Thomas Strønen - "Relations" / Musical messages from Oslo, New York, Basel and Lugano - recorded between 2018 and 2022 - are juxtaposed and recombined on an absorbing recording that features Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen solo and in a series of duets. With such partners as Craig Taborn, Chris Potter, Sinikka Langeland and Jorge Rossy, the musical frame of reference is very broad. Strønen offers a project that implies new threads of connectivity, new creative relationships. Produced by Manfred Eicher. Verve Label Group; ECM; Jazz.

The trio-debut of pianist, composer and 2025 MacArthur Fellow, Craig Taborn with Tomeka Reid and Ches Smith has been eagerly awaited. Their approach to Dream Archives is cerebral, yet as the title suggests, a wide musical spectrum is covered as multitudes of idioms seem to be pulled from history and reconfigured to form a previously unheard sound world full of reveries. Dancing grooves and powerful lyrical accounts also arise in otherwise densely orchestrated trio interchanges. Sometimes Craig wears his influences on his sleeve, and with the trio's passes at Paul Motian's "Mumbo Jumbo" and Geri Allen's "When Kabuya Dances" two of his most important ones are paid homage to in masterful fashion. Tomeka on cello juggles with melodic lead on the one hand and a pizzicato bass bedrock on the other, coalescing - with tension - with Ches Smith's versatile sound array and Craig's comprehensive grasp of the keyboard.

The ensemble brings together the intimacy of a classical trio (violin, cello, piano), the rhythmic grounding of a jazz piano trio, and three distinctive vocalists, resulting in a fluid and highly expressive group sound. The album moves freely between song, chamber music, and improvisation, setting Hulsmann's original compositions alongside a personal interpretation of Ani DiFranco's "Up Up..." and a Brazilian song by Zelia Fonseca. Lyrics by poets such as Emily Dickinson, Margaret Atwood, and E.E. Cummings add literary depth, while shifting textures evoke Brazilian dance, musical theatre, and moments of dense collective improvisation. While I Was Away presents a luminous and fearless ensemble statement, reaffirming Hulsmann's place as one of contemporary jazz's most thoughtful composers.

The album includes premier recordings of six Holliger compositions written between 2018 and 2020, as well as strongly contrasting pieces dedicated to him by fellow composers over the years. The earliest of these are Jurg Wyttenbach's Sonate (1961) and Jacques Wildberger's Rondeau (1962), and the most recent are Gyorgy Kurtag's aphoristic con slancio, largamente and Toshio Hosokawa's evocative Musubi (Knots), both written to celebrate Holliger's 80th birthday in 2019.

In his review of Mark Turner's last quartet effort for ECM, 2022's Return From The Stars, the Swiss daily Weltwoche's Peter Ruedi described the program as "the leanest, most concentrated, and most inspired improvised chamber music imaginable." It's a fitting description of the tenor saxophonist's powerful quartet endeavors, which seem to have arrived at their most sophisticated and hard-hitting on Patternmaster, an album that in many respects feels like a continuation and expansion of the group's last recording. Both boundless improvisation and cool control are driving motors behind a quartet that has molded it's common musical understanding over years on the road and in the studio. "The more you trust, the more chances you can take and the deeper you can go with people," says the leader, who feels that within this group's chemistry he can go "beyond craft and gage into the art of music more in depth."

After 'Oylam' in 2010, Judith Berkson (mezzo-soprano, pianist, composer and improviser) returns with another unclassifiable, and strangely compelling, artistic statement. On 'Thee They Thy,' she leads a trio with Trevor Dunn and Gerald Cleaver through a radically changing program addressing new settings for prayer, original songs, vocal experimentation, improvised piano and more. 'Thee They Thy' was recorded at Oktavaen Audio Studio, Mt. Vernon, New York. The album was produced by Manfred Eicher.

Borderland" is the first Amorphis album produced in collaboration with Danish producer Jacob Hansen. Before that, we had made three amazing records at Jens Bogren's studio. During the planning phase of the project, we strongly felt that it was time to explore something new and see what working with a different producer might bring to the table.

MEMENTO

SILENT SONGS

GATEWAY 2

TRIPTYKON

RING

LEOSIA

COLOURS OF CHLOE

SEXTET

INVOCATIONS / MOTH & THE FLAME

This re-issue is now available through Universal classic.

TO BE CONTINUED

MAN IN THE ELEVATOR

2022 release. With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it's all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield's first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path through the styles and idioms he has traversed up until today. He is not entirely all on his own on this endeavour though: the guitarist enters into dialogues with himself, soloing to his own tasteful chordal and rhythmic accompaniment via loop machine. John's main emphasis throughout the years, however, has remained his deep commitment to the jazz tradition, and here he grabs a number of standards off the rack and gives them unique interpretations.

This thrilling live album unveils the Norwegian/Swedish/Scottish bass/tenor sax/drums trio of one of ECM's longest-serving recording artists (this is his 38th year on the label). The veteran bassist's most exciting group to date features prize-winning tourist Tommy Smith and drummer Paolo Vinaccia in a programme that embraces hot post-bop playing, strong compositions, beautiful balladry and fiery improvising. Ask your rep for an Andersen listing, or try Selected Recordings.

Keith Jarrett's account of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's W�rttemberg Sonatas is a revelation. "I'd heard the sonatas played by harpsichordists, and felt there was room for a piano version," says Jarrett today. This outstanding recording, made in 1994 and previously unreleased, finds the pianist attuned to the expressive implications of the sonatas in every moment. Recorded at Keith Jarrett's Cavelight Studio in May 1994, the album includes liner notes by Paul Griffiths. 2 CD.

An ECM artist for his entire musical career, US guitarist Ralph Towner has built up a unique body of work in his recordings for the label. Central to his oeuvre are his solo albums, the first of which, Diary, was issued 50 years ago. At First Light extends this great tradition, drawing inspiration from a broad palette of music. In addition to his own pieces, Towner also plays Hoagy Carmichael's "Little Old Lady", Jule Styne's "Make Someone Happy" and the traditional tune "Danny Boy."

With Maidan, Valentin Silvestrov continues his longstanding association with ECM and this time presents a programme of choir music that is as timely as it is dear to the Ukrainian composer's heart. Like the albums Sacred Songs and Sacred Works, Maidan embraces Silvestrov's composing for vocal ensemble and captures the Kyiv Chamber Choir under Mykola Hobdych in an impassioned performance at the St. Michael's Cathedral in Kyiv from 2016. The album is released as Silvestrov turns 85.

Gnu High was trumpeter/flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler's first for ECM, and Keith Jarrett's last session as a sideman: both deliver astonishing improvisations in a highly interactive quartet with Holland and DeJohnette, and Wheeler's writing is captivating. Luminessence Series ECM's new audiophile vinyl reissue series, is a kaleidoscope, shedding light on the jewels of the label's deep catalogue in elegant, high-quality editions. The hallmarks of the series: original and evocative music, imaginatively played and sensitively produced. The recordings underline the scope and variety of ECM's world of sound and the LPs are presented in different formats.