Contemporary ECM releases, recommendations

[simon moon]

My appreciation for ECM started when I worked at a LA record store in the late 70's to early 80's.

Being located close to Warner Brothers music (the US distributer of ECM at the time) brought many WB employees trading in stacks of brand new promo ECM vinyl.

It did not take me long to get into the entire ECM ethos of minimalist cover art, unique European take on jazz, dead quiet vinyl, and minimally mic'd audiophile recording quality. I particularly liked their avoidance of typical, head > solo > head > solo, etc

The label really kept music interesting during the dearth of good prog of the 80's.

Ever since the prog revival of the early to mid 90's, my exploration of ECM pretty much ground to a halt.

I recently purchased CD's from Michael Formanek and Dominique Pifarély (incredible violinist), but now I want more!

Please list some recommendations of recent (maybe the last 10 years) ECM releases. Try to recommend new artists to the label, as opposed to veterans still recording for ECM.

Thanks!

[interbellum]

Tord Gustavsen released his latest CD What Was Said this year on ECM, which was his first one on this label.



There's a lot to discover for you, I guess, so enjoy.

[mogrooves]

Billy Hart
Ralph Alessi
Fly (Mark Turner)
Tim Berne's Snakeoil
Craig Taborn
Marilyn Crispell

[hippypants]

[Spiral]

Last decade? I'd have trouble picking only a few from the last two years. But right off the top of my head...

Anything from Nik Bärtsch's Ronin/Mobile is top-notch; for an intro I'd say Stoa.

Tord Gustavsen has a few very pretty ones with trio & quartet. I also like What Was Said as mentioned above, though it's in a whole different mode entirely that includes vocal hymns and Rumi poetry. Trygve Seim has a complementary disc out also based on his poems, but I have no idea how it compares.

Marcin Wasilewski Trio: Faithful. Another superb (and very different) piano trio.

Jakob Bro: Streams (guitar trio big on atmospherics; can you tell small combos are really my thing?)

Other things I've played a whole lot...

Ketil Bjørnstad & Terje Rypdal: Live in Leipzig
Miroslav Vitous: Music of Weather Report
Manu Katche: Third Round
Ralph Towner & Paolo Fresu: Chiaroscuro
Jon Hassell: Last Night the Moon Came...

[Reid]

Ben Monder is new to the label. His CD is titled Amorphae. You might also want to explore labels with a similiar aesthetic including ACT, and Cryptogramophone. https://cryptogramophone.com/ https://www.actmusic.com/en

[Poisoned Youth]

This is hard to pin down, but here's what I'd add to the chorus...


- Nik Bartsch is the ultimate standout for me and hit on PE. There are several releases that are worth diving into. It's start with Stoa and go from there.


- I'd concur with others on the following...

Tim Berne/Snakeoil
Marcin Wasilewski Trio
Mark Turner Quartet and Fly Trio
Tord Gustavsen
Michael Formanek (did you try Rub and the Spare Change?)


- I would add these guys to the list:

Jacob Young (guitarist): Evening Falls is a very nice album with Eick, Christensen, etc.
Wolfert Brederode Quartet: Pianist with a few albums on the label. My favorite is currents.
Mathias Eick: trumpeter with a few quality releases. My fave is probably Skala.
Cyminology: This group centers around Cymin Samawatie, Persian singer and leads a piano quartet. As Ney and Saburi are quite nice.
Manu Katche: French drummer. Had a series of well regarded releases about 10 years ago.


- And even though we are staying away from label stalwarts or last generation's musicians, I would still add these two:

Dave Holland - The "Quintet" albums from the 90s and early 00s are among the finest releases in ECM's catalog from that time period IMO.
Tomasz Stanko - Another standout from the 90s/00s. I'd suggest several of the Stanko releases were among the most widely praised on the label at that time.

[Dave (in MA)]

Eivind Aarset's ECM album is good, and his pre-ECM discography is even better.

[Reid]

There have also been a ton of affordable re-issues in the past decade. Some favorites are Sam Rivers-Contrasts, Ralph Towner/John Abercrombie-Five Years Later, Eberhard Weber-Colours, Dave Holland-Extensions.

Tomasz Stanko - Another standout from the 90s/00s. I'd suggest several of the Stanko releases were among the most widely praised on the label at that time.

Stanko's Leosia is a great album. I also recently picked up Charles Lloyd's live release, Rabu De Nube, which I enjoy a lot.

[simon moon]

Thanks!


That will keep me busy for a while.

Keep them coming.

[musicislife]

Tord Gustavsen released his latest CD What Was Said this year on ECM, which was his first one on this label.



There's a lot to discover for you, I guess, so enjoy.

That is his 7th ECM release since 2003. All are worth checking out.

[Zeuhlmate]

Oldies but excellenties:
Terje Rypdal
Eberhard Weber
Ralph Towner
Jan Garbarek

Newbies:
Nik Bärtsch

[Dana5140]

Tigran Hamasyan has a great new ECM disc.

[battema]

Some (semi) recent ones from me, for whatever it's worth:

Masabumi Kikuchi - Black Orpheus (solo piano)
Hamasyan / Bang / Aarset / Henricksen - Atmospheres (killer 2 CD set)
Arve Henricksen - Cartography (a bit older, but great)

[NogbadTheBad]

Agree wholeheartedly on the Nik Bartsch reco

[interbellum]

That is his 7th ECM release since 2003. All are worth checking out.

Thanks for the correction on Tord Gustavsen.
My information came from this page on discogs, but of course I should have checked its completeness.

[Supersonic Scientist]

Glad this thread started....I too have been off the ECM radar for far too long........I need to check this stuff out pronto !

[musicislife]

Thanks for the correction on Tord Gustavsen.
My information came from this page on discogs, but of course I should have checked its completeness.

No problem. I've been a fan of his for quite a while and knew I had more than one of his discs. Fwiw, although it's given to the occasional error, All Music is usually more reliable than Discogs in my experience.

[simon moon]

So far on my short list, after listening to samples:

Tim Bern
Tigran Hamasyan
Nik Bartsch
Arve Henricksen

Killer stuff!

[musicislife]

So far on my short list, after listening to samples:

Tim Bern
Tigran Hamasyan
Nik Bartsch
Arve Henricksen

Killer stuff!

Label stalwart, John Abercrombie, has put out a few good ones over the last 10 years or so.

[simon moon]

Label stalwart, John Abercrombie, has put out a few good ones over the last 10 years or so.

Very true.

But I am more interested in artists more recent to the label.

I want to see where the new people are taking the ECM ethos.

[Svetonio]

Late on the party, I'd like to recommend this album by Food :







Personnel:

Thomas Strønen (drums, electronics percussion, Moog, Fender Rhodes)
Iain Ballamy (saxophones, electronics)
Christian Fennesz (guitar, electronics).

[per anporth]

Not a newbie, but I think more or less every album John Surman has recorded for ECM is worth checking out, & many are outstanding.

[Svetonio]

This is a track by Tel Aviv-born trumpeter Avishai Cohen, from his debut album for ECM, released in 2016.



Personnel:
Avishai Cohen: trumpet; Bill McHenry: tenor saxophone; Yonathan Avishai: piano; Eric Revis: double-bass; Nasheet Waits: drums

[Svetonio]