ECM Records

Jan 26 2020

Best of 2019 #36: Kit Downes – “Dreamlife of Debris”

 

Kit Downes has spent the last decade performing in churches.  His duos with Tom Challenger were an intriguing display of how the convergence of organ and tenor saxophone played with the strategic acoustics of these places of worship.  His duos with cellist Lucy Railton had much the same effect, even if the venue was something more conventional.  But the value of many of those recordings were measured in intrigue, and there was a tangible sense that Downes was still deep in exploration.  His 2019 release Dreamlife of Debris is far closer to proof of a discovery.  Switching between piano and organ, and adding drummer Sebastian Rochford and guitarist Stian Westerhus to the mix (along with Railton and Challenger), Downes presents some rather stunning pieces that range from an ethereal presence to a striking harmonic pose.  Judged on its own merits, Dreamlife of Debris is one of the strongest recordings of 2019, but in the context of following an artist’s creative trajectory, it’s the precious and exhilarating experience music fans live for.

Your album personnel:  Kit Downes (piano, organ), Tom Challenger (tenor sax), Stian Westerhus (guitar), Lucy Railton (cello) and Sebastian Rochford (drums).

Released on ECM Records.

Music from London, England.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Amazon

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Jan 13 2019

Best of 2018 #21: Jakob Bro – “Bay of Rainbows”

 

Jakob Bro‘s melodic perspective is nothing less than stunning, and it’s remarkable how he keeps finding new and inspired ways of presenting it.  This live trio session with drummer Joey Baron and bassist Thomas Morgan is just the latest example of Bro’s limitless ability to craft beauty of out thin air.  It’s been my personal preference when the guitarist works with a quartet or larger ensemble, but I could listen to this trio session every day for the rest of my life, and the first thing out of my mouth upon arriving in heaven would be, hey, send me back down, I need to go listen to Bay of Rainbows again.

Read more on Bird is the Worm.

Music from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Released on ECM Records.

Available at:  Amazon

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Nov 11 2018

It’s final call on ECM Records for 2018

 

We really need to have a talk about ECM Records

 

Florian Weber – Lucent Waters

The melodies on the latest from Florian Weber are refracted light, where the misshapen beauty is more attractive than in its pure form.  This is music for late nights when life hasn’t made things easy, and the inoculation for its effects is to simply end the day with a little cocoon of peacefulness.  A drink, a view of the city outside, some moonlight pouring across the floor, a cat snoring peacefully nearby, and Lucent Waters on the stereo.  The pianist has made this album especially for you, for times like these.  He’s joined by bassist Linda May Han Oh, trumpeter Ralph Alessi and drummer Nasheet Waits.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Andrew Cyrille – Lebroba

Every note delivered on Lebroba is heavy with implications, a melodic weight that imparts its immediacy as well as its potential in the same breath.  And yet, this weighty presence doesn’t hobble the music from flying free and light.  The element most responsible for liftoff is the rhythmic patter from Andrew Cyrille.  Like the wings of birds taking flight, his brush work is the swift but gentle motion that transforms the introspective tones from guitarist Bill Frisell and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith into something that borders on uplifting.  This effect is most beneficial on those pieces where volatility is a key element, but the magnetic beauty of a ballad like “Pretty Beauty” shows Cyrille’s touch in all its brilliance.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Shai Maestro – The Dream Thief

There a pleasant meandering demeanor to this trio session from pianist Shai Maestro, double bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Ofri Nehemya.  Melodies aren’t offered as a thesis statement so much as they are directional indicators on a map.  And though there’s no real sense of predictability when it comes do the music’s trajectory, the trio maintains a strong focus throughout.  Even as they subtly alter directions, the interaction between the musicians is a succinct conversation that gets increasingly nuanced the longer it continues.  This dual purpose recording is just as useful for getting lost in daydreams as it is for some meaningful engagement.  Good stuff.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

And be sure to check out our rundowns of other recent ECM Records releases.

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Nov 2 2018

Oh hell yes another Jakob Bro recording

 

When the water’s surface is clear and affords a view of what lies below, it’s like a window to an entirely different world.  The imagery is fuzzy and the motion of the underwater objects is blurred, but the lack of definition makes the colors radiate with a vibrancy that’s no less affecting than what we see above the water’s surface.  It’s the kind of thing I think about whenever I listen to the music of Jakob Bro.  His melodies shine with brilliant colors and they dart from side to side like fish within a bed of coral, and all of that imagery and activity bleeds in all directions, as if there was nothing to contain them.  It’s an effect that I find quite addictive.

Historically, I’ve found Bro’s trio work not quite as compelling as his quartet, quintet and large ensemble works.  Don’t get me wrong… I listen to all of this stuff, and often.  But that fuzziness to Bro’s music and the way it spreads out, it’s a quality that provides room for other musicians to fill that space with some of their own loveliness.  But Bro’s latest trio session, Bay of Rainbows, is about as beautiful as it gets.  This live performance at the Jazz Standard with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Joey Baron doesn’t require other musicians to fill the space opened up by the trio… they do the job themselves.  Whether it’s Bro stretching out a melody like morning sunlight filling room or Morgan spreading complementary shadows in all directions or Baron developing a comforting chatter, the trio’s presence is everywhere, and it’s like looking through the water’s surface at an entirely different world.

Here’s some beauty your life deserves and needs.

Your album personnel:  Jakob Bro (guitar) Thomas Morgan (double bass) and Joey Baron (drums).

Released on ECM Records.

Music from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Available at:  Amazon

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Oct 30 2018

Recommended: Marcin Wasilewski Trio – “Live”

 

I sometimes forget that the music of Marcin Wasilewski isn’t always so peaceful.  Sometimes he jacks up the voltage.  The electric can pack a punch.  The pianist and his long-time trio with bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz aren’t strangers to intensity.  But there’s something special about the way Wasilewski insinuates the idea of serenity upon a particular piece so that it continues to resonate even after the volume rises and a hyperactive motion sets in.

It’s a talent that served him well on his ECM Records debut January, and now, ten years later, he’s only gotten better at it.  The effect is even more noticeable on the 2018 release, Live.  Because January was, by and large, a lesson in tranquility.  The quieter pieces outnumbered their counterparts.  But on Live, the trio is revved up and ready to hit the gas pedal.  A rendition of Herbie Hancock’s “Actual Proof” and the Wasilewski original “Night Train to You” come bolting right out of the gate.  An inspired rendition of The Police tune “Message in a Bottle” chatters at a pace that rivals that of the original, sometimes exceeding it.

But none of those facts erase the impression that this is peaceful music for those quiet moments of the morning, before the city wakes up and the dull roar of people in motion makes its presence felt.  When Wasilewski starts the album off with the softest intonations of melody on “Spark of Life,” it carries all the way through.  It also gets a bump from the lovely “Three Reflections” and the solemn “Austin,” two pieces that drive home the tranquil atmosphere.

Apparently this wasn’t a purposeful recording.  But the performance was captured by a radio station during a live performance at Jazz Middelheim in Antwerp, Belgium.  Thankfully, Wasilewski decided to take advantage of that fortuitous discovery, and we get one more reminder of why his music is so damn special.

Your album personnel:  Marcin Wasilewski (piano), Slawomir Kurkiewicz (double bass) and Michal Miskiewicz (drums).

Released on ECM Records.

Music from Warsaw, Poland.

Available at:  Amazon

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