Edition of Contemporary Music, autrement dit "ECM", est le célèbre label allemand fondé par le contrebassiste Manfred Eicher à Munich en 1969. ECM s'est rapidement imposé comme une maison de disques avec une direction musicale originale, voire visionnaire. Son influence a durablement marqué la production du jazz, notamment européen. Parallèlement, le label a été la cible de critiques de la part de certains amateurs et critiques de jazz trouvant ces productions dépourvues de swing, aseptisées, froides et monochromes.

Pourtant, les premières productions d'ECM furent consacrées à différentes facettes du free jazz qui était alors dans une période extrêmement créatrice. Le premier disque d'ECM est un disque du pianiste américain Mal Waldron, enregistré le 24 novembre 1969, qui n'est produit qu'à 500 exemplaires à l'époque, mais qui finira par atteindre les 14 300 exemplaires vendus en 1981.

Au début des années 1970, ECM va produire des albums importants, considérés aujourd'hui comme visionnaires ou particulièrement marquants, comme Conference of the Birds de Dave Holland ou Paris Concert de Circle, et enregistrer des artistes tels que Paul Bley, Don Cherry, Evan Parker ou Derek Bailey.

En septembre 1970, à Oslo, le saxophoniste norvégien Jan Garbarek enregistre son premier disque pour ECM, Afric Pepperbird. Ce premier disque éveille fortement l'intérêt des critiques. La collaboration entre Garbarek et ECM sera particulièrement féconde, et le saxophoniste enregistrera tous ses albums pour ECM.

En 1971, ECM produit le premier piano solo de Keith Jarrett, Facing You ; c'est le début d'une longue collaboration avec le pianiste, qui devient l'artiste phare du label. En 1975, Köln Concert, piano solo de Keith Jarrett, remporte un succès commercial considérable et assure la pérennité économique d'ECM avec plus de 4 millions d'exemplaires vendus.

En 1984, ECM officialise son intérêt pour les musiques autres que le jazz avec la création des « ECM New Series », essentiellement consacrées à la musique contemporaine et la musique classique. On lui devra notamment l'enregistrement de "Tabula Rasa" d'Arvo Pärt.

L'une des originalités d'ECM est de ne pas imposer de contrat d'exclusivité aux artistes. Chaque disque est le résultat d'une entente entre les souhaits de l'artiste et la vision du producteur. Eicher s'implique particulièrement dans la qualité sonore des enregistrements, l'esthétique des pochettes, et d'une manière générale, dans le soin accordé à la production. Les musiciens et les ingénieurs s'accordent pour lui reconnaître une excellente intuition musicale, ainsi qu'une grande implication. Revers de la médaille, il peut être parfois perçu comme intrusif et envahissant. Mais tous les musiciens reconnaissent en lui un grand producteur.

ECM se distingue dès ses premières productions par un son différent des productions habituelles de jazz. Le sens de l'espace, la clarté du son sont particulièrement mis en valeur, ainsi que la précision du rendu des instruments. Manfred Eicher est un producteur méticuleux, et souhaite s'approcher de la qualité de son obtenue dans la musique classique, utilisant son expérience acquise chez Deutsche Grammophon. Eicher est critique de la production dans le jazz de l'époque, trouvant que certains enregistrements sonnent « horrible, comme s'ils avaient été enregistrés sous l'eau ». Il souhaite mieux respecter la dynamique des instruments et entendre chaque instrument dans ses nuances et ses couleurs. Il s'entoure d'excellents ingénieurs du son, comme Martin Wieland au Tonstudio Bauer à Ludwigsburg et surtout Jan Erik Kongshaug à Oslo (Arne Bendiksen Studio, Talent Studios, Rainbow Studios). Eicher lui-même est réputé pour sa connaissance des micros, son intuition dans leur placement, et le maniement de la table de mixage. On peut le voir à l'oeuvre dans "Wenn aus dem Himmel" de Fabrizio Ferraro où l'on peut suivre l'enregistrement du CD "In Maggiore" de Paolo Fresu et Daniele di Bonaventura.

Le terme de « son ECM » est parfois utilisé pour qualifier à la fois la prise de son et, par extension, l'esthétique du label. Ce supposé « son ECM » sera même utilisé un temps comme slogan par ECM, « The Most beautiful Sound Next To Silence ». Acclamée au départ, la sonorité claire et transparente du label devient vite l'objet de critiques la qualifiant de « climats lénifiants, sonorités de hall de gare ». L'utilisation intensive de la réverbération est particulièrement critiquée.

De même, on a pu parler d'« esthétique ECM » pour qualifier les climats intimistes, les tempos modérés ou lents qui caractérisent nombre de productions ECM, parfois qualifiées de « jazz de chambre ». Ces climats sont parfois perçus comme étant assez éloignés du jazz.

En réalité, le catalogue ECM est loin d'être uniforme, et nombre d'albums ne correspondent pas à cette description, par exemple les disques de l'ensemble électro-acoustique d'Evan Parker, les expérimentations électroniques de Nils Petter Molvaer, ou le trio standard de Jarrett-Peacock-DeJohnette, très ancré dans la tradition américaine du jazz. Mais il est vrai que, du fait des goûts personnels du producteur et des nombreux artistes norvégiens ou suédois du label, il existe une influence générale de la Scandinavie sur les productions ECM. Le sens de l'espace, les qualités mélodiques et évocatrices de la musique sont reliés aux grands espaces scandinaves et aux fjords norvégiens. Cette influence est aussi parfois utilisée de manière critique pour souligner la froideur, une ambiance glaciale ou monotone. Mais ECM enregiste aussi des artistes aussi divers que Stephan Micus, Anouar Brahem, Egberto Gismonti, L. Shankar, Charlie Mariano, Ralph Towner, Dino Saluzzi, David Liebman, Collin Walcott...

Le free radical est bien présent, avec Evan Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, Barre Phillips, Anthony Braxton, ou les groupes d'Edward Vesala. Et ECM produit l'Art Ensemble of Chicago. Un versant plus classique et clairement américain est aussi présent, avec le quintette et big band de Dave Holland, le travail de Steve Swallow et Carla Bley (par l'intermédiaire du label associé Xtra Watt), Charlie Haden, Bill Frisell ou Pat Metheny. D'autres musiciens de jazz américains de renom ont enregistré régulièrement pour ECM : Chick Corea, Paul Bley, Gary Burton, Charles Lloyd, Peter Erskine, John Abercrombie, Jack DeJohnette, Gary Peacock, Paul Motian. Et évidemment Keith Jarrett, dont la majeure partie de la discographie est chez ECM. Le label lui permet de documenter les différentes facettes de son travail, de son très classique trio Standards, à ses aventureux solos de piano, ses quartets américain et européen, ainsi que ses interprétations d'œuvres classiques (Bach, Haendel, Mozart...)

ECM se distingue par le graphisme de ses pochettes d'albums, qui contribue fortement à son identité et à son succès. Présente dès les débuts d'ECM, Barbara Wojirsch ainsi que le photographe Dieter Rehm, ont contribué pendant plus de vingt ans à l'élaboration du style graphique d'ECM, très innovant pour l'époque et excluant en particulier la traditionnelle photo de l'artiste en couverture. Depuis 1997, ECM fait appel au peintre suisse Mayo Bucher ainsi qu'à l'artiste tchèque Jan Jedlička, et de plus en plus à la photographie (Jim Bengston, Roberto Masotti, Gérald Minkoff, Christoph Eggen...).

L'insolent succès d'ECM

LE MONDE | 07.11.09 | 18h12  •  Mis à jour le 07.11.09 | 18h12
Mannheim (Allemagne) Envoyé spécial

C'est une marque insolente, un défi en ces temps de marché du disque déprimé. Surtout quand on a le jazz et la musique classique pour terrain de jeu. La compagnie phonographique allemande ECM (pour Edition of Contemporary Music), 40 ans, publie avec régularité, depuis plusieurs années, entre quarante et cinquante disques par an, avec un catalogue prestigieux mais plutôt pointu. Parmi les sorties récentes de mi-octobre à début novembre, on trouve ainsi un coffret de trois CD du pianiste Keith Jarrett, en solo et en public, les nouveaux enregistrements studio du guitariste John Abercrombie, du joueur d'oud Anouar Brahem ou du pianiste Christain Wallumrod avec instruments baroques et batterie.

Chez ECM, pas d'emblème des racines afro-américaines du jazz comme Sonny Rollins ou de voix blanche et allure sexy comme Diana Krall. Pas de produits dérivés ni de partenariat avec un opérateur de téléphonie. Des disques, rien que des disques, et une réputation mondiale, aussi forte que celle du label américain Blue Note (fondé en 1939), pour cette petite structure de quinze personnes, dans la banlieue de Munich, toujours dirigée par son fondateur, Manfred Eicher.

ECM vient donc de fêter ses 40 ans au festival Enjoy Jazz, en Allemagne, qui n'a pas d'équivalent en Europe : des concerts tous les jours pendant six semaines, jusqu'au 11 novembre, à Heidelberg, Mannheim et Ludwigshafen. Quatre soirées, du 22 au 25 octobre à Mannheim, ont raconté les "40 ans d'ECM" avec, en prime, un symposium tenu au prestigieux château de la ville, aussi vaste que Versailles, dont le plan l'a inspiré, aujourd'hui siège universitaire.

L'écrin et l'ambition du programme sont destinés à saluer "l'importance d'ECM dans l'histoire de la musique", insiste Rainer Kern, directeur d'Enjoy Jazz. Dans le jazz européen et américain bien sûr, et plutôt dans les musiques improvisées. Mais aussi dans la musique contemporaine, avec quelques enregistrements des Américains Steve Reich et John Adams, avant que les productions ne s'intensifient avec une collection dédiée, "New Series", à partir de 1984, ouvrant un spectre large, du chant médiéval à la musique contemporaine consonante.

Et puis il y a l'image et le son. L'image, c'est celle des pochettes, plutôt rigoureuse, austère parfois. Un travail strictement graphique dans les premiers temps d'ECM. L'arrivée de quelques teintes pastel par la suite, parfois des photographies, floues, au cadre étrange. Actuellement on est dans des teintes sombres, des traces.

Le son c'est "The Most Beautiful Sound Next to Silence" : le plus beau son après le silence, formule d'un journaliste américain au début des années 1970, qui correspondait aux débuts d'ECM. Avec de l'écho, de la réverbération, qui évoqueraient les grands espaces vierges et minimalistes de pays nordiques, d'où viennent de nombreux musiciens qui enregistrent pour ECM.

La réalité sonore d'ECM est pourtant bien plus variée, la marque s'étant promenée depuis ses débuts dans une bonne vingtaine de studios (actuellement surtout le Rainbow Studio d'Oslo et l'Avatar Studio à New York), des dizaines de salles de concert de renom, parfois des églises, des monastères.

Fin 2009, ECM aura à son catalogue près de 1 200 références. Un bon quart concerne ce "classique-contemporain" de "New Series", avec notamment la star du contemplatif, le compositeur Arvo Pärt, le pianiste Andras Schiff, l'Hilliard Ensemble, Heiner Goebbels, le violoniste Thomas Zehetmair (présent pour les soirées d'Enjoy Jazz), Meredith Monk.

Côté jazz, le pianiste Keith Jarrett est la vedette d'ECM, avec plus de cinquante références depuis 1971 (de l'album simple au coffret de 6 CD). On y trouve aussi les saxophonistes Jan Garbarek ou Charles Lloyd, les guitaristes John Abercrombie et Terje Rypdal (eux aussi invités par Enjoy Jazz), les pianistes Paul Bley, Marilyn Crispell. Et les productions de Carla Bley et Michael Mantler ou du guitariste brésilien Egberto Gismonti (l'un des invités d'Enjoy Jazz).

Le guitariste Pat Metheny a pris son envol chez ECM avant de devenir une vedette mondiale, et de quitter la maison allemande, en 1984, pour rejoindre le label Geffen à New York. "Près de deux mille musiciens ont enregistré à un moment ou à un autre pour ECM, et deux cents comme leaders", précise Heino Freiberg, responsable de la coordination des ventes et de la distribution.

Manfred Eicher, contrebassiste de formation, a organisé la première séance d'ECM, le 24 novembre 1969, au Tonstudio Bauer, dans la ville baroque de Ludwigsburg, sur le Neckar. L'album Free at Last, numéro de catalogue 1001, du trio du pianiste américain Mal Waldron, paraît le 1er janvier 1970. Suivront des pointures comme Corea, Garbarek, Jarrett, le contrebassiste Dave Holland. Tous sont attirés par l'attention qu'Eicher porte aux enregistrements. Il les veut aussi sophistiqués que ceux consacrés à la musique classique. Et chez ECM pas de contrats à long terme ou d'exclusivité. On signe pour un album et on verra ensuite. Ce qui est toujours en vigueur aujourd'hui.

Le grand saut vers la reconnaissance mondiale arrivera avec le Köln Concert, de Keith Jarrett, un solo du pianiste capté le 24 janvier 1975. Succès immédiat. Le double album se doit d'être dans toutes les discothèques des gens de goût - ce sera parfois même leur seul disque de jazz, avec Kind of Blue, de Miles Davis (1959), disque de chevet d'Eicher. Le Köln Concert est le best-seller d'ECM avec 3,5 millions d'exemplaires vendus, confie Heino Freiberg. "Derrière on trouve Pat Metheny, avec Offramp, Chick Corea et le premier Return to Forever, et Jan Garbarek avec l'Hilliard Ensemble pour Officium, chacun à un peu plus d'un million d'exemplaires."

Le reste varie de 100 000 exemplaires (sur plusieurs années d'exploitation) à quelques centaines à peine pour les enregistrements les plus pointus. Des amateurs "collectionnent l'ensemble de nos sorties", précise Steve Lake, collaborateur d'Eicher depuis le milieu des années 1970 et directeur artistique de la partie la plus free-jazz des enregistrements du label.

ECM est aujourd'hui distribué dans 47 pays - la plupart des pays européens, la Chine, la Corée, le Japon, l'Amérique du Nord, le Brésil, l'Argentine... Chaque année,les représentants de ces pays se voient avec l'équipe d'ECM dans un monastère au Tyrol. La quasi-totalité du catalogue a été transférée au CD, et le passage au téléchargement est en cours. "Nous tenons à préserver la prise de son, donc nous sélectionnons les plates-formes qui proposent des fichiers de qualité", explique Steve Lake.

La piraterie, elle, est surtout le fait du marché physique, avec des contrefaçons dans les pays de l'Est, en Asie ou récemment en Iran. Un courrier a été envoyé à des responsables, faisant appel à leur sens de la morale. Sans réponse à ce jour.

Sylvain Siclier, Le Monde
Article paru dans l'édition du 08.11.09

Le catalogue ECM

Catalog number Artist Title Year
ECM 1001 Mal Waldron Trio Free at Last 1969 -
ECM 1002 Alfred Harth's Just Music Just Music 1969
ECM 1003 Paul Bley Trio Paul Bley with Gary Peacock 1970 -
ECM 1004 Marion Brown Afternoon of a Georgia Faun 1970
ECM 1005 The Music Improvisation Company The Music Improvisation Company 1970
ECM 1006 Wolfgang Dauner Trio Output 1970
ECM 1007 Jan Garbarek Quartet Afric Pepperbird 1970
ECM 1008 Robin Kenyatta Girl from Martinique 1970
ECM 1009 Chick Corea / David Holland / Barry Altschul A.R.C. 1971
ECM 1010 Paul Bley Ballads 1971 -
ECM 1011 David Holland / Barre Phillips Music from Two Basses 1971
ECM 1012 Bobo Stenson Underwear 1971 -
ECM 1013 David Holland / Derek Bailey Improvisations for Cello and Guitar 1971
ECM 1014 Chick Corea Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 1971 -
ECM 1015 Jan Garbarek Quintet Sart 1971 -
ECM 1016 Terje Rypdal Terje Rypdal 1971
ECM 1017 Keith Jarrett Facing You 1971 -
ECM 1018/19 Circle Paris Concert 1971
ECM 1020 Chick Corea Piano Improvisations Vol. 2
ECM 1021 Keith Jarrett / Jack DeJohnette Ruta and Daitya
ECM 1022 Chick Corea Return to Forever 1975
ECM 1023 Paul Bley Open, to Love -
ECM 1024 Gary Burton / Chick Corea Crystal Silence 1972 -
ECM 1025 Ralph Towner with Glen Moore Trios / Solos
ECM 1026 Stanley Cowell Trio Illusion Suite
ECM 1027 David Holland Quartet Conference of the Birds 1973
ECM 1028 Paul Motian Conception Vessel -
ECM 1029 Jan Garbarek Trio Triptykon
ECM 1030 Gary Burton The New Quartet
ECM 1031 Terje Rypdal What Comes After 1973
ECM 1032 Ralph Towner Diary -
ECM 1033/34 Keith Jarrett In the Light
ECM 1035/37 Keith Jarrett Solo Concerts: Bremen/Lausanne
ECM 1038 Art Lande / Jan Garbarek Red Lanta 1973 -
ECM 1039 Dave Liebman Lookout Farm
ECM 1040 Gary Burton Quartet Seven Songs for Quartet and Chamber Orchestra
ECM 1041 Jan Garbarek / Bobo Stenson Quartet Witchi-Tai-To 1973 -
ECM 1042 Eberhard Weber The Colours of Chloë 1973 -
ECM 1043 Bennie Maupin The Jewel in the Lotus 1974 -
ECM 1044 Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto Love, Love
ECM 1045 Terje Rypdal Whenever I Seem to Be Far Away 1974
ECM 1046 Dave Liebman Drum Ode 1974
ECM 1047 John Abercrombie Timeless 1975 -
ECM 1048 Paul Motian Tribute
ECM 1049 Keith Jarrett Luminessence -
ECM 1050 Keith Jarrett Belonging 1974
ECM 1051 The Gary Burton Quintet with Eberhard Weber Ring 1974 -
ECM 1052 Steve Kuhn Trance -
ECM 1053 Michael Naura Vanessa
ECM 1054 Richard Beirach Eon
ECM 1055 Gary Burton / Steve Swallow Hotel Hello
ECM 1056 Ralph Towner / Gary Burton Matchbook 1974 -
ECM 1057 Bill Connors Theme to the Guardian
ECM 1058 Steve Kuhn Ecstasy
ECM 1059 Arild Andersen Clouds in My Head -
ECM 1060 Ralph Towner Solstice 1975
ECM 1061 John Abercrombie / Dave Holland / Jack DeJohnette Gateway -
ECM 1062 Collin Walcott Cloud Dance -
ECM 1063 Enrico Rava The Pilgrim and the Stars 1975
ECM 1064/65 Keith Jarrett The Köln Concert 1975 -
ECM 1066 Eberhard Weber Yellow Fields 1975
ECM 1067/68 Terje Rypdal Odyssey 1975 -
ECM 1069 Kenny Wheeler Gnu High 1976
ECM 1070 Keith Jarrett Arbour Zena 1975
ECM 1071 Tomasz Stańko Balladyna
ECM 1072 Gary Burton Quintet Dreams So Real 1975 -
ECM 1073 Pat Metheny Bright Size Life 1976
ECM 1074 Jack DeJohnette's Directions Untitled
ECM 1075 Jan Garbarek / Bobo Stenson Quartet Dansere 1975 -
ECM 1076 Barre Phillips Mountainscapes 1976 -
ECM 1077 Edward Vesala Nan Madol -
ECM 1078 Enrico Rava The Plot 1976 -
ECM 1079 Jack DeJohnette Pictures
ECM 1080 Ralph Towner / John Abercrombie Sargasso Sea 1976 -
ECM 1081 Art Lande Rubisa Patrol 1976 -
ECM 1082 Arild Andersen Shimri -
ECM 1083 Terje Rypdal After the Rain 1976
ECM 1084 Eberhard Weber The Following Morning 1976 -
ECM 1085 Keith Jarrett The Survivors' Suite 1977
ECM 1086/87 Keith Jarrett Hymns/Spheres
ECM 1088 Edward Vesala Satu -
ECM 1089 Egberto Gismonti Dança Das Cabeças 1976 -
ECM 1090/91 Keith Jarrett Staircase 1976 -
ECM 1092 The Gary Burton Quartet with Eberhard Weber Passengers 1976
ECM 1093 Jan Garbarek Dis 1977
ECM 1094 Steve Kuhn and Ecstasy Motility
ECM 1095 Ralph Towner Solstice/Sound and Shadows 1977 -
ECM 1096 Collin Walcott Grazing Dreams
ECM 1097 Pat Metheny Watercolors 1977 -
ECM 1098 Julian Priester and Marine Intrusion Polarization
ECM 1099 John Taylor, Norma Winstone, Kenny Wheeler Azimuth -
ECM 1100 Keith Jarrett Sun Bear Concerts 1976
ECM 1101 Gary Peacock Tales of Another
ECM 1102 Kenny Wheeler Deer Wan 1977 -
ECM 1103 Jack DeJohnette's Directions New Rags -
ECM 1104 Richard Beirach Hubris -
ECM 1105 John Abercrombie / Dave Holland / Jack DeJohnette Gateway 2 1978 -
ECM 1106 Art Lande and Rubisa Patrol Desert Marauders 1977 -
ECM 1107 Eberhard Weber / Colours Silent Feet 1977 -
ECM 1108 Paul Motian Trio Dance
ECM 1109 Dave Holland Emerald Tears 1977 -
ECM 1110 Terje Rypdal Waves 1977 -
ECM 1111 Gary Burton Times Square
ECM 1112 Keith Jarrett Ritual
ECM 1113 Tom Van Der Geld and Children at Play Patience -
ECM 1114 Pat Metheny Group Pat Metheny Group 1978 -
ECM 1115 Keith Jarrett My Song 1978 -
ECM 1116 Egberto Gismonti Sol Do Meio Dia 1978 -
ECM 1117 John Abercrombie Characters 1977 -
ECM 1118 Jan Garbarek Places 1978 -
ECM 1119 Gary Peacock December Poems -
ECM 1120 Bill Connors Of Mist and Melting 1978 -
ECM 1121 Ralph Towner Batik 1978 -
ECM 1122 Enrico Rava Quartet Enrico Rava Quartet 1978
ECM 1123 Barre Phillips Three Day Moon -
ECM 1124 Steve Kuhn Nonfiction
ECM 1125 Terje Rypdal / Miroslav Vitous / Jack DeJohnette Terje Rypdal / Miroslav Vitous / Jack DeJohnette 1978
ECM 1126 Art Ensemble of Chicago Nice Guys
ECM 1127 Arild Andersen Quartet Green Shading into Blue
ECM 1128 Jack DeJohnette New Directions 1978
ECM 1129 NS Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians -
ECM 1130 Azimuth The Touchstone -
ECM 1131 Pat Metheny New Chautauqua 1979
ECM 1132 Don Cherry / Collin Walcott / Nana Vasconcelos Codona -
ECM 1133 John Abercrombie Quartet Arcade 1978
ECM 1134 Tom Van Der Geld Path -
ECM 1135 Jan Garbarek Group Photo with Blue Sky, White Cloud, Wires, Windows and a Red Roof 1979 -
ECM 1136 Egberto Gismonti Solo 1978 -
ECM 1137 Eberhard Weber Fluid Rustle 1979 -
ECM 1138 Paul Motian Trio Le Voyage
ECM 1139 Mick Goodrick In Pas(s)ing 1979 -
ECM 1140 Gary Burton / Chick Corea Duet -
ECM 1141 George Adams Sound Suggestions
ECM 1142 Richard Beirach Elm -
ECM 1143 Leo Smith Divine Love -
ECM 1144 Terje Rypdal Descendre 1979
ECM 1145 Miroslav Vitous First Meeting 1979 -
ECM 1146 Double Image Dawn
ECM 1147 Nana Vasconcelos Saudades
ECM 1148 John Surman Upon Reflection 1979 -
ECM 1149 Barre Phillips Journal Violone II -
ECM 1150 Keith Jarrett Eyes of the Heart 1979
ECM 1151 Charlie Haden / Jan Garbarek / Egberto Gismonti Magico 1979 -
ECM 1152 Jack DeJohnette Special Edition 1980
ECM 1153 Ralph Towner Old Friends, New Friends 1979
ECM 1154 Old and New Dreams Old and New Dreams 1979
ECM 1155 Pat Metheny Group American Garage 1979
ECM 1156 Kenny Wheeler Around 6 1979 -
ECM 1157 Jack DeJohnette New Directions in Europe 1980
ECM 1158 Bill Connors Swimming with a Hole in My Body 1979
ECM 1159 Steve Kuhn / Sheila Jordan Band Playground
ECM 1160 Steve Swallow Home
ECM 1161 David Darling Journal October
ECM 1162 Sam Rivers Contrasts 1980 -
ECM 1163 Azimuth with Ralph Towner Départ -
ECM 1164 John Abercrombie Quartet Abercrombie Quartet 1980
ECM 1165 Gary Peacock Shift in the Wind -
ECM 1166 Enrico Rava Quartet >>Ahh<<
ECM 1167 Art Ensemble of Chicago Full Force -
ECM 1168 NS Steve Reich Octet / Music for a Large Ensemble / Violin Phase
ECM 1169 Jan Garbarek / Kjell Johnsen Aftenland
ECM 1170 Charlie Haden / Jan Garbarek / Egberto Gismonti Folk Songs 1979
ECM 1171/72 Keith Jarrett Nude Ants 1979
ECM 1173 Ralph Towner Solo Concert 1980
ECM 1174 Keith Jarrett G.I. Gurdjieff: Sacred Hymns
ECM 1175 Keith Jarrett The Celestial Hawk
ECM 1176 John Clark Faces -
ECM 1177 Codona Codona 2 -
ECM 1178 Barre Phillips Music by... -
ECM 1179 Bengt Berger Bitter Funeral Beer -
ECM 1180/81 Pat Metheny 80/81 1980
ECM 1182/83 Chick Corea / Gary Burton In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979 -
ECM 1184 Gary Burton Quartet Easy as Pie -
ECM 1185 Miroslav Vitous Group Miroslav Vitous Group 1980
ECM 1186 Eberhard Weber & Colours Little Movements 1980
ECM 1187 Rainer Brüninghaus Freigeweht -
ECM 1188 Arild Andersen Lifelines
ECM 1189 Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition Tin Can Alley 1981 -
ECM 1190 Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls 1981 -
ECM 1191 Abercrombie Quartet M 1979
ECM 1192 Terje Rypdal / Miroslav Vitous / Jack DeJohnette To Be Continued 1981 -
ECM 1193 John Surman The Amazing Adventures of Simon Simon 1981
ECM 1194 First Avenue First Avenue
ECM 1195 Shankar Who's to Know -
ECM 1196 NS Thomas Demenga, Heinz Reber Cellorganics
ECM 1197 NS Meredith Monk Dolmen Music -
ECM 1198 Steve Eliovson Dawn Dance
ECM 1199 Katrina Krimsky / Trevor Watts Stella Malu
ECM 1200 Jan Garbarek / John Abercrombie / Nana Vasconcelos Eventyr 1981
ECM 1201/2 Keith Jarrett Invocations/The Moth and the Flame
ECM 1203/4 Egberto Gismonti & Academia de Danças Sanfona -
ECM 1205 Old And New Dreams Playing
ECM 1206 Gallery Gallery
ECM 1207 Ralph Towner / John Abercrombie Five Years Later -
ECM 1208 Art Lande / David Samuels / Paul McCandless Skylight
ECM 1209 Lester Bowie The Great Pretender
ECM 1210 Gary Peacock Voice from the Past - Paradigm
ECM 1211/12 Art Ensemble of Chicago Urban Bushmen -
ECM 1213 Steve Kuhn Quartet Last Year's Waltz
ECM 1214 James Newton Axum -
ECM 1215 NS Steve Reich Tehillim
ECM 1216 Pat Metheny Group Offramp
ECM 1217 Lask Lask -
ECM 1218 Steve Tibbetts Northern Song -
ECM 1219 David Darling Cycles
ECM 1220 Mike Nock Ondas -
ECM 1221 Adelhard Roidinger Schattseite
ECM 1222 Paul Motian Band Psalm
ECM 1223 Jan Garbarek Paths, Prints -
ECM 1224 Enrico Rava Quartet Opening Night
ECM 1225 Dewey Redman The Struggle Continues
ECM 1226 Gary Burton Quartet Picture This
ECM 1227/29 Keith Jarrett Concerts -
ECM 1230 Don Cherry / Ed Blackwell El Corazón
ECM 1231 Eberhard Weber Later That Evening
ECM 1232/33 Chick Corea Trio Music
ECM 1234 Everyman Band Everyman Band
ECM 1235 Hajo Weber / Ulrich Ingenbold Winterreise
ECM 1236 Arild Andersen A Molde Concert
ECM 1237 Werner Pirchner / Harry Pepl / Jack DeJohnette Werner Pirchner / Harry Pepl / Jack DeJohnette -
ECM 1238 Dave Holland Life Cycle -
ECM 1239 Denny Zeitlin / Charlie Haden Time Remembers One Time Once
ECM 1240 NS Meredith Monk Turtle Dreams -
ECM 1241 Bill Frisell In Line
ECM 1242 Miroslav Vitous Journey's End
ECM 1243 Collin Walcott / Don Cherry / Nana Vasconcelos Codona 3 -
ECM 1244 Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition Inflation Blues
ECM 1245 Michael Galasso Scenes
ECM 1246/47 Lester Bowie All The Magic!
ECM 1248 Charlie Haden The Ballad of the Fallen
ECM 1249 NS Harald Weiss Trommelgeflüster
ECM 1250 Ralph Towner Blue Sun
ECM 1251 Dino Saluzzi Kultrum -
ECM 1252/53 Pat Metheny Group Travels -
ECM 1254 John Surman Such Winters of Memory
ECM 1255 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Standards, Vol. 1
ECM 1256 Charlie Mariano & The Karnataka College of Percussion Jyothi
ECM 1257 Barre Phillips Call Me When You Get There
ECM 1258 Oregon Oregon -
ECM 1259 Jan Garbarek Group Wayfarer -
ECM 1260 Chick Corea / Gary Burton Lyric Suite for Sextet
ECM 1261 Shankar Vision
ECM 1262 Kenny Wheeler Double, Double You -
ECM 1263 Terje Rypdal / David Darling Eos -
ECM 1264 Alfred Harth This Earth!
ECM 1265 George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band '83 Theatre
ECM 1266 Rainer Brüninghaus Continuum -
ECM 1267 Chick Corea Children's Songs
ECM 1268 Lask 2 Sucht + Ordnung
ECM 1269 Dave Holland Quintet Jumpin' In -
ECM 1270 Steve Tibbetts Safe Journey
ECM 1271 Pat Metheny Rejoicing -
ECM 1272 John Abercrombie Night
ECM 1273 Art Ensemble of Chicago The Third Decade -
ECM 1274 Pierre Favre Ensemble Singing Drums
ECM 1275 NS Gidon Kremer, Keith Jarrett Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa -
ECM 1276 Keith Jarrett Changes
ECM 1277 NS John Adams Harmonium
ECM 1278 Pat Metheny Group First Circle
ECM 1279 Egberto Gismonti / Nana Vasconcelos Duas Vozes
ECM 1280 Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition Album Album
ECM 1281 NS Michael Fahres Piano. Harfe
ECM 1282 Chick Corea Voyage
ECM 1283 Paul Motian Trio It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago
ECM 1284 David Torn Best Laid Plans
ECM 1285 NS Bruno Ganz Hölderlin Gedichte -
ECM 1286 Shankar Song for Everyone -
ECM 1287 Bill Frisell Rambler -
ECM 1288 Eberhard Weber Chorus
ECM 1289 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Standards, Vol. 2
ECM 1290 Everyman Band Without Warning
ECM 1291 Oregon Crossing -
ECM 1292 David Holland Quintet Seeds of Time
ECM 1293 Gary Burton Quartet Real Life Hits -
ECM 1294 Jan Garbarek Group It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice -
ECM 1295 John Surman Withholding Pattern
ECM 1296 Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy I Only Have Eyes for You
ECM 1297 Chick Corea Septet
ECM 1298 Azimuth Azimuth '85 -
ECM 1299 Marc Johnson Bass Desires
ECM 1300 Unissued
ECM 1301 Unissued
ECM 1302 Keith Jarrett Spheres
ECM 1303 Terje Rypdal Chaser -
ECM 1304/5 NS Gidon Kremer Edition Lockenhaus, Vol. 1 & 2
ECM 1306 Ralph Towner / Gary Burton Slide Show -
ECM 1307 First House Eréndira
ECM 1308 Shankar / Caroline The Epidemics -
ECM 1309 Dino Saluzzi Once Upon a Time - Far Away in the South -
ECM 1310 Chick Corea Trio Music Live in Europe
ECM 1311 John Abercrombie Current Events -
ECM 1312 Miroslav Vitous Emergence -
ECM 1313 Unissued
ECM 1314/15 NS Werner Pirchner EU -
ECM 1316 NS Kim Kashkashian / Robert Levin Romances and Elegies for Viola and Piano -
ECM 1317 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Standards Live
ECM 1318 Stephan Micus Ocean -
ECM 1319 Masqualero Bande À Part -
ECM 1320 Paul Bley Fragments
ECM 1321 John Abercrombie Getting There -
ECM 1322 David Torn Cloud About Mercury
ECM 1323 NS Gavin Bryars Three Viennese Dancers -
ECM 1324 Jan Garbarek All Those Born With Wings
ECM 1325 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Arvo Pärt: Arbos -
ECM 1326 Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy Avant Pop -
ECM 1327 Jon Hassell Power Spot -
ECM 1328 NS Valery Afanassiev Franz Schubert: Sonata in B flat, D. 960 -
ECM 1329 Gary Burton Quintet Whiz Kids
ECM 1330/32 NS Kim Kashkashian, Robert Levin Paul Hindemith: Sonatas for Viola / Piano
ECM 1333/34 Keith Jarrett Spirits
ECM 1335 Steve Tibbetts Exploded View
ECM 1336 NS Meredith Monk Do You Be -
ECM 1337 Norma Winstone Somewhere Called Home
ECM 1338 Mark Isham / Art Lande We Begin -
ECM 1339 Edward Vesala Lumi -
ECM 1340 NS Thomas Demenga, Heinz Holliger, Catrin Demenga Holliger: Duo, Studie, Trema / Bach: Suite no. 4 for Solo Cello -
ECM 1341 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Thomas Tallis: The Lamentations Of Jeremiah
ECM 1342 Christy Doran Red Twist & Tuned Arrow -
ECM 1343 Enrico Rava / Dino Saluzzi Volver
ECM 1344/45 Keith Jarrett Book of Ways
ECM 1346 Terje Rypdal & The Chasers Blue -
ECM 1347/48 NS Gidon Kremer Edition Lockenhaus Vol. 4 / 5
ECM 1349 Zakir Hussain Making Music -
ECM 1350 Bill Frisell Band Lookout for Hope
ECM 1351 Marc Johnson's Bass Desires Second Sight
ECM 1352 Gary Peacock Guamba -
ECM 1353 Dave Holland Quintet The Razor's Edge -
ECM 1354 Oregon Ecotopia -
ECM 1355 Steve Tibbetts Yr
ECM 1356 Herbert Joos / Harry Pepl / Jon Christensen Cracked Mirrors -
ECM 1357 Hans Koch / Martin Schütz / Marco Kappeli Accélération
ECM 1358 Stephan Micus Twilight Fields -
ECM 1359 Rabih Abou-Khalil Nafas' -
ECM 1360/61 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Still Live -
ECM 1362/63 NS Keith Jarrett J.S. Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Buch I
ECM 1364 NS Tamia - Pierre Favre de la nuit ... le jour
ECM 1365 The Paul Bley Quartet The Paul Bley Quartet
ECM 1366 John Surman Private City
ECM 1367 Masqualero Aero
ECM 1368 NS Paul Hillier, Stephen Stubbs, Andrew Lawrence-King, Erin Headley Proensa
ECM 1369 Heiner Goebbels / Heiner Müller Der Mann im Fahrstuhl / The Man in the Elevator
ECM 1370 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Arvo Pärt: Passio -
ECM 1371 Markus Stockhausen / Gary Peacock Cosi Lontano ... Quasi Dentro
ECM 1372 Alex Cline The Lamp and the Star -
ECM 1373 Dave Holland Trio Triplicate
ECM 1374 Eberhard Weber Orchestra
ECM 1375 Dino Saluzzi Andina
ECM 1377 NS Werner Bärtschi Mozart / Scelsi / Pärt / Bärtschi / Busoni
ECM 1378 NS Heinz Reber Mnaomai, Mnomai
ECM 1379 Keith Jarrett Dark Intervals -
ECM 1380 Steve Tibbetts Big Map Idea
ECM 1381 Jan Garbarek Legend of the Seven Dreams -
ECM 1382 Keith Jarrett Personal Mountains
ECM 1383 Terje Rypdal The Singles Collection
ECM 1384 Stephan Micus The Music of Stones
ECM 1385 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Perotin
ECM 1386 NS Paul Giger Chartres -
ECM 1387 Egberto Gismonti Dança Dos Escravos -
ECM 1388 Ralph Towner City of Eyes
ECM 1389 Terje Rypdal Undisonus -
ECM 1390 John Abercrombie / Marc Johnson / Peter Erskine John Abercrombie / Marc Johnson / Peter Erskine -
ECM 1391 NS Thomas Demenga Bach: Suite no. 3 for Cello Solo / Carter: Esprit rude, Esprit doux; Enchanted preludes -
ECM 1392 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Changeless
ECM 1393 First House Cantilena
ECM 1394 AM4 Wolfgang Puschnig / Linda Sharrock / Uli Scherer ... and she answered:
ECM 1395 NS Keith Jarrett J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations
ECM 1396 Mikhail Alperin / Arkady Shilkloper Wave of Sorrow -
ECM 1397 Shankar Nobody Told Me
ECM 1398 Charles Lloyd Fish Out Of Water 1990
ECM 1399 NS Meredith Monk Book of Days -
ECM 1401 Keith Jarrett Paris Concert
ECM 1402 Agnes Buen Garnås / Jan Garbarek Rosensfole -
ECM 1403 Shankar M. R. C. S.
ECM 1404 Markus Stockhausen Aparis
ECM 1405 Various Artists ECM New Series Anthology -
ECM 1406 NS Karlheinz Stockhausen MICHAELs REISE Solisten-Version (1977/78)
ECM 1407 Shankar Pancha Nadai Pallavi -
ECM 1408 Sidsel Endresen So I Write -
ECM 1409 Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra -
ECM 1410 David Holland Quartet Extensions
ECM 1411 John Abercrombie Animato
ECM 1412 NS Walter Fähndrich Viola
ECM 1413 Edward Vesala Sound & Fury Ode to the Death of Jazz -
ECM 1415/16 Kenny Wheeler Music for Large & Small Ensembles
ECM 1417 Kenny Wheeler The Widow in the Window
ECM 1418 John Surman Road to Saint Ives
ECM 1419 Jan Garbarek I Took Up the Runes
ECM 1420/21 Keith Jarrett Trio Tribute
ECM 1422/23 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Gesualdo: Tenebrae
ECM 1424 NS Gavin Bryars After the Requiem
ECM 1425 NS Kim Kashkashian / Robert Levin / Robin Schulkowsky Dmitri Shostakovich / Paul Seiko Chihara / Linda Bouchard -
ECM 1426 Paul Giger Alpstein
ECM 1427 Stephan Micus Darkness and Light -
ECM 1428 Egberto Gismonti Group Infância -
ECM 1429 Eleni Karaindrou Music for Films -
ECM 1430 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Arvo Pärt: Miserere -
ECM 1431 NS Christopher Bowers-Broadbent Trivium
ECM 1432 Anouar Brahem Barzakh -
ECM 1433/34 NS Keith Jarrett J.S. Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Buch II
ECM 1435 Arild Andersen Sagn
ECM 1436 Christy Doran / Freddy Studer / Bobby Burri / Oliver Magnetat Musik für zwei Kontrabasse, Elektrische Gitarre und Schlagzeug
ECM 1437 Masqualero Re-Enter
ECM 1438/39 Jimmy Giuffre 3 1961
ECM 1440 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette The Cure
ECM 1442 Jan Garbarek / Ustad Fateh Ali Khan & Musicians from Pakistan Ragas and Sagas -
ECM 1444 Jan Garbarek / Miroslav Vitous / Peter Erskine StAR
ECM 1445 Jon Balke with Oslo 13 Nonsentration
ECM 1446 Tamia / Pierre Favre Solitudes
ECM 1447 Dino Saluzzi Group Mojotoro
ECM 1448 Don Cherry / Lennart Åberg / Bobo Stenson Dona Nostra -
ECM 1449 Trevor Watts / Moiré Music Drum Orchestra A Wider Embrace
ECM 1450 NS Keith Jarrett Bridge of Light -
ECM 1451 Barre Phillips Aquarian Rain
ECM 1452/54 NS Heiner Goebbels Hörstücke
ECM 1455 Hal Russell The Finnish/Swiss Tour -
ECM 1456 Eleni Karaindrou The Suspended Step of the Stork
ECM 1457 Anouar Brahem Conte de l'Incroyable Amour -
ECM 1458 Louis Sclavis Quintet Rouge
ECM 1459/60 NS Veljo Tormis Forgotten Peoples -
ECM 1461 Edward Vesala / Sound & Fury Invisible Storm -
ECM 1462 Ralph Towner Open Letter -
ECM 1463 John Surman Adventure Playground
ECM 1464 David Darling Cello
ECM 1465 Charles Lloyd Notes from Big Sur -
ECM 1466 Krakatau Volition
ECM 1467 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Bye Bye Blackbird -
ECM 1469/70 NS Keith Jarrett Dmitri Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 -
ECM 1471 NS Kim Kashkashian, Dennis Russell Davies Giya Kancheli: Vom Winde Beweint
ECM 1472/73 NS Heinz Holliger Scardanelli-Zyklus
ECM 1474 Terje Rypdal Q.E.D. -
ECM 1475 Miroslav Vitous Atmos -
ECM 1476 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Walter Frye: Missa Flos Regalis, Motets
ECM 1477 NS Thomas Demenga, Hansheinz Schneeberger, Tabea Zimmermann J. S. Bach: Suite No. 1 for Cello / Veress: Sonatas, Trio
ECM 1478 John Surman / John Warren The Brass Project
ECM 1479 NS Parnasso Quartet Jens-Peter Ostendorf: String Quartet
ECM 1480 Heiner Goebbels SHADOW / Landscape with Argonauts -
ECM 1481 Keith Jarrett Vienna Concert -
ECM 1482 NS Meredith Monk with Robert Een Facing North -
ECM 1483 NS Ensemble Modern, Peter Rundel Heiner Goebbels: La Jalousie, Red Run, Herakles 2, Befreiung
ECM 1484 Hal Russell Hal's Bells
ECM 1485 Michael Mantler Folly Seeing All This
ECM 1486 Stephan Micus To the Evening Child
ECM 1487 NS Paul Giger Schattenwelt
ECM 1488 Paul Bley / Gary Peacock / Tony Oxley / John Surman In the Evenings Out There
ECM 1489 John Abercrombie Trio While We're Young -
ECM 1490 Gary Peacock / Ralph Towner Oracle
ECM 1491/92 NS Meredith Monk Atlas (An Opera in Three Parts) -
ECM 1493 Arild Andersen / Ralph Towner / Nana Vasconcelos If You Look Far Enough -
ECM 1494 NS Christopher Bowers-Broadbent Olivier Messiaen: Méditations Sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité
ECM 1495 NS Sarah Leonard, Christopher Bowers-Broadbent Górecki: O Domina Nostra / Satie / Milhaud / Bryars -
ECM 1496 Aparis Despite the Fire Fighters' Efforts...
ECM 1497 Peter Erskine You Never Know
ECM 1498 Hal Russell The Hal Russell Story
ECM 1499 Wolfgang Puschnig / Red Sun / Kim Duk Soo / Samul Nori / Linda Sharrock Then Comes the White Tiger
ECM 1500 Jan Garbarek Group Twelve Moons -
ECM 1501 NS Kim Kashkashian, Keith Jarrett J.S. Bach: 3 Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord
ECM 1502 John Abercrombie / Marc Johnson / Peter Erskine / John Surman November
ECM 1503 Ketil Bjørnstad Water Stories -
ECM 1504 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Codex Speciálník -
ECM 1505 NS Arvo Pärt Te Deum
ECM 1506 NS Kim Kashkashian, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Dennis Russell Davies Hindemith / Britten / Penderecki: Lachrymae
ECM 1507 Wadada Leo Smith Kulture Jazz -
ECM 1508 NS Kim Kashkashian, Robert Levin, Eduard Brunner Györgi Kurtág / Robert Schumann: Hommage à R. Sch. -
ECM 1509 Egberto Gismonti Group Música de Sobrevivência
ECM 1510 NS Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Dennis Russell Davies, Vasiko Tevdorashvili Giya Kancheli: Abii ne Viderem
ECM 1511 John Abercrombie Trio Speak of the Devil -
ECM 1512 NS The Theatre of Voices / Paul Hillier William Byrd: Motets and Mass for Four Voices
ECM 1513/14 NS Keith Jarrett J.S. Bach: The French Suites
ECM 1515 Jan Garbarek / Anouar Brahem / Shaukat Hussain Madar
ECM 1516 Bobo Stenson Trio Reflections -
ECM 1517 Jon Balke with the Magnetic North Orchestra Further -
ECM 1518 Eberhard Weber Pendulum
ECM 1519 David Darling Dark Wood -
ECM 1520/21 NS Patrick Demenga / Thomas Demenga 12 Hommages à Paul Sacher pour Violoncelle
ECM 1522 Charles Lloyd The Call -
ECM 1523 NS Herbert Henck Federico Mompou: Música Callada
ECM 1524 Sidsel Endresen Exile
ECM 1525 NS Jan Garbarek / The Hilliard Ensemble Officium
ECM 1526 Louis Sclavis / Dominique Pifarély Acoustic Quartet
ECM 1527 Steve Tibbetts The Fall of Us All -
ECM 1528 John Surman A Biography of the Rev. Absalom Dawe
ECM 1529 Krakatau Matinale -
ECM 1530 NS Keith Jarrett Georg Friederich Handel: Suites for Keyboard -
ECM 1531 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Paul Motian At the Deer Head Inn -
ECM 1532 Peter Erskine Time Being
ECM 1533 NS David James, Annemarie Dreyer, Ulrike Lachner, Rebecca Firth Gavin Bryars: Incipit Vita Nova -
ECM 1534 John Surman Quartet Stranger than Fiction
ECM 1535 NS Giya Kancheli Exil
ECM 1536 Lena Willemark / Ale Möller Nordan
ECM 1537 Paul Bley / Evan Parker / Barre Phillips Time Will Tell
ECM 1538 Azimuth How It Was Then... Never Again -
ECM 1539 NS Prague Chamber Choir, Josef Pancík Dvořák / Janáček / Eben
ECM 1540 NS Heinz Holliger Beiseit / Alb-Chehr
ECM 1541 Edward Vesala / Sound & Fury Nordic Gallery -
ECM 1542 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Standards in Norway
ECM 1543 Italian Instabile Orchestra Skies of Europe
ECM 1544 Tomasz Stanko Matka Joanna
ECM 1545 Ketil Bjørnstad / David Darling / Terje Rypdal / Jon Christensen The Sea
ECM 1546/48 Azimuth Azimuth / The Touchstone / Départ -
ECM 1549/50 Jazzensemble des Hessischen Rundfunks Atmospheric Conditions Permitting -
ECM 1551 Stephan Micus Athos -
ECM 1552 NS Heiner Goebbels Ou Bien le Débarquement Désastreux
ECM 1553 John Surman / Karin Krog / Terje Rypdal / Vigleik Storaas Nordic Quartet -
ECM 1554 Terje Rypdal If Mountains Could Sing -
ECM 1555 NS Heinz Holliger Sándor Veress: Passacaglia / Songs / Musica Concertante
ECM 1556 Michael Mantler Cerco un Paese Innocente
ECM 1557 Charles Lloyd All My Relations
ECM 1558 Jack DeJohnette Dancing with Nature Spirits
ECM 1559 Marilyn Mazur's Future Song Small Labyrinths
ECM 1560 Nils Petter Molvær Khmer -
ECM 1560/M Nils Petter Molvær Khmer: The Remixes -
ECM 1560/L Nils Petter Molvær Solid Ether -
ECM 1561 Anouar Brahem Khomsa -
ECM 1562 Gateway Homecoming
ECM 1563 Ralph Towner Lost and Found -
ECM 1564 NS Robyn Schulkowsky / Nils Petter Molvær Hastening Westward -
ECM 1565/66 NS Keith Jarrett, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Dennis Russell Davies Mozart: Piano Concertos; Masonic Funeral Music; Symphony in G
ECM 1567 Terje Rypdal Double Concerto / Symphony No. 5
ECM 1568 NS Giya Kancheli Caris Mere -
ECM 1569 NS Herbert Henck Alexandr Mosolov: Piano Music
ECM 1570 NS Eleni Karaindrou Ulysses' Gaze -
ECM 1571 NS Thomas Demenga Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite No. 2 for Cello, BWV 1008 -
ECM 1572 Dave Holland Quartet Dream of the Elders -
ECM 1573 Steve Kuhn Remembering Tomorrow -
ECM 1574 Gateway In The Moment
ECM 1575/80 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note
ECM 1581 NS Kimiko Hagiwara, Dohyung Kim, Junko Kuribayashi Heinz Reber: MA - Two Songs
ECM 1582 Egberto Gismonti Trio ZigZag -
ECM 1583 NS Alfred Schnittke Psalms of Repentance
ECM 1584 Pierre Favre Window Steps -
ECM 1585 Jan Garbarek Visible World 1995
ECM 1586 Egberto Gismonti Meeting Point -
ECM 1587 NS Michelle Makarski Caoine
ECM 1588 Louis Sclavis Sextet Les Violences de Rameau
ECM 1589 NS Meredith Monk Volcano Songs
ECM 1590 NS Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tonu Kaljuste Erkki-Sven Tüür: Crystallisatio
ECM 1591 NS Arvo Pärt Alina
ECM 1592 NS Arvo Pärt Litany -
ECM 1593 Ketil Bjørnstad / David Darling The River
ECM 1594 Peter Erskine As It Is -
ECM 1595 NS Thomas Demenga / Hansheinz Schneeberger / Jörg Ewald Dähler Franz Schubert: Trio in Es-Dur /¬ Notturno -
ECM 1596 Misha Alperin North Story -
ECM 1597 Joe Maneri / Joe Morris / Mat Maneri Three Men Walking -
ECM 1598 NS Keller Quartett György Kurtág: Musik für Streichinstrumente -
ECM 1599 NS Eduard Brunner Dal Niente
ECM 1600/1 NS Jean-Luc Godard Nouvelle Vague
ECM 1602 Ralph Towner / Gary Peacock A Closer View
ECM 1603 Tomasz Stanko Leosia -
ECM 1604 Bobo Stenson Trio War Orphans -
ECM 1605 NS Daniel Cholette, Hansheinz Schneeberger Charles Ives: Sonatas for Violin and Piano -
ECM 1606 NS Ingrid Karlen Anton Webern: Variations
ECM 1607 Kenny Wheeler / Lee Konitz / Dave Holland / Bill Frisell Angel Song
ECM 1608 Terje Rypdal Skywards
ECM 1609 Paul Bley / Evan Parker / Barre Phillips Sankt Gerold
ECM 1610 Lena Willemark / Ale Möller Agram
ECM 1611 Ralph Towner Ana
ECM 1612 NS Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble Toward the Margins
ECM 1614/15 NS The Hilliard Ensemble A Hilliard Songbook: New Music for Voices
ECM 1616 Dino Saluzzi Cité de la Musique
ECM 1617 Joe Maneri Quartet In Full Cry -
ECM 1618 NS Heinz Holliger Lieder ohne Worte
ECM 1619 NS Györgi Kurtág Játékok -
ECM 1620 NS Dennis Russell Davies, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester Shostakovich / Vasks / Schnittke: Dolorosa
ECM 1621 NS Herbert Henck Jean Barraqué: Sonate pour Piano
ECM 1622 Michael Cain / Ralph Alessi / Peter Epstein Circa
ECM 1623 John Abercrombie / Dan Wall / Adam Nussbaum Tactics
ECM 1624/25 NS Keith Jarrett and Dennis Russell Davies Mozart: Piano Concertos K. 271, 453, 466
ECM 1626/27 Marilyn Crispell / Gary Peacock / Paul Motian Nothing Ever Was, Anyway: Music of Annette Peacock -
ECM 1628 Christian Wallumrød Trio No Birch -
ECM 1629 NS Rosamunde Quartett Webern / Shostakovich / Burian
ECM 1630 NS Kim Kashkashian, Robert Levin Johannes Brahms: Sonaten für Viola und Klavier -
ECM 1631 Arild Andersen Hyperborean -
ECM 1632 Stephan Micus The Garden of Mirrors
ECM 1633 Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling, Jon Christensen, Terje Rypdal The Sea II
ECM 1635 Charles Lloyd Canto
ECM 1636 Tomasz Stanko Septet Litania: Music of Krzysztof Komeda -
ECM 1637 Jack DeJohnette Oneness
ECM 1638 NS Dino Saluzzi / Rosamunde Quartett Kultrum: Music for Bandeon and String Quartet -
ECM 1639 John Surman Proverbs and Songs
ECM 1640 Keith Jarrett La Scala -
ECM 1641 Anouar Brahem / John Surman / Dave Holland Thimar
ECM 1642 OM A Retrospective
ECM 1643 NS Maya Homburger and Barry Guy Ceremony
ECM 1646 NS Giya Kancheli Trauerfarbenes Land
ECM 1647 Dominique Pifarély, François Couturier Poros
ECM 1648/49 Michael Mantler The School of Understanding
ECM 1650 Various Artists Selected Signs, Vol. I: An ECM Anthology -
ECM 1651 Roscoe Mitchell Nine to Get Ready
ECM 1652 NS Keller Quartett J.S. Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge
ECM 1653 NS The Hilliard Ensemble In Paradisum: Music of Victoria and Palestrina
ECM 1654/55 NS Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Kaljuste Arvo Pärt: Kanon Pokajanen -
ECM 1656 NS Giya Kancheli Lament
ECM 1657 Peter Erskine Juni -
ECM 1658 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Lassus: Missa pro Defunctis, Prophetiae Sibyllarum -
ECM 1659 NS Herbert Henck Hans Otte: Das Buch der Klange -
ECM 1660 Mats Edén, Jonas Simonson, Cikada String Quartet Milvus -
ECM 1661 Joe Maneri / Mat Maneri Blessed -
ECM 1662 Philipp Wachsmann, Paul Lytton Some Other Season -
ECM 1663 Dave Holland Quintet Points of View -
ECM 1664 Misha Alperin, John Surman First Impression -
ECM 1665 NS Bent Sørensen Birds and Bells -
ECM 1666 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Tokyo '96
ECM 1667 NS Thomas Larcher Arnold Schönberg / Franz Schubert: Piano Pieces/Klavierstücke
ECM 1668 NS John Holloway Johann Heinrich Schmelzer: Unarum Fidium -
ECM 1669 NS Mstislav Rostropovich Giya Kancheli: Magnum Ignotum
ECM 1670 Paul Bley / Gary Peacock / Paul Motian Not Two, Not One -
ECM 1671/72 NS Holliger, Jacottet & Friends Jan Dismas Zelenka: Trio Sonatas -
ECM 1673 NS David Geringas and Dennis Russell Davies Erkki-Sven Tüür: Flux
ECM 1674 Charles Lloyd Voice in the Night -
ECM 1675 Keith Jarrett The Melody at Night, With You -
ECM 1676/77 NS András Schiff / Peter Serkin Mozart / Reger / Busoni: Music for Two Pianos
ECM 1678 Joe Maneri / Mat Maneri / Barre Philips Tales of Rohnlief
ECM 1679 NS Alexei Lubimov Stravinsky / Shostakovich / Prokofiev / Scriabin: Messe Noire -
ECM 1680 Tomasz Stanko From the Green Hill
ECM 1681 NS Paul Giger Ignis -
ECM 1682 NS Valery Afanassiev Franz Schubert: Sonata in B flat, D 960 -
ECM 1683 John Abercrombie Open Land -
ECM 1684 Ketil Bjørnstad / David Darling Epigraphs -
ECM 1685/86 Jan Garbarek Rites -
ECM 1687 NS Tõnu Kaljuste, Estonian Philharmonic Veljo Tormis: Litany to Thunder -
ECM 1688/89 NS Heiner Goebbels Surrogate Cities
ECM 1690 Per Gudmundson / Ale Möller / Lena Willemark Frifot
ECM 1691 Kenny Wheeler A Long Time Ago
ECM 1692 NS Eleni Karaindrou Eternity and a Day -
ECM 1693 Evan Parker Drawn Inward
ECM 1694 NS Arditti Quartet Peter Ruzicka: String Quartets
ECM 1695 NS Patrick Demenga / Thomas Demenga Lux Aeterna
ECM 1696 NS John Cage The Seasons
ECM 1697 NS John Dowland In Darkness Let Me Dwell -
ECM 1698 Dave Holland Prime Directive
ECM 1699 NS András Schiff Franz Schubert: C Major Fantasies -
ECM 1700/1 NS Jan Garbarek Mnemosyne
ECM 1702 John Surman Coruscating
ECM 1703 Gianluigi Trovesi / Gianni Coscia In Cerca di Cibo
ECM 1704 Markus Stockhausen / Arild Andersen / Terje Rypdal Karta
ECM 1705 Louis Sclavis L'Affrontement des Prétendants
ECM 1706/10 NS Jean-Luc Godard Histoire(s) du Cinéma
ECM 1711 NS Kim Kashkashian Bartók / Eötvös / Kurtàg -
ECM 1712 NS Michelle Makarski Elogio per un'Ombra -
ECM 1713 Michael Galasso High Lines
ECM 1714 NS Zehetmair / Camerata Bern Bartók/Veress/Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht -
ECM 1715/16 NS Heinz Holliger Schneewittchen
ECM 1718 Anouar Brahem Trio Astrakan Café
ECM 1719 Mat Maneri Trinity -
ECM 1720 NS Münchener Kammerorchester, Christoph Poppen, Isabelle Faust, Paul Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Funèbre
ECM 1721 Michael Mantler Songs and One Symphony
ECM 1722 Nils Petter Molvær Solid Ether -
ECM 1723 NS Bruno Ganz Wenn Wasser Wäre
ECM 1724/25 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Whisper Not -
ECM 1726 NS Herbert Henck Antheil / Nancarrow: Piano Music
ECM 1727 NS Zehetmair Quartet Hartmann / Bartók: String Quartets -
ECM 1728 Vassilis Tsabropoulos / Arild Andersen / John Marshall Achirana
ECM 1729 NS András Keller / János Pilz Béla Bartók: 44 Duos for Two Violins
ECM 1730 NS Kurt Widmer / Orlando Trio György Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages -
ECM 1731 NS Mstislav Rostropovich Alexander Knaifel: Amicta Sole
ECM 1732 Robin Williamson The Seed-at-Zero
ECM 1733 Annette Peacock An Acrobat's Heart
ECM 1734 Charles Lloyd The Water is Wide
ECM 1735 NS Kim Kashkashian Luciano Berio: Voci
ECM 1736 NS András Schiff Leoš Janáček: A Recollection
ECM 1737 Vassilis Tsabropoulos Akroasis
ECM 1738 Michael Mantler Hide and Seek
ECM 1739 NS Ensemble Belcanto / Dietburg Spohr Come un'Ombra di Luna
ECM 1740/41 Bobo Stenson Trio Serenity
ECM 1742 Marilyn Crispell/ Gary Peacock / Paul Motian Amaryllis
ECM 1743 Ralph Towner Anthem
ECM 1744 Trygve Seim Different Rivers -
ECM 1745 NS Tallinn Chamber Orchestra / Tõnu Kaljuste Heino Eller: Neenia
ECM 1746 Charlie Haden / Egberto Gismonti In Montreal
ECM 1747 NS Thomas Larcher Naunz
ECM 1748 Eberhard Weber Endless Days -
ECM 1749 Claudio Puntin / Gerdur Gunnarsdóttir Ylir
ECM 1750 Various Artists Suite for Sampler, Select Signs II
ECM 1751 John Taylor Trio Rosslyn -
ECM 1752 Arild Andersen The Triangle -
ECM 1753 NS Trio Mediaeval Word of an Angel -
ECM 1754 NS Kim Kashkashian Hayren -
ECM 1755 NS Keller Quartet / Alexei Lubimov Alfred Schnittke / Dmitri Shostakovich: Lento
ECM 1756 NS Rosamunde Quartett Franz Josef Haydn: The Seven Words -
ECM 1757 Stephan Micus Desert Poems
ECM 1758 Dave Holland Quintet Not for Nothin'
ECM 1760 Enrico Rava Easy Living
ECM 1761 NS Harald Bergmann Scardanelli
ECM 1762 Anders Jormin Xieyi
ECM 1763 NS Keller Quartet Alexander Knaifel: Svete Tikhiy
ECM 1764 Trygve Seim / Øyvind Brække / Per Oddvar Johansen The Source and Different Cikadas
ECM 1765 NS Christoph Poppen / The Hilliard Ensemble Morimur
ECM 1766 Susanne Abbuehl April
ECM 1767 NS Gidon Kremer / Oleg Maisenberg / Kremerata Baltica Giya Kancheli: In l'Istesso Tempo
ECM 1768 Misha Alperin At Home
ECM 1769 Misha Alperin / Ajna Lechner / H.-K. Sørensen Night
ECM 1770 John Abercrombie Cat 'n' Mouse -
ECM 1771 NS Alexei Lubimov Der Bote
ECM 1772 NS Juliane Banse / András Schiff Songs of Debussy and Mozart -
ECM 1773 NS Giya Kancheli Diplipito
ECM 1774 NS Christoph Poppen / Hilliard Ensemble Bach / Webern: Ricercar -
ECM 1775 NS Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Gubaidulina
ECM 1776 NS Valentin Silvestrov Leggiero, Pesante
ECM 1777 Dave Holland Big Band What Goes Around
ECM 1778 NS Valentin Silvestrov Requiem for Larissa
ECM 1779 NS Heiner Goebbels Eislermaterial
ECM 1780 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Inside Out -
ECM 1781 NS Alexander Lonquich / Auryn Quartet / Ora Rotem Nelken Gideon Lewensohn: Odradek
ECM 1782/83 NS Thomas Demenga Yun/Bach/Hosowaka -
ECM 1784 Charles Lloyd Hyperion with Higgins -
ECM 1785 Robin Williamson Skirting the River Road
ECM 1786 Paul Bley Solo in Mondsee -
ECM 1787 Yves Robert In Touch
ECM 1788 Tomasz Stanko Quartet Soul of Things -
ECM 1789 NS Helmut Lachenmann Schwankungen am Rand
ECM 1790 NS Valentin Silvestrov Metamusik / Postludium
ECM 1791 NS John Holloway Unam Ceylum
ECM 1792 Anouar Brahem Le Pas du Chat Noir
ECM 1793 NS Zehetmair Quartet Robert Schumann
ECM 1794 NS Frode Haltli Looking on Darkness
ECM 1795 NS Arvo Pärt Orient & Occident
ECM 1796 John Surman / Jack DeJohnette Invisible Nature
ECM 1797 Trygve Seim Sangam -
ECM 1798 NS Marek Konstantynowicz, Cikada Ensemble Morton Feldman: The Viola in My Life
ECM 1799 NS The Cikada String Quartet In Due Tempi -
ECM 1800/1 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Always Let Me Go
ECM 1802 John Surman Free and Equal -
ECM 1803 NS The Dowland Project / John Potter Care-Charming Sleep -
ECM 1804 Stephan Micus Towards the Wind
ECM 1805 Louis Sclavis Dans la Nuit
ECM 1806/7 NS András Schiff Robert Schumann: In Concert
ECM 1808 Art Ensemble of Chicago Tribute to Lester
ECM 1809 Christian Wallumrød Sofienberg Variations
ECM 1810 NS Eleni Karaindrou Trojan Women
ECM 1811 NS Heiner Goebbels Landschaft mit Entfernten Verwandten -
ECM 1812 NS Giya Kancheli Little Imber
ECM 1813 Michael Mantler Review (1968-2000)
ECM 1814 Steve Tibbetts A Man About a Horse
ECM 1815 Steve Kuhn Promises Kept
ECM 1816 Dino Saluzzi Trio Responsorium
ECM 1817 NS Peter Eotvos Elliott Carter: What Next? -
ECM 1818 Terje Rypdal Lux Aeterna
ECM 1819/20 NS András Schiff, Miklós Perényi Ludwig van Beethoven: Music for Piano and Violoncello
ECM 1821 NS Alexander Lonquich Plainte Calme
ECM 1822 Jon Balke & Magnetic North Orchestra Kyanos -
ECM 1823 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Guillaume de Machaut: Motets
ECM 1824 NS Leonidas Kavakos / Péter Nagy Maurice Ravel / George Enescu: Sonate Posthume / Sonata No. 3
ECM 1825 NS András Schiff J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations
ECM 1826 NS Dennis Russell Davies Stravinsky: Orchestral Works -
ECM 1827 Gianluigi Trovesi Ottetto Fugace
ECM 1828 Orchestre National de Jazz Charmediterranéen -
ECM 1829 NS Meredith Monk Mercy
ECM 1830 NS Isabelle van Keulen / CBSO / Paavo Järvi Erkki-Sven Tüür: Exodus
ECM 1831 Martin Speake Change of Heart -
ECM 1832/33 Charles Lloyd Lift Every Voice
ECM 1834 Tord Gustavsen Changing Places
ECM 1835 NS Thomas Zehetmair Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonates pour Violon Solo -
ECM 1836 Paul Giger Vindonissa
ECM 1837 NS John Holloway Biber / Muffat: Der Tüken Anmarsch -
ECM 1838 Sylvie Courvoisier Abaton
ECM 1840 Ghazal The Rain
ECM 1842/43 NS Herbert Henck Locations -
ECM 1844 NS Herbert Henck John Cage: Early Piano Music -
ECM 1845 Dino Saluzzi Senderos
ECM 1846 John Abercrombie Class Trip
ECM 1847 Marilyn Crispell Trio Storyteller
ECM 1848/49 NS Heinz Holliger Lauds and Lamentations
ECM 1850/51 NS Tigran Mansurian, Kim Kashkashian Monodia -
ECM 1852 Evan Parker Memory/Vision -
ECM 1853/54 NS Till Fellner Johann Sebastian Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier I -
ECM 1855 NS Leonidas Kavakos / Peter Nagy Igor Stravinsky / Johann Sebastian Bach -
ECM 1856 Savina Yannatou / Primavera en Salonico Terra Nostra
ECM 1857 Louis Sclavis Napoli's Walls -
ECM 1858/59 NS Helmut Lachenmann Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern
ECM 1860 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Up for It
ECM 1861 NS Stephen Hartke Tituli / Cathedral in the Thrashing Rain
ECM 1862 Joe Maneri / Barre Phillips / Mat Maneri Angles of Repose
ECM 1863 Miroslav Vitous Universal Syncopations -
ECM 1864/65 Dave Holland Quintet Extended Play: Live at Birdland
ECM 1866 Anders Jormin In Winds, In Light
ECM 1868 Tomasz Stanko Quartet Suspended Night
ECM 1869 NS Trio Mediaeval Soir, dit-elle -
ECM 1870 Thomas Strønen Parish
ECM 1871 NS Michelle Makarski Giuseppe Tartini / Donald Crockett: To Be Sung on the Water
ECM 1872 Roscoe Mitchell Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3
ECM 1873 Evan Parker Boustrophedon
ECM 1874 NS Zehetmair Quartett Béla Bartók / Paul Hindemith
ECM 1875 NS The Hilliard Ensemble J.S. Bach: Motetten
ECM 1876 Jacob Young Evening Falls
ECM 1877 David Torn Prezens -
ECM 1878/79 Charles Lloyd / Billy Higgins Which Way Is East
ECM 1880 Jan Garbarek In Praise of Dreams -
ECM 1881 Anouar Brahem Vague (compilation 1990-2001) -
ECM 1882 NS Frances-Marie Uitti / Paul Griffiths There is Still Time
ECM 1883 NS Gidon Kremer / Kremerata Baltica Franz Schubert: String Quartet G Major -
ECM 1884 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Nicholas Gombert: Missa Media Vita in Morte Sumus
ECM 1885 NS Eleni Karaindrou The Weeping Meadow
ECM 1886 Jon Balke Diverted Travels
ECM 1887 NS Heinrich Schiff / Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra Friedrich Cerha / Franz Schreker
ECM 1888 NS Anja Lechner / Vassilis Tsabropoulos Gurdjieff / Tsabropoulos: Chants, Hymns and Dances
ECM 1889 NS John Holloway / Jaap ter Linden / Lars Ulrik Mortensen Veracini: Sonatas
ECM 1890 NS Heinz Holliger Violinkonzert -
ECM 1891 Wasilewski / Kurkiewicz / Miskiewicz Trio
ECM 1892 Tord Gustavsen Trio The Ground
ECM 1893 NS Stephen Stubbs Teatro Lirico
ECM 1894 Marc Johnson Shades of Jade -
ECM 1895 NS Tigran Mansurian Ars Poetica -
ECM 1896 Manu Katché Neighbourhood
ECM 1897 Stephan Micus Life
ECM 1898/99 NS Valentin Silvestrov Silent Songs -
ECM 1900 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette The Out-of-Towners -
ECM 1901 Christian Wallumrød Ensemble A Year from Easter
ECM 1902 Paul Motian Trio I Have the Room Above Her
ECM 1903 Savina Yannatou Sumiglia
ECM 1904 Bobo Stenson Goodbye -
ECM 1905 NS Rosamunde Quartett Tigran Mansurian: String Quartets
ECM 1906 Susanne Abbuehl Compass
ECM 1907 Gianluigi Trovesi Round About Weill
ECM 1908 Arild Andersen Electra -
ECM 1909/10 NS John Holloway J.S. Bach: The Sonatas and Partitas
ECM 1911 Charles Lloyd Jumping the Creek -
ECM 1912 NS Frank-Peter Zimmermann / Heinrich Schiff Arthur Honegger, Bohuslav Martinu, Johann Sebasitian Bach, Matthias Pintscher, Maurice Ravel
ECM 1913 Frode Haltli Passing Images -
ECM 1914 NS Thomas Demenga / Thomas Larcher / Teodoro Anzellotti Chonguri
ECM 1915 Anouar Brahem Trio Le Voyage de Sahar
ECM 1917 Paul Motian Band Garden of Eden -
ECM 1918 Iro Haarla Northbound -
ECM 1919 NS Erkki-Sven Tüür Oxymoron -
ECM 1920 Eberhard Weber Stages of a Long Journey -
ECM 1921 Enrico Rava Tati -
ECM 1922 NS Rolf Lislevand Nuove Musiche
ECM 1923 Andrey Dergatchev The Return -
ECM 1924 Evan Parker The Eleventh Hour
ECM 1925 NS Garth Knox D'Amore -
ECM 1926/27 NS Gidon Kremer J.S. Bach: The Sonatas and Partitas
ECM 1928 Mark Feldman What Exit
ECM 1929 NS Trio Mediaeval Stella Maris
ECM 1930 NS Arvo Pärt Lamentate
ECM 1931 NS Barry Guy Folio -
ECM 1932 Batagraf / Jon Balke Statements
ECM 1933/34 Stefano Battaglia Raccolto -
ECM 1935 NS Valentin Silvestrov Symphony No. 6 -
ECM 1936 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Thomas Tallis, Christopher Tye, John Sheppard: Audivi Vocem
ECM 1937 NS Herbert Henck Johann Ludwig Trepulka / Norbert von Hannenheim: Klavierstücke und Sonaten -
ECM 1938 NS Monika Mauch / Nigel North Musical Banquet
ECM 1939 Nik Bärtsch's Ronin Stoa -
ECM 1940/41 NS András Schiff Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Vol I - Sonatas Opp. 2 and 7
ECM 1942 NS András Schiff Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Vol II - Sonatas Opp. 10 and 13
ECM 1943 NS András Schiff Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Vol III - Sonatas Opp. 49, 14 and 22
ECM 1944 NS András Schiff Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Vol IV - Sonatas Opp. 26, 27 and 28
ECM 1945/46 NS András Schiff Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Vol V - Sonatas Opp. 31 and 53
ECM 1947 NS András Schiff Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Volume VI - Sonatas Opp. 54, 57, 78, 79 and 81a
ECM 1948 NS András Schiff Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Volume VII - Sonatas Opp. 90, 101 and 106
ECM 1949 NS András Schiff Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Volume VIII - Sonatas Opp. 109, 110 and 111
ECM 1950 NS András Schiff Encores after Beethoven 2016
ECM 1951 Steve Tibbetts Natural Causes
ECM 1952/53 NS Eleni Karaindrou Elegy of the Uprooting
ECM 1954 Louis Sclavis L'Imparfait des Langues
ECM 1955 NS Helena Tulve Lijnen
ECM 1956 John Surman The Spaces in Between
ECM 1957 NS Alexander Knaifel Blazhenstva -
ECM 1958 NS Pablo Márquez Musica del Delphin
ECM 1959 NS Valentin Silvestrov / Arvo Pärt / Galina Ustvolskaya Misterioso
ECM 1960/61 Keith Jarrett Radiance -
ECM 1962 Marilyn Mazur / Jan Garbarek Elixir
ECM 1963 NS Giacinto Scelsi Natura Renovatur
ECM 1964 Stefano Bollani Piano Solo -
ECM 1965 NS Juliane Banse / András Keller György Kurtág: Kafka-Fragmente -
ECM 1966 The Source The Source
ECM 1967 NS Rosamunde Quartett Thomas Larcher: Ixxu
ECM 1968 Ralph Towner Time Line
ECM 1969 Robin Williamson The Iron Stone
ECM 1970 NS John Potter / The Dowland Project Romaria -
ECM 1971 Miki N'Doye Tuki
ECM 1972/73 Trio Beyond (Jack DeJohnette, Larry Goldings, John Scofield) Saudades
ECM 1975 NS Kim Kashkashian / Robert Levin Asturiana: Songs from Spain and Argentina
ECM 1976 Charles Lloyd Sangam -
ECM 1977 Pierre Favre Ensemble Fleuve -
ECM 1978 Dino Saluzzi Group Juan Condori
ECM 1979 François Couturier Nostalghia - Song for Tarkovsky -
ECM 1980 Tomasz Stanko Quartet Lontano
ECM 1981 Kayhan Kalhor / Erdal Erzincan The Wind
ECM 1982 Enrico Rava The Words and the Days
ECM 1983 Gianluigi Trovesi Vaghissimo Ritratto -
ECM 1984 Terje Rypdal Vossabrygg -
ECM 1985 NS Vladimír Godár Mater -
ECM 1986 John Surman / Howard Moody Rain on the Window -
ECM 1987 Stephan Micus On the Wing
ECM 1988 NS Valentin Silvestrov Bagatellen und Serenaden
ECM 1989/90 Keith Jarrett The Carnegie Hall Concert (Keith Jarrett album) -
ECM 1991 Dino Saluzzi / Anja Lechner Ojos Negros
ECM 1992 Paul Motian Trio Time and Time Again
ECM 1993 John Abercrombie The Third Quartet -
ECM 1994 Anat Fort A Long Story
ECM 1995 Misha Alperin Her First Dance
ECM 1996 Sinikka Langeland Starflowers
ECM 1997 Jacob Young Sideways -
ECM 1998/99 Stefano Battaglia Re: Pasolini
ECM 2000 NS András Schiff The Piano Sonatas (11CD) 2016
ECM 2001/2 NS András Schiff J. S. Bach: Six Partitas
ECM 2003 NS Trio Mediaeval Folk Songs
ECM 2004 Wolfert Brederode Quartet Currents -
ECM 2005 Christian Wallumrød Ensemble The Zoo is Far -
ECM 2006 Terje Rypdal Melodic Warrior
ECM 2009 NS John Holloway / Jaap ter Linden / Lars Ulrik Mortensen Jean-Marie Leclair: Sonatas
ECM 2010 Jon Balke Book of Velocities -
ECM 2011 Keith Jarrett Rio -
ECM 2013 Miroslav Vitous Universal Syncopations II -
ECM 2014 NS Paul Giger / Marie-Louise Dähler Towards Silence
ECM 2015 NS Frank Martin Triptychon
ECM 2016 Manu Katché Playground
ECM 2017 Tord Gustavsen Trio Being There
ECM 2018 NS John Potter The Dowland Project - Night Sessions
ECM 2019 Marcin Wasilewski Trio January -
ECM 2020 Enrico Rava / Stefano Bollani The Third Man -
ECM 2021/22 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette My Foolish Heart - Live at Montreux -
ECM 2023 Bobo Stenson Trio Cantando -
ECM 2024 NS Gidon Kremer / Kremerata Baltica Gustav Mahler / Dmitri Shostakovich
ECM 2025 NS Alfred Schnittke / Alexander Raskatov Schnittke: Symphony No.9 / Raskatov: Nunc Dimittis
ECM 2026 NS Meredith Monk Impermanence
ECM 2027 Marilyn Crispell Vignettes
ECM 2028 Norma Winstone / Glauco Venier / Klaus Gesing Distances
ECM 2029 NS Münchener Kammerorchester, Alexander Liebreich Joseph Haydn / Isang Yun: Farewell
ECM 2030/32 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Setting Standards - New York Sessions (compiles Standards, Vol. 1, Standards, Vol. 2 and Changes)
ECM 2033/35 Codona The Codona Trilogy (compiles Codona, Codona 2 and Codona 3)
ECM 2036/39 Gary Burton / Chick Corea Crystal Silence - The ECM Recordings 1972-1979 (compiles Crystal Silence,Duet and In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979) -
ECM 2040 NS Erkki-Sven Tüür Strata -
ECM 2041 Terje Rypdal Crime Scene
ECM 2042 Jon Balke Siwan
ECM 2043 NS Till Fellner J. S. Bach: Inventionen und Sinfonien, Französische Suite V
ECM 2044 Trygve Seim / Frode Haltli Yeraz
ECM 2045 NS Alfred Zimmerlin Euridice
ECM 2046 John Surman Brewster's Rooster -
ECM 2047 NS Carolin Widmann / Denes Varjon Robert Schumann: The Violin Sonatas
ECM 2048 Vassilis Tsabropoulos, Anja Lechner & U.T. Gandhi Melos
ECM 2049 Nik Bärtsch's Ronin Holon -
ECM 2050 NS Arvo Pärt In Principio
ECM 2051 Eberhard Weber Résumé
ECM 2052 Ketil Bjørnstad / Terje Rypdal Life in Leipzig -
ECM 2053 Charles Lloyd Rabo de Nube -
ECM 2054 Michael Mantler Concertos -
ECM 2055 NS Heinz Holliger / Clara Schumann Romancendres -
ECM 2056 Ketil Bjørnstad The Light
ECM 2057 Savina Yannatou Songs of an Other -
ECM 2058 Xavier Charles / Ivar Grydeland / Christian Wallumrød / Ingar Zach Dans les Arbres
ECM 2059 Mathais Eick The Door
ECM 2060 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Yesterdays
ECM 2061 NS Rosamunde Quartett, Christian Gerhaher Othmar Schoeck: Notturno
ECM 2062 Andy Sheppard Movements in Colour
ECM 2063 Stephan Micus Snow
ECM 2064 Enrico Rava New York Days
ECM 2065 NS Kim Kashkashian Neharót
ECM 2066 The Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble The Moment's Energy
ECM 2067 Fly Sky & Country
ECM 2068 Gianluigi Trovesi / All'Opera Profumo di Violetta
ECM 2069 Nils Økland Monograph -
ECM 2070 NS Eleni Karaindrou Dust of Time
ECM 2071 NS Ambrose Field & John Potter Being Dufay
ECM 2072 NS Quartetto Prometeo Stefano Scodanibbio: Reinventions
ECM 2073 Miroslav Vitous Group with Michel Portal Remembering Weather Report -
ECM 2074 NS Heinz Holliger Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Canto di Speranza
ECM 2075 Anouar Brahem The Astounding Eyes of Rita
ECM 2076 Marc Sinan and Julia Hülsmann Fasıl
ECM 2077 Jon Hassell Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street
ECM 2078 Arild Andersen Live at Belleville
ECM 2079 Julia Hülsmann Trio The End of a Summer
ECM 2080 Stefano Bollani Stone in the Water -
ECM 2081 Vassilis Tsabropoulos The Promise
ECM 2082/83 Egberto Gismonti Saudações
ECM 2084 Cyminology As Ney -
ECM 2085 Ralph Towner / Paolo Fresu Chiaroscuro
ECM 2086 Arve Henriksen Cartography -
ECM 2087 Roscoe Mitchell and The Note Factory Far Side
ECM 2088 NS Rolf Lislevand Diminuito
ECM 2089 Marilyn Crispell / David Rothenberg One Dark Night I Left My Silent House -
ECM 2090/92 Steve Kuhn Life's Backward Glances - 3-CD Box set compiling Ecstasy, Playground & Mobility
ECM 2093/94 Manfred Schoof Quintet Resonance
ECM 2095 NS Toshio Hosokawa Landscapes -
ECM 2096 Masabumi Kikuchi Trio Sunrise
ECM 2097 NS László Hortobágyi / György Kurtág Jr. Kurtágonals -
ECM 2098 Louis Sclavis Lost on the Way
ECM 2099 Steve Kuhn Mostly Coltrane
ECM 2100/1 Jan Garbarek Dresden -
ECM 2102 John Abercrombie Wait Till You See Her
ECM 2103 François Couturier Un Jour si Blanc -
ECM 2104 NS Alexander Lonquich Schumann / Holliger
ECM 2105 NS Henri Dutilleux D'Ombre et de Silence -
ECM 2106 NS John Holloway / Lars Ulrik Mortensen / Jane Gower Dario Castello / Giovanni Battista Fontana: Sonate concertate in stil moderno -
ECM 2107 Tord Gustavsen Ensemble Restored, Returned
ECM 2108 Ketil Bjørnstad / Svante Henryson Night Song
ECM 2109 Anat Fort Trio And If
ECM 2110 NS Jorg Widmann Elegie
ECM 2111 NS Thomas Larcher Madhares -
ECM 2113 NS Carolin Widmann / Simon Lepper Phantasy of Spring
ECM 2114 NS Till Fellner / Kent Nagano Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5
ECM 2115 Tomasz Stanko Quintet Dark Eyes -
ECM 2116 Markku Ounaskari / Samuli Mikkonen Kuára -
ECM 2117 NS Valentin Silvestrov Sacred Works
ECM 2118 Christian Wallumrød Sextet Fabula Suite Lugano -
ECM 2120 Stefano Battaglia Pastorale -
ECM 2121 Judith Berkson Oylam -
ECM 2122/23 NS András Schiff Robert Schumann: Geistervariationen
ECM 2124 NS Thomas Zehetmair Niccolò Paganini: 24 Caprices -
ECM 2125 NS Jan Garbarek / The Hilliard Ensemble Officium Novum
ECM 2127 Sinikka Langeland Maria's Song -
ECM 2128 Paul Motian Lost in a Dream -
ECM 2129 NS Peter-Anthony Togni Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae
ECM 2130/32 Keith Jarrett Paris / London: Testament
ECM 2133/35 Eberhard Weber Colours - 3-CD Box Set reissuing Yellow Fields, Silent Feet & Little Movements
ECM 2136/38 Terje Rypdal Odyssey - In Studio & In Concert - 3-CD Box Set reissuing Odyssey plus unreleased live recordings -
ECM 2139 Michael Mantler For Two -
ECM 2140/42 Chick Corea Solo Piano
ECM 2143/45 Arild Andersen Green in Blue - 3 CD Box Set reissuing Clouds In My Head, Shimri & Green Shading Into Blue
ECM 2146/48 Jan Garbarek Dansere -
ECM 2149 Ketil Bjørnstad Remembrance
ECM 2150 NS Thomas Zehetmair / Ruth Killius Manto and Madrigals -
ECM 2151 Stefano Battaglia Trio The River of Anyder -
ECM 2152 NS Miklós Perényi Britten / Bach / Ligeti -
ECM 2153 NS Juliane Banse / Aleksandar Madžar Alban Berg / Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Tief in der Nacht
ECM 2154 NS Meredith Monk Songs of Ascension -
ECM 2155 Dino Saluzzi El Encuentro -
ECM 2156 Manu Katché Third Round
ECM 2157 NS Garth Knox Saltarello -
ECM 2158 Norma Winstone Stories Yet To Tell -
ECM 2159 François Couturier Tarkovsky Quartet -
ECM 2160 NS Arvo Pärt Symphony No. 4 -
ECM 2161 NS Gidon Kremer / Kremerata Baltica Hymns and Prayers
ECM 2162 Lee Konitz / Brad Mehldau / Charlie Haden / Paul Motian Live at Birdland -
ECM 2163 Food Quiet Inlet -
ECM 2164 Cyminology Saburi -
ECM 2165 Keith Jarrett / Charlie Haden Jasmine -
ECM 2166 NS Trio Mediaeval A Worcester Ladymass
ECM 2167 Michael Formanek The Rub and Spare Change
ECM 2168 Marc Johnson / Eliane Elias Swept Away
ECM 2169 NS Witold Lutosμawski / Béla Bartók Musique funèbre -
ECM 2170/71 Ketil Bjørnstad Vinding’s Music - Songs from the Alder Thicket
ECM 2172 Iro Haarla Quintet Vespers
ECM 2173 Stephan Micus Bold As Light
ECM 2174 NS Rosamunde Quartett / The Hilliard Ensemble Boris Yoffe: Song of Songs -
ECM 2175 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Gesualdo: Quinto Libro di Madrigali
ECM 2176 Charles Lloyd Quartet Mirror
ECM 2177 Julia Hülsmann Trio Imprint
ECM 2178 Nik Bärtsch's Ronin Llyrìa -
ECM 2179 Nils Økland Lysøen - Hommage à Ole Bull
ECM 2180 Amina Alaoui Arco Iris
ECM 2181 Kayhan Kalhor / Erdal Erzincan Kula Kulluk Yakışır Mı -
ECM 2182-83 Jon Balke Magnetic Works 1993–2001
ECM 2184 Wolfert Brederode Quartet Post Scriptum
ECM 2185 Colin Vallon, Patrice Moret, Samuel Rohrer Rruga
ECM 2186 Trygve Seim / Andreas Utnem Purcor -
ECM 2187 Mathias Eick Skala -
ECM 2188 Giya Kancheli Themes from the Songbook
ECM 2189 NS John Holloway Pagans and Fantasies from the Age of Dowland
ECM 2190/94 NS Gidon Kremer Edition Lockenhaus
ECM 2195/96 NS Zehetmair Quartett Beethoven / Bruckner / Hartmann / Holliger
ECM 2197 NS Keller Quartett György Ligeti / Samuel Barber -
ECM 2198/99 Keith Jarrett Rio -
ECM 2200 Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Somewhere -
ECM 2201 NS Heinz Holliger Induuchlen -
ECM 2202 NS Gidon Kremer Peter I. Tchaikovsky / Victor Kissine: Piano Trios
ECM 2203 Paolo Fresu / A Filetta Corsican Voices / Daniele di Bonaventura Mistico Mediterraneo
ECM 2204 Dino Saluzzi / Anja Lechner / Felix Saluzzi Navidad de Los Andes
ECM 2205/06 Charles Lloyd / Maria Farantouri Athens Concert -
ECM 2207 Craig Taborn Avenging Angel -
ECM 2208 Marcin Wasilewski Trio Faithful -
ECM 2209 NS Reto Bieri Contrechant -
ECM 2210 Sinikka Langeland Group The Land That Is Not -
ECM 2211/12 Ricardo Villalobos / Max Loderbauer Re:ECM
ECM 2213/14 NS Lisa Smirnova Georg Friedrich Händel: Die Acht Grossen Suiten -
ECM 2215 NS Valery Afanassiev Franz Schubert: Moments musicaux -
ECM 2216 NS Heiner Goebbels Stifters Dinge -
ECM 2217 Gianluigi Trovesi / Gianni Coscia Frère Jacques - Round about Offenbach
ECM 2218 Enrico Rava Tribe
ECM 2219 NS Hildegard von Bingen Ordo Virtutum
ECM 2220 NS Eleni Karaindrou Concert in Athens -
ECM 2222 Chick Corea / Stefano Bollani Orvieto
ECM 2223 NS Franz Schubert Fantasie C_Dur / Rondo h_Moll / Sonate A_Dur
ECM 2224 NS Strosser, Dahler Cantoreggi, Hilliard Ensemble Heinz Holliger - Machaut-Transkriptionen
ECM 2225 NS Arvo Pärt Adam's Lament
ECM 2226 Giovanna Pessi / Susanna Wallumrød If Grief Could Wait -
ECM 2227 NS Arianna Savall / Petter Udland Johansen Hirundo Maris
ECM 2228 Marilyn Mazur Celestial Circle
ECM 2229 NS Heinz Holliger Johann Sebastian Bach: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis -
ECM 2230/31 NS Keith Jarrett / Michelle Makarski Johann Sebastian Bach: Six Sonatas for Violin and Piano -
ECM 2232 Anders Jormin Ad Lucem
ECM 2233 Bobo Stenson Trio Indicum -
ECM 2234 Tim Berne Snakeoil -
ECM 2235 Fly Year Of The Snake
ECM 2236 The Gurdjieff Folk Instrument Ensemble & Levon Eskenia Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff
ECM 2237 Tord Gustavsen The Well
ECM 2238 NS Duo Gazzana Five Pieces
ECM 2239 NS Dobrinka Tabakova String Paths
ECM 2240 NS Kim Kashkashian / Kurtág / Ligeti Music for Viola
ECM 2241/42 NS Alexei Lubimov Claude Debussy: Préludes
ECM 2243 NS Helena Tulve Arboles Iloran por lluvia
ECM 2244 NS Vox Clamantis Filia Sion / Jaan_Eik Tulve -
ECM 2245 Jon Balke / Batagraf Say and Play
ECM 2246 José Luis Montón Solo Guitarra
ECM 2247 NS Dénes Várjon / Precipitando Berg / Janá∫ek / Liszt
ECM 2248 Billy Hart All Our Reasons
ECM 2250 Various Artists Sounds and Silence, Music for the Film
ECM 2251 Bendikt Jahnel Trio Equilibrium
ECM 2252 Andy Sheppard / Michael Benita / Sebastian Rochford Trio Libero
ECM 2253 NS Lisa Batiashvili, Adrian Brendel, Till Felder, Amy Freston, Roderick Williams Harrison Birtwistle: Chamber Music -
ECM 2254 John Abercrombie Quartet Within a Song -
ECM 2255 NS Anna Gourari Canto Oscuro -
ECM 2256 NS Sofia Gubaidulina The Canticle of the Sun -
ECM 2257 Steve Kuhn / Steve Swallow / Joey Baron Wisteria -
ECM 2258 Chris Potter The Sirens
ECM 2259 Arild Andersen Celebration
ECM 2260/65 Paul Motian Paul Motian: Old & New Masters Edition - 6-CD box set reissuing Conception Vessel, Tribute, Dance, Le Voyage, Psalm & It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago
ECM 2266 John Surman Saltash Bells -
ECM 2267 Michael Formanek Small Places
ECM 2268 NS John Cage As It Is -
ECM 2269 Food Mercurial Balm
ECM 2270-73 NS András Schiff Das Wohltemperierte Clavier
ECM 2274 Giovanni Guidi Trio City of Broken Dreams
ECM 2275 Iva Bittová Iva Bittová
ECM 2276 June Tabor / Iain Ballamy / Huw Warren Quercus
ECM 2277 Elina Duni Quartet Matanë Malit -
ECM 2278 Dans les arbres Canopée -
ECM 2279 NS Valentin Silvestrov Sacred Songs
ECM 2280/81 Jan Garbarek / Egberto Gismonti / Charlie Haden Magico: Carta de Amor -
ECM 2282 Louis Sclavis Atlas Trio Sources -
ECM 2283 NS Morton Feldman Violin and Orchestra -
ECM 2284 Manu Katché Manu Katché -
ECM 2285 NS Friedrich Hölderlin Turmgedichte
ECM 2286 Stefano Battaglia Trio Songways -
ECM 2287 Carla Bley / Andy Sheppard / Steve Swallow Trios
ECM 2288 NS Rolf Lislevand La Mascerade 2016 -
ECM 2289 Christian Wallumrød Ensemble Outstairs -
ECM 2290/91 Keith Jarrett / Jan Garbarek / Palle Danielsson / Jon Christensen Sleeper (Belonging, Tokyo 1979)
ECM 2292 Marilyn Crispell / Gary Peacock Azure -
ECM 2293 Enrico Rava Rava on the Dance Floor -
ECM 2294/95 NS Andras Schiff Ludwig van Beethoven: Diabelli-Variationen
ECM 2296/99 Jack DeJohnette Special Edition - 4-CD box set reissuing Special Edition, Tin Can Alley, Inflation Blues & Album Album
ECM 2300 Ketil Bjørnstad La Notte
ECM 2301 Eivind Aarset Dream Logic -
ECM 2302/03 Nik Bärtsch Nik Bärtsch's Ronin Live
ECM 2304/05 Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet Wisława -
ECM 2306 Julia Hülsmann Quartet In Full View -
ECM 2307 Arild Andersen / Paolo Vinaccia / Tommy Smith Mira
ECM 2308 Stephan Micus Panagia
ECM 2309 NS Loren Ramou, Ensemble Coriolis Konstantin Gourzi: Music for piano and string quartet
ECM 2310 Ralph Towner / Wolfgang Muthspiel / Slava Grigoryan Travel Guide -
ECM 2311 Charles Lloyd / Jason Moran Hagar's Song -
ECM 2312 NS Victor Kissine Between Two Waves -
ECM 2313 Lucian Ban / Mat Maneri Transylvanian Concert
ECM 2314 Nicolas Masson / Roberto Pianca / Emanuele Maniscalco Third Reel
ECM 2315 Benedicte Maurseth / Åsne Valland Nordli Over Tones -
ECM 2316/20 Charles Lloyd Quartets - 5-CD box set reissuing Fish Out Of Water, Notes from Big Sur, The Call, All My Relations & Canto
ECM 2321 Ralph Alessi Baida (Ralph Alessi album)
ECM 2322 Susanne Abbuehl The Gift
ECM 2323 NS Tigran Mansurian Quasi parlando
ECM 2324 NS Keller Quartett Cantante e tranquillo 2015 -
ECM 2326 Craig Taborn Trio Chants
ECM 2327 NS Tõnu Kõrvits Mirror 2016
ECM 2328 NS Zsófia Boros En otra parte
ECM 2329 NS Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Markus Hinterhauser, Reto Bieri Galina Ustvolskaya 2014
ECM 2330/31 Marc Sinan Hasretim – Journey to Anatolia (CD & DVD) -
ECM 2332 Stefano Bollani / Hamilton de Holanda O Que Será
ECM 2333 Norma Winstone Dance Without Answer
ECM 2334 John Abercrombie Quartet 39 Steps
ECM 2335 Billy Hart Quartet One Is the Other
ECM 2336 Ketil Bjørnstad Sunrise - A cantata on texts by Edvard Munch
ECM 2337 Yeahwon Shin / Aaron Parks / Rob Curto Lua ya
ECM 2338 Aaron Parks Arborescence
ECM 2339 Tim Berne's Snakeoil Shadow Man -
ECM 2340 Maria Pia De Vito Il Pergolese -
ECM 2341 NS Erkki-Sven Tüür Symphony No.7 / Piano Concerto -
ECM 2342 NS Myung Thun Chung Myung Thun Chung Piano -
ECM 2343 NS Momo Kodama La vallée des cloches
ECM 2344 NS Saskia Lankhoom Kate Moore: Dances and Canons 2014 -
ECM 2345 NS Kim Kashkashian, Sivan Magen, Marina Piccinini Tre Voci
ECM 2346 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Il Cor Tristo -
ECM 2347 Colin Vallon Trio Le Vent -
ECM 2348 Jean Louis Matinier / Marco Ambrosini Inventio
ECM 2349 Wolfgang Muthspiel / Larry Grenadier / Brian Blade Driftwood
ECM 2350/2355 ECM Compilation Selected Signs -
ECM 2356 NS Duo Gazzana Poulenc, Walton, Dallapiccola, Schnittke, Silvestrov
ECM 2357 Mark Turner Lathe of Heaven -
ECM 2358 Tord Gustavsen Quartet Extended Circle
ECM 2360 Stefano Bollani Joy in Spite of Everything
ECM 2361/62 Keith Jarrett No End -
ECM 2363 Kappeler / Zumthor Babylon-Suite -
ECM 2364 Miroslav Vitous Music Of Weather Report 2016 -
ECM 2365 ECM Re:Seoul
ECM 2366 Jacob Young Forever Young 2014 -
ECM 2367 NS Anja Lechner / François Couturier Moderato cantabile 2014
ECM 2368/69 NS Gidon Kremer / Kremerata Baltica Mieczysław Weinberg 2014
ECM 2370 Dino Saluzzi Group El Valle de la Infancia 2014 -
ECM 2371 Vilde & Inga Makrofauna 2014
ECM 2372 Vijay Iyer Mutations 2014 -
ECM 2373 Paul Bley Play Blue: Oslo Concert 2014 -
ECM 2374 NS Meredith Monk Piano Songs 2014 -
ECM 2375 NS Kim Kashkashian, Lera Auerbach Arcanum - Dmitri Shostakovich, Lera Auerbach 2016
ECM 2376 Eleni Karaindrou Medea 2014 -
ECM 2377 Sinikka Langeland The half-finished heaven 2015
ECM NS 2378 Kim Kashkashian, Sarah Rothenberg, Steven Schick, Houston Chamber Choir, Morton Feldman, Erik Satie, John Cage : Rothko Chapel 2015
ECM 2379 Dino Saluzzi Imágenes – Music for piano 2015 -
ECM 2380 NS Pablo Marquez Gustavo Leguizamon: El Cuchi BienTemperado 2015
ECM 2381 Jakob Bro Gefion 2015 -
ECM 2382 Anat Fort Trio, Gianluigi Trovesi Birdwatching 2016
ECM 2383 Nils Økland BA Kjølvatn 2015 -
ECM 2384 NS Anna Gourari Visions fugitives 2014
ECM 2385 Glauco Venier Miniatures 2016
ECM 2386 David Virelles Mbókò 2014 -
ECM 2387 Chris Potter Underground Orchestra Imaginary Cities 2015
ECM 2388 Kenny Wheeler Songs for Quintet 2015
ECM 2391 Michael Mantler The Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Update 2014
ECM 2392 Jack DeJohnette Made in Chicago 2015
ECM 2393 Robin Williamson Trusting in the Rising Light 2014
ECM 2394 Ketil Bjørnstad A passion for John Donne 2014
ECM 2395 NS Heinz Holliger / Robert Schumann Aschenmusik 2014 -
ECM 2396 NS Thomas Zehetmair, Orchestre de chambre de Paris Robert Schumann 2016
ECM 2397 Cyminology Phoenix 2015
ECM 2398 Savina Yannatou / Primavera en Salonico Songs of Thessaloniki 2015
ECM 2399 Keith Jarrett / Charlie Haden Last Dance 2014
ECM 2400 Marcin Wasilewski Trio w/ Joakim Milder Spark of Life 2014 -
ECM 2401 Elina Duni Quartet Dallëndyshe 2015 -
ECM 2402 Louis Sclavis Quartet Silk and Salt Melodies 2014
ECM 2403 Giovanni Guidi Trio This Is The Day 2015
ECM 2404 NS Wolfgang Rihm Et Lux 2015
ECM 2406 Anders Jormin Trees Of Light 2015
ECM 2407 Sokratis Sinopoulos Quartet Eight Winds 2014
ECM 2408 NS The Hilliard Ensemble Transeamus 2014 -
ECM 2409 Stephan Micus Nomad Songs 2015
ECM 2410 Mathias Eick Midwest 2015
ECM 2411 Dominique Pifarély Time Before And Time After 2015
ECM 2412 Paolo Fresu / Daniele di Bonaventura In maggiore 2015
ECM 2413 Jøkleba Outland 2014
ECM 2414/15 Tigran Hamasyan, Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset, Jan Bang Atmosphères 2016 -
ECM 2416 NS Trio Mediaeval Aquilonis 2014
ECM 2417 Food This Is Not a Miracle 2015
ECM 2418 Julia Hülsmann Quartet A Clear Midnight - Kurt Weill and America 2015
ECM 2419 Manu Katché Touchstone For Manu 2014 -
ECM 2420 Vijay Iyer Trio Break Stuff 2015 -
ECM 2421 Ben Monder Amorphae 2016
ECM 2422 Keith Jarrett Trio Hamburg '72 2014 -
ECM 2423/24 Anouar Brahem Souvenance - Music for oud, quartet and string orchestra 2014 -
ECM 2425/26 Andras Schiff Franz Schubert 2014 -
ECM 2427 NS Carolin Widmann, Chamber Orchestra of Europe Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy / Robert Schumann 2016 -
ECM 2428 Gary Peacock Trio Now This 2015 -
ECM 2429 Stefano Battaglia Trio In The Morning 2015
ECM 2430 Andrew Cyrille Quartet The Declaration Of Musical Independence 2016
ECM 2431 Third Reel Many More Days 2015 -
ECM 2432 Andy Sheppard Quartet Surrounded by Sea 2015
ECM 2433 David Torn Only Sky 2015
ECM 2434 Lumen Drones Lumen Drones 2014
ECM 2435 NS Burkhard Reinartz Eine Olive des Nichts 2014
ECM 2438 Ralph Alessi Quiver 2016 -
ECM 2439 Eberhard Weber Encore 2015
ECM 2441 NS John Potter Amores Pasados 2015
ECM NS 2442 Gideon Kremer, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Kremerata Baltica Giya Kancheli : Chiaroscuro 2015
ECM 2443 Tim Berne’s Snakeoil You’ve Been Watching Me 2015
ECM 2444 Jon Balke Warp 2016 -
ECM 2445 NS Keith Jarrett Barber/Bartók 2015
ECM NS 2446 Miranda Cuckson, Blair McMillen Bela Bartok, Alfred Schnittke, Witold Lutoslawski 2016
ECM 2447 Tigran Hamasyan Luys i Luso 2015
ECM 2448 Sinikka Langeland, Arve Henriksen, Trygve Seim, Anders Jormin, Markku Ounaskari, Trio Mediaeval The Magical Forest 2016
ECM 2449 Trygve Seim, Tora Augestad, Frode Haltli, Svante Henryson Rumi Songs 2016
ECM 2450 Keith Jarrett Creation 2015
ECM 2451 The Gurdjieff Folk Instrument Ensemble & Levon Eskenian Komitas 2015
ECM NS 2452 Erkki-Sven Tüür and Brett Dean Gesualdo 2015
ECN NS 2453 Danish String Quartet Thomas Ades, Per Norgard, Hans Abrahamsen 2016
ECM NS 2454/55 Arvo Pärt Musica Selecta 2015
ECM 2456 Enrico Rava Quartet Wild Dance 2015
ECM 2457 Iro Haarla Quintet, Norrlands Operans Symfoniorkester, Jukka Iisakkila Ante Lucem 2016
ECM 2458 Ferenc Snétberger In Concert 2016 -
ECM 2459 Masabumi Kikuchi Black Orpheus 2016 -
ECM 2460/61 Mette Henriette Mette Henriette 2015 -
ECM 2462 Giovanni Guidi, Gianluca Petrella, Louis Sclavis, Gerald Cleaver Ida Lupino 2016 -
ECM 2463 Pat Metheny & SWR Big Band Hommage à Eberhard Weber 2015
ECM 2464 Nik Bärtsch's Mobile Continuum 2016 -
ECM 2465 Tord Gustavsen What Was Said 2016 -
ECM 2466 NS Vox Clamantis The Deer's Cry 2016
ECM 2467 Thomas Strønen Time Is a Blind Guide 2015 -
ECM 2469 Mats Eilertsen Rubicon 2016
ECM 2470 Anthony de Mare Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano 2015
ECM 2473 NS Meredith Monk Ensemble On Behalf Of Nature 2016
ECM 2474 Ches Smith The Bell 2016
ECM 2475 Golfam Khayam, Mona Matbou Riahi Narrante 2016 -
ECM 2476 Wolfert Brederode Trio Black Ice 2016
ECM 2477 Markus Stockhausen, Florian Weber Alba 2016
ECM 2478/80 John Abercrombie The First Quartet - 3-CD box set reissuing Arcade, Abercrombie Quartet & M 2015 -
ECM 2481 Dominique Pifarély Quartet Tracé Provisoire 2016 -
ECM 2482 Avishai Cohen Into The Silence 2016
ECM 2483 Michel Benita, Ethics River Silver 2016
ECM 2484 Michael Formanek, Ensemble Kolossus The Distance 2016
ECM 2486 Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith a cosmic rhythm with each stroke 2016
ECM 2487 Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow Andando el Tiempo 2016
ECM 2488 Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matthew Garrison In Movement 2016
ECM 2490/93 Peter Erskine, John Taylor, Palle Danielsson As It Was - 4-CD box set reissuing You Never Know, Time Being, As It Is & Juni 2016 -
ECM 2496 NS Frode Haltli, Arditti Quartet, Trondheim Soloists Air - Bent Sørensen, Hans Abrahamsen 2016
ECM 2498 NS Zsófia Boros Local Objects 2016 -
ECM 2499 Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron Streams 2016 -
ECM 2500/2503 Keith Jarrett A Multitude of Angels 2016
ECM 2504 Louis Sclavis, Dominique Pifarely, Vincent Courtois Asian Fields Variations 2017 -
ECM 2508 NS RIAS Kammerchor, Münchener Kammerorchester, Alexander Liebreich Tigran Mansurian: Requiem 2017
ECM 2509 NS Momo Kodama Point and Line 2017 -
ECM 2512 Theo Bleckmann Elegy 2017 -
ECM 2515 Wolfgang Muthspiel Rising Grace 2016 -
ECM 2516 Ralph Towner My Foolish Heart 2017 -
ECM 2517 Colin Vallon Trio Danse 2017 -
ECM 2518 Dominic Miller Silent Light 2017 -
ECM 2520 Trio Mediaeval, Arve Henriksen Rímur 2017 -
ECM 2523 Benedikt Jahnel Trio The Invariant 2017
ECM 2524 Tarkovsky Quartet Nuit blanche 2017
ECM 2527 Craig Taborn Daylight Ghosts 2017
ECM 2528 John Abercrombie Quartet Up and Coming 2017
ECM 2532 Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet December Avenue 2017 -
ECM 2538/39 NS Kremerata Baltica, Gidon Kremer Mieczysław Weinberg: Chamber Symphonies & Piano Quintet 2017
ECM 2547 Julia Hülsmann Trio Sooner and Later 2017 -
ECM 2548 Avishai Cohen Cross My Palm With Silver 2017 -
ECM 2550 NS Danish String Quartet Last Leaf 2017
ECM 2556 NS Duo Gazzana Ravel, Franck, Ligeti, Messiaen 2018
ECM 2559 Kit Downes Obsidian 2018 -
ECM 2566 Björn Meyer Provenance 2017
ECM 2567 Norma Winstone Descansado - Songs for Film 2018
ECM 2569 Stephan Micus Inland Sea 2017
ECM 2570/71 Stefano Battaglia Pelagos 2017
ECM 2572 Jon Balke, Siwan Nahnou Houm 2017 -
ECM 2573 Maciej Obara Quartet Unloved 2017 -
ECM 2574 Shinya Fukumori Trio For 2 Akis 2018
ECM 2576 Thomas Strønen, Time Is A Blind Guide Lucus 2018
ECM 2577 Andy Sheppard Quartet Romaria 2018 -
ECM 2578 Nicolas Masson, Colin Vallon, Patrice Moret, Lionel Friedli Travelers 2018 -
ECM 2579 Tim Berne’s Snakeoil Incidentals 2017
ECM 2580 Anouar Brahem Blue Maqams 2017 -
ECM 2581 Vijay Iyer Sextet Far from Over 2017
ECM 2582 Bobo Stenson Trio Contra La Indecisión 2018 -
ECM 2582 John Surman Invisible Threads 2018
ECM 2584 Mathias Eick Ravensburg 2018
ECM 2586 Kristjan Randalu, Ben Monder, Markku Ounaskari Absence 2018
ECM 2587 Elina Duni Partir 2018
ECM 2590/91 Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette After the Fall 2018
ECM 2594 Arild Andersen In-House Science 2018
ECM 2600 NS NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, Tõnu Kaljuste Arvo Pärt: The Symphonies 2018 -
ECM 2601 Keith Jarrett La Fenice 2018 -
ECM 2603 Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin Awase 2018 -
ECM 2604 Giovanni Guidi Avec Le Temps 2019 -
ECM 2605/06 NS Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Kent Nagano Arche 2018
ECM 2607 Trygve Seim Helsinki Songs 2018
ECM 2608 Tord Gustavsen Trio The Other Side 2018 -
ECM 2609 Michele Rabbia, Gianluca Petrella, Eivind Aarset Lost River 2019
ECM 2610 Wolfgang Muthspiel, Ambrose Akinmusire, Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Eric Harland Where The River Goes 2018
ECM 2611 Yonathan Avishai Joys And Solitudes 2019
ECM 2612 NS Anna Gourari Elusive Affinity 2019 -
ECM 2613 David Torn, Tim Berne, Ches Smith Sun Of Goldfinger 2019
ECM 2614 Dominic Miller Absinthe 2019
ECM 2615 Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry 2019 -
ECM 2616 Shai Maestro (Jorge Roeder, Ofri Nehemya) The Dream Thief 2018 -
ECM 2618 Jakob Bro (Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron) Bay Of Rainbows 2018 -
ECM 2619 Mats Eilertsen Trio And Then Comes The Night 2019
ECM 2626 Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan Epistrophy 2019
ECM 2627/28 NS Keith Jarrett The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I 2019
ECM 2629 Ralph Alessi Imaginary Friends 2019
ECM 2630 (21CD) Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Associated Ensembles 2018 -
ECM 2631 Sokratis Sinopoulos Quartet Metamodal 2019 -
ECM 2634 NS Eleni Karaindrou Tous des oiseaux 2019 -
ECM 2639 Stephan Micus White Night 2019 -
ECM 2641 Avishai Choen & Yonathan Avishai Playing the Room 2019
ECM 2642 Paul Bley, Gary Peacock, Paul Motian When Will The Blues Leave 2019
ECM 2643 Ethan Iverson Quartet with Tom Harrell Common Practice 2019
ECM 2644 Vijay Iyer & Craig Taborn The Transitory Poems 2019 -
ECM 2645 Louis Sclavis Quartet Characters on a Wall 2019 -
ECM 2654 Enrico Rava and Joe Lovano Roma 2019 -
ECM 2665 NS Heinz Holliger & György Kurtág Zwiegespräche 2019 -

Les 50 ans d'ECM dans « Downbeat »

ECM and Manfred Eicher on the Search for the Sublime

By Josef Woodard
Oct. 24, 2019

A search for the heart of the ECM Records operation leads to a small, quiet space located on the second floor of a compound in an industrial section of Munich, Germany. Here, in visionary label head Manfred Eicher’s peaceable central office—filled with audio equipment from different eras—the producer and curator of the ECM aesthetic plots his company’s moves.

Nearby, the bustle of the Autobahn serves as a reminder of an extant urbanity. But, aptly, a sitting position in Eicher’s office affords a deceptively bucolic view of a canopy of trees that surrounds the building, ECM’s home base since the 1970s. Part of what makes the ECM story such an important one within jazz and classical circles is the label’s magical blend of timeless introspection and contemporary sophistication.

On many ECM albums, one hears the calm of the trees alongside the thrush of the traffic.

Fifty years ago, Eicher co-founded Edition of Contemporary Music, better known as ECM. The label has issued more than 1,600 titles and earned a sterling reputation among fans, critics and concert presenters the world over. During a conversation with DownBeat, Eicher reflected on the past, present and future of the imprint, which topped the Record Label category in the 2019 DownBeat Critics Poll. Eicher also topped the poll’s Producer category.

Stepping into the Eicher epicenter can evoke a sense of reverence for those familiar with the producer’s work: The space feels like a temple of deep listening.

Despite the appeal of such a personalized space, Eicher hardly is chained to his desk. Moving between studios and coordinating recording sessions around the globe has made him inherently itinerant. In Peter Guyer and Norbert Wiedmer’s 2009 documentary, Sounds and Silence: Travels with Manfred Eicher, the label head admits, “I like to travel. Music has no fixed abode.”

At 50, the label thrives, releasing about 50 albums each year. And the catalog features a who’s who from the world of creative music: pianists Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and Vijay Iyer; guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie and Jakob Bro; bassists Charlie Haden, Dave Holland and Eberhard Weber; vibraphonist Gary Burton; vocalist/composer Meredith Monk; saxophonists Charles Lloyd and Jan Garbarek; trumpeters Enrico Rava and Tomasz Stańko; and bands, such as Oregon and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

In 1984, Eicher—who started his career as a classically trained double bassist—launched the New Series, a dedicated classical line, spotlighting such names as Arvo Pärt, György Kurtág, Kim Kashkashian and Steve Reich. To date, Eicher has won three Grammy awards, all for his production work on classical recordings.

Eicher explained how he maintains a balance between jazz and classical music. “One line deals with music created primarily through improvisation,” he said. “The other line starts from the carefully realized score. Both approaches are important to me—form and freedom. I benefited from one and the other.”

In Munich, Eicher invited DownBeat to a savory Italian dinner at a humble restaurant close to his home near the Isar River. Also along was Steve Lake, an ECM mainstay since the late 1970s, who has had a variety of roles: writer, organizer, conceptualist and sometimes producer. The dinner discussion ranged from the label’s history to Eicher’s rural upbringing in the German town Lindau, on Lake Constance, near the Switzerland and Austria borders. That formative setting partly could account for his taste for music that is earthy, open and folkloric.

Describing his ECM experience, Eicher mused that, despite the international profile afforded by various high-profile distribution deals, he has enjoyed remarkable artistic freedom. “I’ve had great luck in being able to do what I want, without answering to anybody, with no corporate boss in the back,” he said. “We’ve been able to keep it going all this time.”

Lake added, “This is one of the great independent labels.”

Whereas other record company headquarters might flaunt a sense of flashy style, ECM’s Munich hub shuns extraneous frills. While leading a tour of the Munich offices, label publicist Christian Stolberg asserted that Eicher “loves things functional, and that’s it. I think he wants to use the money for the productions and not for show.”

In one large room, cabinets with massive archives line the walls, and another area belongs to the design station for the label’s legendarily subtle and refined album cover graphics, currently created by Sascha Kleis, in collaboration with Eicher. (Previous designers include Barbara Wojirsch and Dieter Rehm.)

In a rare touch of whimsy, the room also houses a female mannequin sporting an ornate cap once owned by drummer-bandleader Paul Motian (1931–2011), who recorded influential ECM albums in a trio with guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano.

“Paul was a good friend,” Eicher said, “and a great musician whom I’d admired since Bill Evans’ Village Vanguard recordings [1961]. Conception Vessel [1973] marked Paul’s debut as a composer and leader. I’m glad to have encouraged him on that path.”

On the office’s far end, ECM’s founding (and funding) partner Karl Egger’s health food and wine company LaSelva has a showroom combining its products with an ECM record store, with a small performance space attached. The night before DownBeat’s visit, the ECM-aligned duo of cellist Anja Lechner and guitarist Pablo Márquez performed there.

Egger, who ran the Elektro-Egger record store, played a key role in the label’s origin story, offering Eicher a seminal record-making opportunity. The result: pianist Mal Waldron’s Free At Last, recorded on Nov. 24, 1969, at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, West Germany. It became the first ECM release, with early partner Manfred Scheffner (who died in September at the age of 79) listed as producer.

ECM’s 50th anniversary has been celebrated at numerous festivals this year, including the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, the Healdsburg Jazz Festival in California and the Montreal Jazz Festival.

More celebrations are forthcoming. One will be at the Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt in Germany on Oct. 23–27. SFJAZZ in San Francisco will salute the label Oct. 24–27, with performances by 10 acts; Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York will present an ECM tribute Nov. 1–2; The Skopje Jazz Festival will spotlight ECM Oct. 17–20 in Skopje, Macedonia; and Flagey will present the “ECM 50th Anniversary Weekend” Nov. 21–24 in Brussels, Belgium.

Despite the numerous tributes, Eicher admitted, “I’m not a celebration kind of guy. We will do a few things [to mark the anniversary], but I mostly want to do the work, and just let people [hear the music]. ... That’s the most important thing.”

In a 1975 Saturday Review article, writer Chris Albertson noted that Eicher’s “sensible approach to jazz recording, perceptive ear, venturesome spirit, sensitivity, and stringent technical demands are widely appreciated now, but they will be even more appreciated in years to come.” True enough.

Last January, the celebratory year commenced with a two-night, ECM mini-fest, part of Manhattan’s Winter Jazzfest, at (Le) Poisson Rouge. The roster included pianist Shai Maestro, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, drummer Billy Hart and the piano duo of Iyer and Craig Taborn.

Eicher, who tends to eschew public appearances, traveled to New York for the occasion, which was sandwiched between two other important matters: He visited the rural New Jersey home of longtime friend Jarrett, whose health issues have interrupted his music-making, and he produced a recording session by trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith.

Amid a busy Gotham weekend, Eicher sat down in the lobby of his Midtown hotel, over a pot of tea, and spoke about his adventures.

Regarding his perspective after 50 years, Eicher offered a pithy assessment of the ECM manifesto, as such. “It is all about curiosity,” he said. “It began that way and I am still pursuing that. I am always searching for new sounds.”

Soon after the 1969 Waldron recording, Eicher was drawn deeper into officially starting a label, though without any particular role models: “It was more a simple matter of following my musical interests. This gradually led to what was perceived as the label’s ‘identity.’ But there wasn’t a grand plan. I just wanted to make some recordings and had some ideas about sound in mind.”

Acoustics and the recording process have been central ECM concerns. Eicher’s aesthetic involves a sonic landscape of purity, the judicious use of silence and an insistence on live tracking rather than excessive takes, overdubbing or other production trickery.

Eicher’s studio techniques and his malleable “producer” role entail the critical art of “attentive listening,” paying close attention to details and the structure of the musical experience.

“I believe in going with a plan,” he said, “but also being open to whatever might happen unexpectedly in the studio, in the improvisational process. Sometimes, you have to stop and start again, if it’s not coming together or working.

“Each project brings its own demands, such as whether to use a studio with isolation for the musicians or to put them all in the same room, or whether to use a studio at all—compared to, say, a church, as we have done many times with the New Series projects.”

Key sonic collaborators have included such frequently called-upon engineers as Jan Erik Kongshaug in Oslo, Grammy winner James Farber in New York and others. “Together,” Eicher explained, “we worked on developing a sound, and an appreciation of space and silence. We were looking for a sound that was transparent, detailed and lucid.”

Further along in the creative process, Eicher emphasizes the importance of sequencing and shaping the final program. “It’s like film editing,” he said, “telling a story and giving a rhythm to a project.”

An avid cineaste who co-directed the 1992 film Holozän and has worked with iconoclastic director Jean-Luc Godard, Eicher has also cited his admiration for French filmmaker Robert Bresson.

Eicher’s reverence for storytelling helps explain why the album concept is still so important to him, regardless of the format. ECM finally joined the streaming revolution in November 2017, easing a once-firm disinclination to break up an album’s continuity. “Young people don’t understand the power of the album,” Eicher said ruefully, “which is too bad. An album is like a film or a play, presented in a certain way, with an overall sense of rhythm, dynamics and a story being told.”

Back in Munich, ECM’s export manager Heino Freiberg—part of the team for 30 years—was in his office, laying out the chronology of ECM’s technology and platform history, moving from vinyl to CDs, and then, eventually, to digital streaming on platforms like Spotify.

“ECM has been trend-setting in many fields,” Freiberg said, “but in this very special case [of streaming], we followed a little bit.”

The album format, Freiberg said, “remains important—the order of how you present the music, but also, from the very beginning, how to present it, graphically. [Eicher] wanted to have nice packaging and not any kind of short-minded artist photo or instrument. Manfred introduced typography, photography and painting, and this was a way to consider this as an artifact.”

One recent ECM “artifact” of note is the Iyer-Taborn duo’s The Transitory Poems. The pair sat down with DownBeat at ECM’s New York office the day after their high-profile Winter Jazzfest concert. They belong to a coterie of New York-based pianists, including Ethan Iverson and David Virelles, who have become part of the ECM roster in the 21st century.

These two, though, aren’t tethered to “a stylistic thing,” according to Taborn. “It’s just very personal approaches, and I think [Eicher] got excited by that.”

Iyer added, “It doesn’t feel like any one of us is a marginal outlier. Actually, we’re all outliers, a group of nonconformists.”

As sidemen, Iyer and Taborn made their ECM recording debuts with saxophonist and Art Ensemble of Chicago co-founder Roscoe Mitchell—Taborn on Nine To Get Ready (recorded in 1997) and both pianists on Far Side (recorded in 2007). Their debuts as ECM leaders arrived with Taborn’s 2011 solo album, Avenging Angel, and Iyer’s 2014 album Mutations. Both have since released ECM albums in varied contexts and idioms.

Iyer appreciates the label’s broad scope: “Given the fact that [trumpeter] Lester Bowie’s Avant Pop, [tabla player] Zakir Hussain’s album Making Music, and [pianist] András Schiff playing Bach exist under one umbrella, there’s nothing wrong with anything that we propose here. We have to keep reminding ourselves that this is a vast spectrum of music.”

Iyer and Taborn’s connections to Mitchell reinforce ECM’s many links to the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians. Eicher noted, “We recorded musicians from the AACM from the early days of ECM onwards. Anthony Braxton plays on [saxophonist] Marion Brown’s Afternoon Of A Georgia Faun [1970], the fourth ECM album, and would soon reappear on Circle’s Paris Concert [1972] and Dave Holland’s Conference Of The Birds [1973].

“As a bassist, I played in 1970 with Leo Smith and Marion Brown in their Creative Improvisation Ensemble [documented by Theo Kotulla in his film See the Music]. And I still work with Wadada: Next year we’ll put out a new album by him.”

On the ECM-dense January weekend in New York, trumpeter Mathias Eick, 40, spoke to DownBeat about his ECM path. Eick is one of the most popular of ECM’s more recent Norwegian contingent—a list that includes saxophonist Trygve Seim, trumpeter Arve Henriksen and keyboardist Christian Wallumrød.After playing on guitarist Jacob Young’s 2004 ECM album, Evening Falls, Eicher invited the trumpeter to record his own work. Eick’s ECM debut, The Door, was released in 2008.

Working with Eicher was both exhilarating and a bit nerve-racking. “He’s one of my idols,” Eick said. “I was trying not to think of the history that he has had his hands on, and all that he has meant to me. It took me a couple of albums to really relax. Maybe after we had a few glasses of wine and went out and had dinner, and he came and met my family, he became human.

“That was the biggest challenge for me, personally, just to relax and to trust myself and my own opinions in the context of working with Manfred.” With a laugh, he added, “I would do whatever he told me.”

ECM has done more to disseminate the “Norwegian jazz” sound to other countries—especially the United States—than any other label, beginning in the ’70s.

“My choice of Norwegian musicians was very selective,” Eicher said, citing saxophonist Jan Garbarek as a prime example. “The four players of [Garbarek’s 1970 album] Afric Pepperbird—Jan, [guitarist] Terje Rypdal, [bassist] Arild Andersen, [drummer] Jon Christensen—had a big influence on the music that followed. For a long time, Oslo seemed a good place to record and develop ideas, because it was so far from the center of the jazz scene. And the studio became my home—Talent Studio, and then the first Rainbow Studio, with Jan Erik Kongshaug.”

But if there is a flagship ECM artist, it is Jarrett, whose first ECM title was the 1972 studio solo album Facing You. A few years later, Jarrett recorded his most popular album—also ECM’s most celebrated title: The Köln Concert. The landmark solo piano improvisation opus was recorded on Jan. 24, 1975, at the Opera House in Cologne, Germany. Today, it has sold millions of copies and appeared on many “Best Jazz Albums of All Time” lists.

Jarrett’s ECM discography, upward of 70 titles, chronicles his so-called “American” quartet with Haden, Motian and saxophonist Dewey Redman; his “European” quartet with Garbarek, Christensen and bassist Palle Danielsson; the Standards Trio with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Gary Peacock, as well as numerous solo works. Among his classical releases are works by Bach, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier and Six Sonatas For Violin And Piano, a collaboration with Michelle Makarski.

“It’s impossible to sum up in a few sentences what Keith and his music have meant to me personally and to ECM as a label over the decades,” Eicher said. “We have been proud to present the full range of his music, which is, by any definition, a unique body of work from a master of spontaneous invention.” He added, “We have a great trust in each other.”

Early on, there were many bases of compatibility. “[Jarrett] was very much into classical music,” Eicher said, “but also the music of Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. Early on, I wrote a letter to Keith, before Facing You. I was proposing he make a record with Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock.”

For 1976’s Hymns/Spheres, Jarrett improvised on an organ at the Benedictine Abbey in Ottobeuren, Germany. Eicher worked the organ’s many stops: “He was playing and telling me which stops to pull at which times.”

In a 1995 interview (with this writer), Jarrett reflected on ECM’s role in his career: “The ability to find somebody who heard what I was doing and let the format be determined by me, basically, was what I needed. So, if there wasn’t anyone like Manfred—in my case, that’s who there was—I don’t know what would have happened otherwise.

“On the one hand, the story might have been different and I might not have been able to do what I’ve done. On the other hand, I know how early I felt that I was going to be doing something. I just wasn’t sure when. I knew that my work would be of value. I don’t know if I ever would have found the outlet, so in that case, there would have been a horrible difference between the beginning that I did have and the nonbeginning that I might have had.”

One striking recent ECM release was veteran bassist Barre Phillips’ solo project, End To End. (Interestingly, ECM also released Larry Grenadier’s solo bass album The Gleaners on Feb. 15.)

Eicher noted, “I knew Barre already before ECM began and admired his playing. Hearing him together with Dave Holland inside an NDR Workshop project led to [1971’s] Music From Two Basses and a working relationship that extended over half a century.”

While at the FIMAV festival in Victoriaville, Quebec, this year, where he delivered a remarkable solo set, Phillips recounted the origins of End To End. A seasoned solo bass concert performer with a handful of solo bass albums—including his 1984 ECM album, Call Me When You Get There—Phillips approached Eicher about another solo venture.

“For me, it would be some kind of full circle,” Phillips said. “I started so many things with Manfred in the ’70s. I called him up and he said, ‘Yeah, I want to do it tomorrow.’ That surprised me very much, because he’s such a busy man. We made the record. I made the music. He made the record. I have to be clear about that.”

During July’s Moldejazz Festival in Norway, Bill Frisell, 68, sat in his hotel’s lobby, in plain view of the adjacent Romsdal Fjord, recounting his history with ECM. Early on, Frisell earned the sobriquet “ECM house guitarist,” via sideman roles with Garbarek, Weber and others. He recorded three leader albums for ECM in the 1980s before becoming frustrated with creative control issues, later recording for Nonesuch, Savoy and OKeh, and recently signing with Blue Note.

Before a duo concert with bassist Thomas Morgan, Frisell recalled a fateful 1981 gig at Moldejazz with Arild Andersen, which virtually marked the launch of his initial ECM chapter. Three decades later, apart from appearances with Motian, Gavin Bryars, Lee Konitz and Kenny Wheeler, the ECM/Frisell drought ended in 2017, when he and Morgan teamed up for duo album Small Town and its 2019 follow-up, Epistrophy.

Frisell asserted that the catalyst for the recent ECM reunion was New York-based Sarah Humphries, head of the label’s U.S. operations, who was wowed by the duo and determined to release it on the label. “She’s like an angel,” Frisell effused, “a true, incredible mediator, in this world of men trying to be the tough guy. She’s the last person who would ever draw attention to herself.”

Frisell, strongly influenced by ’70s ECM albums, yearns to correct a misconception, explaining, “I have trouble when people say ‘the ECM sound.’ There is something about just being in a big room and there’s space. To me, the ECM sound is also like Columbia records from the early ’60s, or early Paul Bley records. ... Or when Miles played one note and then he waits for five minutes, then hits another one. Or Monk. It’s about waiting for a second [rather than] running your mouth off. It’s not ‘the ECM sound.’ It’s a sensibility about space. Manfred is definitely sensitive to that.

“When you’re on the same wavelength, it’s so amazing to have [Eicher] in the studio, because it’s like his life is on the line. When I’m playing, with every note, I feel like my life is on the line. That’s where he’s at. It’s that intense. You can’t say that about everybody. His commitment to it is really about the music.”

Backstage at July’s Montreal Jazz Festival, Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson, 75, took time before a dazzling, poetic solo concert to reflect on his long ECM connection, dating back to 1971.

Of Eicher, Stenson, who has released several trio albums on ECM, including 2018’s Contra La Indecisión, said: “I would call him a real producer. He really wants to be a part of the process and what is happening. His main thing is to get the creative things out of the musicians. He might come running out into the studio saying, ‘Yeah, keep that. Go on.’ He is very much involved in every production.

“Normally,” Stenson continued, “you record for two days and then you make the whole thing ready on the third day. Everything should be ready by then. On mixing day, [Eicher is] really busy with the sound and also the order [of tracks in the program].”

Another artist deeply connected to ECM and Eicher is influential keyboardist-composer Carla Bley. A stubbornly resourceful artist who launched her own label, WATT, along with a model DIY project, the New Music Distribution Service, Bley recently recalled her pre-DIY days. “I remember asking Manfred, ‘Me and Mike [Mantler] just made this album. Would you like to put it out on your label?’ He wrote back and said, ‘No.’ I remember that,” she said with a chuckle.

According to Bley, in the mid-’70s, NMDS “ended up having to distribute Manfred’s records.” She added, “In those days, I guess none of us had any money. Manfred would sleep on our couch when he was in New York. Everything was pretty relaxed.”

Today, Bley’s WATT releases are part of the ECM catalog. Lately, she has opted to focus on making music—away from the music business aspect—releasing trio albums on ECM, proper, with Eicher as producer. (Her trio bandmates are her life partner, bassist Steve Swallow, and saxophonist Andy Sheppard.) “We figure [Eicher has] got some kind of a magic formula,” she said, “and if we just shut up, he’ll do it for us. ... Manfred is absolutely sure of himself and sure of his reasoning. He knows how he feels about something and he makes sure that’s what he does.”

While ECM’s massive, diverse catalog defies easy description, one recurring thread has been an inward, meditative and even spiritual quality. In some cases, the musical contexts have dealt directly with liturgical music, religious traditions and matters of spirituality, especially in the music of Pärt, Bach and various treatments of Norwegian hymns—and Armenian hymns on pianist/vocalist Areni Agbabian’s latest album, Bloom.

Is ECM, in ways implicit or otherwise, an inherently more spiritually charged enterprise than other record labels of note? Eicher clarified, “It’s ‘spiritual’ in that music addresses matters of the spirit—but it also addresses every other aspect of existence. The ‘mission’ is simply to release music that matters, or what I think matters. Music that has meaning for us and, we hope, for others.”

A final, open-ended question: What’s next?

“Tomorrow,” Eicher said. DB

25/11/2019

The Pristine Empire of ECM Records

On its fiftieth anniversary, the revered jazz and classical label launches a major Beethoven cycle with the Danish String Quartet.

The Danes bring tonal heft and rhythmic vigor to late Beethoven. Illustration by Daniel Krall

The German record label Edition of Contemporary Music, or ECM, which recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, first made its name with elegant, atmospheric jazz albums that turned away from the melee of the post-bop avant-garde. Its most famous product, from 1974, was Keith Jarrett’s “The Köln Concert,” which, to its creator’s chagrin, became a mellow soundtrack to innumerable make-out sessions and coffeehouse transactions. ECM also established itself as a purveyor of classical minimalism, with best-selling disks devoted to Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt. The label’s austere design aesthetic—block letters, black-and-white photography, sparse notes—was consistent to the point of self-parody. Circa 1999, no sophisticated stereo stand was complete without an ECM CD showing, say, a picture of a collapsed stone wall.

Stock images aside, ECM is one of the greatest labels in the history of recording. Manfred Eicher, who founded ECM and remains its sole proprietor, has forged a syncretic vision in which jazz and classical traditions intelligently intermingle. ECM’s catalogue of some sixteen hundred albums contains abrasive sounds as well as soothing ones, clouds of dissonance alongside shimmering triads. All benefit from a crisply reverberant acoustic in which an instrument’s timbre is nearly as important as the music played on it. Simply put, Eicher’s releases tend to sound better than other people’s. Some of ECM’s best disks were made in league with the Norwegian recording engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug, who died earlier this month.

Just as important is Eicher’s knack for sustaining long-term relationships with artists. In the jazz world, to record for ECM was to enter a community of the elect, bridging gaps between freewheeling European sophisticates and veteran American progressives. At the beginning of November, Jazz at Lincoln Center hosted a celebration of ECM, bringing in a remarkable parade of notables. Jack DeJohnette and Wadada Leo Smith, elder statesmen from the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, joined such eclectic younger stars as Vijay Iyer, Ethan Iverson, and Craig Taborn. Indeed, too much talent was crowded into one evening. When the unclassifiable Meredith Monk came onstage, to perform “Gotham Lullaby,” from her epochal 1981 record, “Dolmen Music,” I wanted her to keep going indefinitely.

Eicher’s achievement in the classical sphere has equal weight. When, in 1984, he began championing the music of Pärt, he also launched a multi-decade partnership with the Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer, who went on to explore the haunted worlds of Mieczysław Weinberg, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Giya Kancheli. In time, ECM’s house artists set down landmarks not only in new music but also in the core repertory. If I were naming my favorite albums of Bach’s solo-string music, I might begin with Kremer’s 2005 account of the sonatas and partitas. I then would have to choose between Thomas Demenga’s traversal of the cello suites and Kim Kashkashian’s rendition of them on viola. András Schiff has recorded revelatory Schubert on the fortepiano; Carolin Widmann and Dénes Várjon made a ferociously potent disk of the Schumann violin sonatas.

As the decades have gone by, the question of an “ECM aesthetic” has receded. What matters most is Eicher’s relentless commitment to fostering artists he admires. His monumental documentation of Monk’s career may prove to be his proudest legacy. Like the best book editors, theatre directors, and gallery curators, he offers talented people both a stable foundation and a space for independent expression. In a recent interview with Downbeat, Eicher reiterated his simple, deep philosophy: “It is all about curiosity. It began that way and I am still pursuing that. I am always searching for new sounds.”

At first glance, the four young Scandinavians who form the Danish String Quartet—Frederik Øland, Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, and Asbjørn Nørgaard—seem to be unlikely additions to ECM’s monastic lineup. They are an informal, shaggy-haired lot, resembling an indie-rock band more than a chamber group. During a recent West Coast tour, they took time off to attend a football game at the University of California, Berkeley. In an introductory note for their ECM project “Prism,” which is centered on Beethoven’s late quartets, they describe the works in question as “mind-blowing.” They fall into fluent ECM-speak, though, when they offer the image of “a beam of music . . . split through Beethoven’s prism.”

The Danes are, in fact, musicians of impeccable refinement, and the first two “Prism” releases suggest a major cycle in the making. Each disk sets Beethoven alongside a later composer: “Prism I” pairs the Opus 127 Quartet with Shostakovich’s spectral Fifteenth Quartet; “Prism II” places Opus 130 next to Alfred Schnittke’s fraught Third Quartet. There is nothing novel in pointing out the visionary quality of late Beethoven. Yet the Danes complicate the narrative by including, at the start of each installment, an arrangement of a fugue by Bach, thereby emphasizing not only Beethoven’s premonitions of the future but also his consciousness of the past. Prior ECM releases might have inspired the format: Demenga has linked Bach to contemporary composers, and Kashkashian has blended Schumann with György Kurtág.

Not unexpectedly, the members of the Danish Quartet bring tonal heft and rhythmic vigor to the proceedings. Their Beethoven is no cosmic enigma: you register the physicality of his stomping ostinatos, the off-kilter drive of his dance movements, the playful abruptness of his stylistic transitions. Beethoven practiced polystylism long before Schnittke employed that term: the late quartets juxtapose Bachian counterpoint with Rossinian frivolity. Conventional wisdom holds that players must have decades of experience to do this music justice, but younger ensembles often thrive on its kaleidoscopic, dial-spinning nature.

At the same time, the Danes have no trouble stepping outside worldly realms and into zones of rapt contemplation. The Adagio of Opus 127 is taken at a riskily slow tempo, yet it unfolds in long-breathed lyric arcs. The Cavatina of Opus 130 is steeped in unaffected Old World style, with throaty portamento slides from note to note. The wrenching section marked “beklemmt”—oppressed, anguished—curls inward toward silence, with bows brushing on the strings in whispered gasps. The great hymnal chords that underpin these slow movements are tuned with extraordinary care, delivering a chiaroscuro of resonance.

Earlier this month, the Danes presented a spellbinding live version of “Prism II” at Cal Performances, in Berkeley. They began with Bach’s Fugue in B Minor, from the first book of the “Well-Tempered Clavier.” Beethoven may well have had Bach’s fugue subject in mind when he wrote the Grosse Fuge, the original finale of Opus 130. Schnittke, in turn, weaves that theme into his quartet. The Danes, playing with nerve-fraying intensity, created the impression of a super-quartet spanning centuries. In February, they will perform Beethoven’s entire quartet cycle at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Those concerts will be worth hearing, though the “Prism” project would have been more welcome.

How long can ECM go on making records of this calibre? Eicher is seventy-six, and he is still involved in every aspect of his business. His imprimatur retains its power: the only biographical text on the home page of the Danish Quartet’s Web site is “ECM Recording Artists.” Although producers of Eicher’s discernment are rare, a successor might be found. The bigger question is whether record companies remain viable economic enterprises in the age of streaming, which has reduced royalties to a pittance. Consumers show more fealty to apps and media conglomerates than to labels and artists. I’d recommend one of the Danish Quartet’s disks for holiday shopping, but the days of giving music as a gift seem to be drawing to a close. 

Published in the print edition of the December 2, 2019, issue, with the headline “A Beam of Music.”

• Alex Ross, The New Yorker’s music critic since 1996, is the author of “The Rest Is Noise” and “Listen to This.” He will publish his third book, “Wagnerism,” next year.

11/12/2019

A conversation with Manfred Eicher at ECM 50

A both humorous and deeply moved Manfred Eicher shared his memories from 50 years of recording with the audience at the ECM 50 anniversary celebration in Brussels.

On November 24 when Manfred Eicher was interviewed on stage at the ECM 50 festival in Brussels it was to the day 50 years ago that he made his first recording for ECM of pianist Mal Waldron which was released as Free at Last. What did he remember?

– I do not remember it, was his short concise answer given in a good-humored voice.

Avishai Cohen, Anja Lechner, Manfred Eicher, Patrick Bivort, Louis Sclavis and Nik Bärtsch at ECM 50 in Brussels.

The conversation with Eicher was held after four days of concerts with the current stars of the label like Anour Brahem, trumpeter Avishai Cohen and bassist Larry Grenadier. Having recorded music by countless artists for 50 years it is perhaps understandable that Eicher cannot remeber them all, but he had some memories of Mal Waldron who was living in Germany at the time.

– I remember that he very much liked playing chess. He was sitting in dark rooms playing chess and it was sometimes difficult to get him away from there. I was given an opportunity to do a record and asked him. ‘Let’s do it!’ was his answer.

That was the rather modest beginnings of ECM records.

Music for mountains

Eicher had much more livelier memories of the 1984 recording of composer Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa which started his ECM new series which documents art music by western composers. He suggested to violinist Gidon Kremer that they use pianist and ECM label star Keith Jarrett on the recording.

– I said to Kremer that ’Jarrett will give you a pulse that no classical pianist will give you.’ I gave him a record to listen to and he looked at me and said ‘I will listen.’

– It was the first time that I was unsure of myself in the recording studio, so I hired a very well-respected recording engineer of classical music. He put the microphones very far from the piano. Keith looked at me, but I could not do anything while the engineer was in the room. I ended up moving the microphones 70 centimeters closer to the piano.

– After the recording was done, I went to a mountain in Switzerland and listened to the music on my portable tape recorder.

On tuning pianos

Today ECM records both jazz, classical music and everything in between. Eicher’s own musical experiences reflects this evolution. As a kid he was playing Schubert on his violin. Then he heard Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue where especially pianist Bill Evans and bassist Paul Chambers grabbed his attention and he would not listen to anything else for a long time. It also made him switch from violin to bass. It gives an explanation to him working with a lot of great pianists and bassists like Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Paul Bley, Gary Peacock, Dave Holland and Charlie Haden.

Eicher has become known for his perfectionism and for having pianos finely tuned in the studio. Asked about this his answer was impatient:

– Of course, a piano is supposed to be tuned! Let’s not talk about tuning!

Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch who was one of the recording artists for the label who attended the panel brought some insight on the subject.

– Once when I did a recording with Manfred he went over the piano after it was tuned and he asked me if I could hear that one of the high notes on the piano sounded like it was imploding into itself, and I was like ’No!’ I could not hear it at all. It was embarrassing to me since I am a pianist. So, Manfred talked to the tuner who made some adjustments and when I returned home it led me to ask my own tuner to give me some lessons on how I could discover things like that. Unlike most other musicians pianists cannot tune their own instruments. We are in the hands of experts.

New collaborations

Eicher has also become known for bringing musicians together which did not normally play together like Kremer and Jarrett. It was also the case when Jarrett started to play with what became known as his European quartet with saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen.

– Jarrett wanted to hear them live before he decided. At that point there were no band.

Jarrett was the recurrent theme through the conversation and is perhaps the musician who has defined the labels history more than any other.

– I miss him very much! said Eicher.

Asked to choose a recording for the audience Eicher played the piece ”It’s A Lonesome Old Town” from Jarrett’s new album Munich 2016. Eicher was visibly moved as the music played through the speakers with some of the same emotional depth as in classical music. He was also moved as the audience applauded him for his contribution to recorded music.

thebluemoment.com

A blog about music by Richard Williams

ECM at 50

by Richard Williams on January 3, 2020

The photograph is a still from the 2011 film Sounds and Silence: Travels with Manfred Eicher, by Peter Guyer and Norbert Wiedmer.
There’s a chapter containing further thoughts on ECM’s place in the evolution of modern music in my book
The Blue Moment: Miles Davis and the Remaking of Modern Music, published in 2009 by Faber & Faber.

By the end of the 1960s, jazz had gone right out of fashion. If it was by no means dead in creative terms, it was no longer good business for the music industry. So the arrival of a new jazz record label was quite an event, which is why I can remember quite clearly the first package from ECM arriving on my desk at the Melody Maker‘s offices in Fleet Street, and opening it to extract Mal Waldron’s Free at Last. I knew about Waldron from his work with Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy and others. But an album from the pianist, recorded in Europe and packaged with unusual care on an unfamiliar label based in Munich, came as a surprise.

Pretty soon it was followed by Paul Bley with Gary Peacock, and then by Marion Brown’s Afternoon of a Georgia Faun. Before 1970 was out further packages had included an album by the Music Improvisation Company (with Evan Parker and Hugh Davies) and Jan Garbarek (Afric Pepperbird). It became obvious that something special was happening under the aegis of ECM’s founder, Manfred Eicher.

I guess it was in 1971, with solo piano albums from Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, Terje Rypdal’s first album and two albums of duos teaming Dave Holland with Barre Phillips and Derek Bailey, that the label’s character really became clear. Eicher stood for jazz with a high intellectual content, saw no reason to privilege American musicians over their European counterparts, and set his own high standards in studio production and album artwork. All these things — particularly his fondness for adding a halo of reverb to the sound of acoustic instruments, inspired by how music sounded in churches and cathedrals — were eventually turned against him by the label’s critics. The sheer volume of great music produced over the past 50 years is the only counter-argument he ever needed. His greatest achievement has been to make us listen harder, deeper and wider.

ECM’s golden jubilee is being marked by events around the world. On January 30 and February 1 there will be a celebration over two nights at the Royal Academy of Music in London, featuring the pianists Craig Taborn and Kit Downes, the bassist and composer Anders Jormin and the Academy’s big band playing the music of Kenny Wheeler with guests Norma Winstone, Evan Parker and Stan Sulzmann. I thought I’d add to the festivities by choosing 20 ECM albums that have made a particularly strong impression on me since that first package dropped on my desk half a century ago; they’re listed in chronological order. Although there are many other contenders, I stopped at 19; the 20th is for you to nominate.

1 Terje Rypdal: Terje Rypdal (1971) The guitarist’s debut was an early sign of Eicher’s determination to capture and promote the new sounds coming from northern Europe, and from Norway in particular. Rypdal was one of the first to present himself as a wholly original voice.

2 Paul Bley: Open, to Love (1972) For my money, the finest of ECM’s early solo piano recitals, with Bley examining compositions by Carla Bley (“Ida Lupino”), Annette Peacock (“Nothing Ever Was, Anyway”) and himself.

3 Old and New Dreams: Old and New Dreams (1979) Don Cherry, one of Eicher’s favourites, is joined by Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell in this homage to the music of their former colleague, Ornette Coleman. The 12-minute “Lonely Woman” is astonishingly lovely.

4 Leo Smith: Divine Love (1979) The trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith was among the squadron of American innovators who arrived in Europe at the end of the ’60s and whose influence gradually became apparent in the ECM catalogue. Divine Love is a classic.

5 Bengt Berger: Bitter Funeral Beer (1981) A Swedish ethnomusicologist, composer and percussionist, Berger put together a 13-piece band — Don Cherry being the only famous name — to record this strange and compelling multicultural mixture of jazz and ritual music.

6 Charlie Haden / Carla Bley: Ballad of the Fallen (1983) Fourteen years after the historic Liberation Music Orchestra, Haden and Bley reunited for a second studio album featuring music of resistance.

7 John Surman: Withholding Pattern (1985) A solo album in which Surman developed his skill at overdubbing soprano and baritone saxophones, piano and synths, this opens with “Doxology”, in which Oslo’s Rainbow studio is turned into an English church.

8 Bill Frisell: Lookout for Hope (1988) One of several guitarists whose careers were nurtured at ECM, Frisell recorded this with a lovely quartet — Hank Roberts (cello), Kermit Driscoll (bass) and Joey Baron (drums) — before moving on.

9 Keith Jarrett Trio: The Cure (1991) Includes an eight-minute version of “Blame It on My Youth” in which Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette achieve perfection, no matter how many times I listen to it in search of flaws.

10 Kenny Wheeler: Angel Song (1996) In a dream line-up, the Canadian trumpeter is joined by the alto of Lee Konitz, the guitar of Bill Frisell and the bass of Dave Holland.

11 Tomasz Stanko: Litania (1997) The Polish trumpeter interprets the compositions of his compatriot and sometime colleague Krzysztof Komeda. A wonderful group features the saxophonists Joakim Milder and Bernt Rosengren, with a core ECM trio — Bobo Stenson (piano), Palle Danielsen (bass) and Jon Christensen (drums) — as the rhythm section plus Terje Rypdal’s guitar on two of the tunes.

12 Trygve Seim: Different Rivers (2000) Most ECM music is for small groups, but here the Norwegian saxophonist and composer permutates 13 musicians in an exploration of subtle textures and gestures. The great trumpeter Arve Henriksen is among the soloists.

13 Manu Katché: Neighbourhood (2005) Ever listened to Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” and wished there had been more post-bop jazz with that kind of relaxed intensity and melodic richness? Here it is. Tomasz Stanko and Jan Garbarek are the horns, Marcin Wasilewski and Slawomir Kurkiewicz the pianist and bassist.

14 Masabumi Kikuchi: Sunrise (2012) Kikuchi, who was born in Tokyo in 1939 and died in upstate New York in 2015, was a pianist of exquisite touch, great sensitivity and real  originality: a natural fit with Eicher, who recorded him with the veteran drummer Paul Motian and the quietly astounding bassist Thomas Morgan.

15 Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin: Live (2012) The label that released Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians in 1978 is the perfect home for the group led by the Swiss pianist and composer, who explores the spaces between minimalist repetition and ecstatic groove, between gridlike structures and joyful improvisation.

16 Giovanni Guidi: This Is the Day (2015) With equal creative contributions from Thomas Morgan and the drummer João Lobo, the young Italian master leads a piano trio for the 21st century: always demanding close attention but never short of refined lyricism.

17 Michel Benita + Ethics: River Silver (2016) Led by an Algerian bassist, a quintet including a Japanese koto player (Mieko Miyazaki), a Swiss flugelhornist (Matthieu Michel), a Norwegian guitarist (Eivind Aarset) and a French drummer (Philippe Garcia) create music that incarnates the ECM ideal of reflective, frontierless beauty.

18 Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (2017) A double album recorded live in Chicago in 2015, featuring Mitchell with four trios — including the trumpeter Hugh Ragin and the percussionist Tyshawn Sorey — who finally come together in a memorable celebration of the legacy of the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

19 Vijay Iyer Sextet: Far From Over (2017) Knotty but exhilarating compositions, solos packed with substance from Graham Haynes (cornet), Steve Lehman (alto) and Mark Shim (tenor): a statement of the art as it moves forward today.