AAJ Review: ECM: A Cultural Archeology Exhibition / Live Performances

[jkelman]

My coverage of the ECM: A Cultural Archeology Exhibition in München, Germany, going on until November 23, 2013, today at All About Jazz.

When the city's Haus der Kunst was given carte blanche by ECM label head Manfred Eicher, its co-curators - Okwui Enwezor and Markus Müller - put together an exhibition that, focusing on the label's first 15 years, reveals the depth and breadth of the label while being as spare and austere as the label itself.

In addition to the extensive exhibition and a marvelous new hardcover book to add to the slowly growing bibliography about the label, Haus der Kunst is hosting cinema nights, with films about, by or including material from ECM artists, as well as live performances - on this particular weekend, from singer Meredith Monk and pianist Alexei Lubimov.

Anyone in the München area should definitely plan to spend a few afternoons absorbing it all, though plenty can be taken in over the course of a single day. For fans of the label, there's never been anything like this. And for those who've subscribed to the many myths about the label, this exhibition goes a long way to dispelling them all.

Review here.

[jkelman]

Bump

[Wounded Land]

That is so cool! Thanks for posting. I am a huge ECM fan myself, from all eras.

In fact, I took a look at the first picture you posted, and right there on the very top left are copies of The Music Improvisation Company, Robin Kenyatta's Girl from Martinique, and Paul Bley's Ballads, all three of which I just picked up on vinyl (the Kenyatta was sealed!).

Manfred Eicher is a genius.

NP: Beardfish Sleeping in Traffic: Part One

[Septober Energy]

Awesome! I don't have time to read the whole article now, but I will. I count at least 13 album covers from my own collection in that first picture.

[jkelman]

Awesome! I don't have time to read the whole article now, but I will. I count at least 13 album covers from my own collection in that first picture.

thanks...it is long,but hopefully the subject matter justified the length.....do let me know ... thanks! John

[jkelman]

That is so cool! Thanks for posting. I am a huge ECM fan myself, from all eras.

In fact, I took a look at the first picture you posted, and right there on the very top left are copies of The Music Improvisation Company, Robin Kenyatta's Girl from Martinique, and Paul Bley's Ballads, all three of which I just picked up on vinyl (the Kenyatta was sealed!).

Manfred Eicher is a genius.

NP: Beardfish Sleeping in Traffic: Part One

If you go to the article, you'll see someone has posted a comment that reads:

'...justifies its position, like the label or not, as the single most important label in the history of recorded music.'
really? 'more important' than Blue Note or DG? (to name but two): your WORSHIP of ECM is both amusing and ridiculous (do you EVER give any of their releases a poor review?!)

I've posted.a lengthy reply to explain why I made this claim, and cite an ECM album that i consider to be absolute shite. Yes, I am unapologetically a serious fan of the label and Eicher's aesthetic choices, and have been of for nearly forty years, but jt's not just sycophantic fan-boyism.

In fact, I actually appreciate that this guy Toby has given me the opportunity to explain exactly why made the claim, and without disrespecting either Blue Note or DG (great labels, both, without a doubt). if interested, folks can can read my lengthy reply by scrolling to the bottom of any page in the article. I took the high road and didn't treat the guy with the same disrespect that he did yours truly - in fact, I suggested that if he could hip me to a label that's accomplished what ECM has on the same scale, I'd be most grateful, as it would mean there's some great music out there that I've not heard...

Cheers!
John

[Wounded Land]

John, I totally agree. I was trying to explain my love of ECM to my brother, and he eventually said, "So Manfred Eicher is bascially like an art dealer whose taste you really like." And I said, "That's it!"

And you have ALL the ECM recordings except for the one you mentioned in that post? ALL of them? Dear God, man...I bow to your dedication!

NP: Giacomo Puccini Madama Butterfly

[jkelman]

And you have ALL the ECM recordings except for the one you mentioned in that post? ALL of them? Dear God, man...I bow to your dedication

Some would call it a pathology...

[Septober Energy]

Good article, John. I wish I could go to this exhibit, especially since it mostly covers ECM's first 15 years. Since I mainly collect ECM on vinyl (mostly for economic reasons) that's the era with which I'm most familiar.

You said: No other label has introduced me to music I'd not otherwise have heard to this extent, ... ECM has also helped me break down my own preconceptions when it comes to new music.

I have similar feelings about ECM. As you alluded elsewhere in the article (or maybe it was in one of your comments below the article), some people buy ECM albums just because they're on ECM. I certainly do that, and I've met several others who do the same. I can't say I'm as open minded about trying/buying music on any other label, and certainly, this open-mindedness has led me to discover and enjoy music I'd never have imagined ever even hearing -- much less enjoying -- if it were not for ECM.

[Dave (in MA)]

If you go to the article, you'll see someone has posted a comment that reads:



I've posted.a lengthy reply to explain why I made this claim, and cite an ECM album that i consider to be absolute shite.

I knew which one it was before looking at the comment!. (And I've never heard the album, either - it's just so universally hated that it's become somewhat infamous.)

[jkelman]

I knew which one it was before looking at the comment!. (And I've never heard the album, either - it's just so universally hated that it's become somewhat infamous.)

And, tellingly enough, he has not replied to my post