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ECM Records: Austerity as Aesthetic
by Doug Collette
ECM Records may boast the most readily-recognizable style of any record label extant, jazz-wise or otherwise. And the austere aesthetic of the label, as originated by founder Manfred Eicher in 1969, remains consistent (predictable?) to this day, not just in terms of the music but in the packaging too: slipcases enclosing jewel boxes belie inserts including photos of the artists and the attendant credits in designs as unadorned as the settings for the recordings (and the technical aspects thereof). All ...
Continue ReadingBenjamin Lackner Quintet al Doubletime Jazz & Kultur Club di Hameln
by Mario Calvitti
Benjamin Lackner Quintet Doubletime Jazz & Kultur Club Hameln, Germania 26 gennaio 2025 In occasione della pubblicazione del nuovo lavoro su etichetta ECM, Spindrift, il quintetto del pianista berlinese Benjamin Lackner ha intrapreso un tour promozionale europeo in Gennaio, toccando otto città in Germania e le capitali di Spagna, Inghilterra, Svezia e Norvegia. Rispetto alla formazione dell'album erano assenti due nomi di rilievo come il sassofonista Mark Turner e la contrabbassista Linda May ...
Continue ReadingBenjamin Lackner: Spindrift
by Mario Calvitti
Il nuovo lavoro del pianista berlinese Benjamin Lackner, Spindrift, non si distacca molto dal precedente Last Decade, anch'esso pubblicato da ECM un paio di anni fa. La differenza principale è la presenza di una seconda voce strumentale, quella del sax tenore di Mark Turner, che si affianca alla tromba di Mathias Eick nell'esposizione e elaborazione dei temi lirici composti dal pianista (tutti ad eccezione di “Chambary" firmata dal batterista). Il sassofonista non è l'unico nome illustre che ha ...
Continue ReadingBenjamin Lackner: Spindrift
by Jack Kenny
Benjamin Lackner has a vision and his album is a coherent statement of his ideas: a radical statement of lyricism, gentleness, restraint and understatement. It was a long-time dream. For some time, Benjamin Lackner has had a wish to record with ECM. In an interview, he outlined his attempts to produce music that would impress ECM's Manfred Eicher. Benny Lackner became Benjamin. He experimented with different formats, eventually achieving his ambition with Last Decade (2022), his first album ...
Continue ReadingDan McClenaghan's Top Jazz Recordings of 2022
by Dan McClenaghan
The top jazz recordings of 2022, in no particular order. Justin MorellExit Music For Intelligent Life On Earth Sonic Frenzy Records A provocative and beautiful guitar and drums album. Guitarist Justin Morell has teamed with drummer Mark Ferber (see postscript concerning Ferber at the end of this article) to construct an important set of sounds addressing climate change and global warming with a science fiction-like exit of the Earth to escape these problems. This ...
Continue ReadingBenjamin Lackner: Last Decade
by Dan McClenaghan
In a 2006 interview for All About Jazz written by Joao Moriera dos Santos, pianist/keyboardist Benjamin Lackner was asked: “What label would you like to be on in the near future?" He said, simply, “ECM." That seemed ambitious for Lackner at that stage of his career. He was 29 years old at the time and boasted only two albums under his own name—one of them was Sign Of The Times (Nagel Heyer, 2006), released a bit before the interview—along with ...
Continue ReadingBenny Lackner Trio: Drake
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Benny Lackner was born in Germany, but moved to the United States at thirteen years of age. He spent his formative years in California, and received his BFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Studies with pianist Brad Mehldau followed. Then, at thirty years of age, Lackner returned to Berlin from his adopted New York base. From Germany, the albums—with a superb trio—started coming. Drake is the Benny Lackner Trio's sixth offering. Stylistically, Lackner doesn't sound ...
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