that is incantation.
Hayren is an album that will likely require repeated listening. As for myself, I can only say it has grown with me into a rich and multilayered carving. Not unlike life itself, it is narrated by a thousand cryptic asides for every direct proclamation, and through this disparity achieves a mature sort of unity that is nothing if not honest.
Kashkashian always brings a personal dimension to her playing and perhaps nowhere more so than here. The intimacy of her interpretations is only enhanced by those of Mansurian, who continues to open our ears to the possibility of what lies already locked behind those cochlear doors.ā
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Google is always an option and thank you for linking me.
https://www.ecmrecords.com/catalogue/1516173984/returnings-jakob-bro
https://www.ecmrecords.com/catalogue/1508747464/invisible-threads-john-surman
https://www.ecmrecords.com/catalogue/143038750629/conference-of-the-birds-david-holland-quartet
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Not exactly sure how I happened upon this thread today but I just want to say THANKS to everyone who has contributed to it. Really enjoying exploring so many great albums.
Tim
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Those ECM albums are for me the equivalent of the emperor without clothes. Keith Jarreth Koln Concerts I listened last since i was begin twenty. After that I luckely cured from all that bullcrap and focused on real Music. Never looked back or listened to Steve Tibbetts and consorts.
So if you donāt like the music presented on ECM recordings why on earth are you posting on this discussion? Just ignore this discussion the same way you ignore the music. Now have a nice day!
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Exactly my thoughts.
So you listened to one ECM album years ago and dismiss an entire label with hundreds of musicians across the globe and thousands of albums on the basis of this? Makes me curious what āreal Musicā is then, as I seem to have been listening to fake Bullcrap for far too long. Please enlighten me
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