Between the great Stryker playlists and this it’s going to be hard to avoid having my listening crowded out a bit by seductive listicle mode for a while. A good problem!
You are appropriately piano centric, but I'd love to open the door for the guitar centric and perhaps include a selection from Egberto Gismonti and the recently passed Ralph Towner both on classical guitar and on 12 string using classical technique (which only a madman would do!) I'd say Soltice with the quartet. as well as the amazing pianoless, bassless "Angel Song" with its dreamy line up of Konitz, Wheeler, Frizzell and Holland. So much ECMy space on that beautifully recorded disc.
I love ANGEL SONG, especially for Konitz, who didn't record nearly enough in that kind of challenging situation. Never connected with Towner, in fact I think Oregon is kind of truly awful, but you are right, I am not a guitarist. Gismonti I never heard really.
Ha! I have to agree on oregon, but I also must admit I spent a couple of years in bands (high school/college) trying to sound exaclty like that! Jokes on me.
Towners intro to the Moors from Weather Report is kind of a classic.
And I love that Konitz record with the axis string quartet. How do feel about it?
Yes, Bill Connors excellent. Much prefer his stint w Chick than with Di Meola. The later Ambercrombie quartets with Joey Baron always draw me in too and teach me something about legato phrasing.
Yeah I never liked Lloyd that much, it seems "Coltrane-lite," although he certainly had some great bands. Important for Jarrett of course. Jason Moran killed onstage with Lloyd last summer at Town Hall.
Ethan...I find myself agreeing with you more often than not, but not about Charles Lloyd. I think the "Coltrane-lite" is a shopworn and dismissive collar used by critics back in the 60's who just didn't get him. I too was at the Townhall concert in June and he played a lot of horn. And Bobo Stenson played with him extensively in Lloyd's early ECM days. He's always had a great line of piano players with him and terrific bands.
Robert, I agree with you. I've been listening to Charles Lloyd since 1966 and I've heard him live many many times over the past 60 years. His body of work is quite extensive, this combinations of bands, tunes, and approaches continues to evolve as he enters his 88th year on the planet. I can see what Ethan means if you take a look at some of the things he did in the 60s. But I don't think that Coltrane lite moniker works anymore.
I don't think Lloyd has ever had a bad album. I own all of them. His consistency is amazing. But to compare him to Coltrane in any way doesn't make sense to me. But I think it's so interesting that some people are over the moon about one artist and other people are nuts about another. We're listening to the same music, but we're hearing it differently. Nevertheless, as always, I appreciate your perspective. You've tuned me on to some great music.
Seeing Marion Brown, Afternoon of a Georgia Faun, on your list had me swoon with nostalgia for my freshman college year. Two others in rotation that year and probably not likely to be on anyone's list are Paul Motian's Conception Vessel (with Jarrett on piano) and Keith Jarrett's Ruta and Daitya (with Jarrett on ELECTRIC piano!!!). Ah, the early 1970's. You had to be there.
Always had a soft spot for the original Return to Forever and found the group much more compelling than the electric iterations. Chick, Flora, Airto, Stanley, & the great Joe Farrell. Wish it had continued.
Sorry, I missed the Bobo mention. I'm surprised you aren't familiar with Marcin Wasilewski. His band backed up the great Tomasz Stanko on some of his later records and a few years ago he recorded with Joe Lovano. When you can throw down with Joe, that says it all.
Ethan, a typically well-thought-out consideration of the great work that ECM has given us going back to 1969. I wondered though about the relative absence on your list of some of the great European pianists that Americans would never have heard of if not for ECM--Bobo Stenson, Tord Gustavsen and Marcin Wasilewski, for example.
Bobo is cool, he is on the list. I don’t like Gustavsen, he’s a good example of someone who is far more visible than he should be thanks to Manfred’s advocacy. Haven’t heard Wasilewski.
Got to hear Marcin Wasilewski with his trio at Portland Oregon's Polish Hall in the 20-teens. The same players had already been together for two decades at that point and the telepathy among them was a thing of beauty.
many fond favorites here: giuffre, rava, rivers, AACM, holland… sweet ears, bro.
Hi Fred! Thanks!
Thanks for doing this. I’m really excited to check out the early releases.
LOVE Cadence! Hello and much respect.
Between the great Stryker playlists and this it’s going to be hard to avoid having my listening crowded out a bit by seductive listicle mode for a while. A good problem!
You are appropriately piano centric, but I'd love to open the door for the guitar centric and perhaps include a selection from Egberto Gismonti and the recently passed Ralph Towner both on classical guitar and on 12 string using classical technique (which only a madman would do!) I'd say Soltice with the quartet. as well as the amazing pianoless, bassless "Angel Song" with its dreamy line up of Konitz, Wheeler, Frizzell and Holland. So much ECMy space on that beautifully recorded disc.
I love ANGEL SONG, especially for Konitz, who didn't record nearly enough in that kind of challenging situation. Never connected with Towner, in fact I think Oregon is kind of truly awful, but you are right, I am not a guitarist. Gismonti I never heard really.
Ha! I have to agree on oregon, but I also must admit I spent a couple of years in bands (high school/college) trying to sound exaclty like that! Jokes on me.
Towners intro to the Moors from Weather Report is kind of a classic.
And I love that Konitz record with the axis string quartet. How do feel about it?
i like oregon - think they were a great band.. ralph towner - i love him and his compositions too.. obviously we all have different tastes...
fascinating! oh and stuart forgot to also mention bill connors who has some fine ecm recordings too..
Connors's "Theme to the Gaurdian" (never figured out why it was spelled that way) is the one record of solo guitar I could not live without.
Yes, Bill Connors excellent. Much prefer his stint w Chick than with Di Meola. The later Ambercrombie quartets with Joey Baron always draw me in too and teach me something about legato phrasing.
Great list, piano leaning, will keep me busy, but I think most fans will have a charles Lloyd on theirs
Yeah I never liked Lloyd that much, it seems "Coltrane-lite," although he certainly had some great bands. Important for Jarrett of course. Jason Moran killed onstage with Lloyd last summer at Town Hall.
Ethan...I find myself agreeing with you more often than not, but not about Charles Lloyd. I think the "Coltrane-lite" is a shopworn and dismissive collar used by critics back in the 60's who just didn't get him. I too was at the Townhall concert in June and he played a lot of horn. And Bobo Stenson played with him extensively in Lloyd's early ECM days. He's always had a great line of piano players with him and terrific bands.
considering his VAST popularity and IMMENSE career, you must be right about Lloyd!
Robert, I agree with you. I've been listening to Charles Lloyd since 1966 and I've heard him live many many times over the past 60 years. His body of work is quite extensive, this combinations of bands, tunes, and approaches continues to evolve as he enters his 88th year on the planet. I can see what Ethan means if you take a look at some of the things he did in the 60s. But I don't think that Coltrane lite moniker works anymore.
I don't think Lloyd has ever had a bad album. I own all of them. His consistency is amazing. But to compare him to Coltrane in any way doesn't make sense to me. But I think it's so interesting that some people are over the moon about one artist and other people are nuts about another. We're listening to the same music, but we're hearing it differently. Nevertheless, as always, I appreciate your perspective. You've tuned me on to some great music.
In Art Taylor's "Notes and Tones" in the Philly Joe Jones interview, Philly makes the exact same point about Charles Lloyd. What a burn.
Seeing Marion Brown, Afternoon of a Georgia Faun, on your list had me swoon with nostalgia for my freshman college year. Two others in rotation that year and probably not likely to be on anyone's list are Paul Motian's Conception Vessel (with Jarrett on piano) and Keith Jarrett's Ruta and Daitya (with Jarrett on ELECTRIC piano!!!). Ah, the early 1970's. You had to be there.
Always had a soft spot for the original Return to Forever and found the group much more compelling than the electric iterations. Chick, Flora, Airto, Stanley, & the great Joe Farrell. Wish it had continued.
Thanks again for the inspiration, Ethan.
In the playlist of my current favorite 50 jazz albums, 10 are from ECM (by date released):
Yr - Steve Tibbetts (released pre-ecm)
Bass Desires - Bass Desires
Changeless - Keith Jarrett
Angel Song - Kenny Wheeler
Voice in the Night - Charles Lloyd
Movements in Colour - Andy Sheppart
Trios - Carla Bley
Saltash Bells - John Surman
Awase - Nik Bartsch
Big Viscious - Avishai Cohen
In most cases, I got these when they came out.
I could listen to these albums forever and never get tired of them.
I'm a longtime ECM fan, and I have less than half of these. Glad to see Eyes of the Heart getting some love!
Thanks for this thoughtful list. I’m curious why you didn’t include a Ralph Towner track as he always struck me as a quintessential ECM artist.
turns out, tidal playlist is (still) up at
https://tidal.com/playlist/72a214c1-af90-4d1c-b91f-2491a3e8e587
I will be listening
My favourite Bley on ECM are the two albums with Evan Parker and Barre Phillips, there's some stunning solo piano on Sankt Gerold
Sorry, I missed the Bobo mention. I'm surprised you aren't familiar with Marcin Wasilewski. His band backed up the great Tomasz Stanko on some of his later records and a few years ago he recorded with Joe Lovano. When you can throw down with Joe, that says it all.
I'm not sure how I feel about Stanko either LOL, although he was certainly a good trumpet player. His "jazz" thing, though, I dunno.
Ethan, a typically well-thought-out consideration of the great work that ECM has given us going back to 1969. I wondered though about the relative absence on your list of some of the great European pianists that Americans would never have heard of if not for ECM--Bobo Stenson, Tord Gustavsen and Marcin Wasilewski, for example.
Bobo is cool, he is on the list. I don’t like Gustavsen, he’s a good example of someone who is far more visible than he should be thanks to Manfred’s advocacy. Haven’t heard Wasilewski.
Got to hear Marcin Wasilewski with his trio at Portland Oregon's Polish Hall in the 20-teens. The same players had already been together for two decades at that point and the telepathy among them was a thing of beauty.