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Paul Bley: Open, to Love
by Jack Kenny
Reviewing an album that is already heralded as a masterpiece, the highlight of the work of Paul Bley, is intimidating. The quality of the recording as issued on CD was already magnificent. Would it be enhanced on vinyl, revealing hidden depths? When Bley sat down at the piano in Oslo, he was already the ...
Song For Someone The Musical Life of Kenny Wheeler
by Jack Kenny
Song For Someone The Musical Life of Kenny Wheeler Brian Shaw and Nick Smart (Foreword by Dave Holland ) 509 Pages ISBN: # ISBN-13- 978-178179 Equinox Publishing Prising apart the complex nature of Kenny Wheeler is a worthwhile task. Wheeler lacked swagger, a swashbuckling attitude and arrogance. He said, “I ...
Mathias Eick: Lullaby
by Jack Kenny
The prolific collaboration between Mathias Eick and ECM founder Manfred Eicher reveals a shared artistic vision that has reshaped contemporary jazz aesthetics. Eick's appearances on over a dozen ECM releases demonstrate Eicher's commitment to cultivating his distinctive sound--a muted, introspective trumpet approach that redefines jazz expression through restraint rather than virtuosic display. Mathias Eick's ...
Jazz, Gnu and New: ECM Reissues To Excite Vinyl Fans
by Joshua Weiner
ECM's “Luminessence" series pays tribute to the impressive legacy of Manfred Eicher's label, founded in Germany in 1969. Several of its most historic and beloved releases are being reissued on audiophile vinyl cut from the original analog tapes (or, in the case of more recent albums, from high-resolution digital masters) and presented in heavy gatefold sleeves ...
Benjamin 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 ...
Tord Gustavsen Trio: Seeing
by Mike Jurkovic
A moving stillness undergirds and empowers Seeing, pianist Tord Gustavsen's tenth triumph for ECM. From the scraping arc through the first mood shift of “Jesus, Make Me Still" it is possible to lock in on the blue gospel vibe and shut the door to the cluttered details and emails of the day. And never ...
Brilliant ECM Luminessence Series Shines New Light On Classic Vinyl
by Joshua Weiner
Blue Note. Verve. Impulse! ESP-Disk. Just saying the name of such storied jazz record labels immediately conjures up each one's distinct aesthetic, from the music to the cover art. By the close of the 1960s, jazz was undergoing a period of intense change, with an unprecedented mixing and matching of styles and influences--both musical and political--that ...
Vijay Iyer: Compassion
by Doug Collette
Vijay Iyer's Compassion should ratify his position alongside Brad Mehldau and Fred Hersch in the pantheon of contemporary jazz pianists/composers. That is, if previous, comparably stellar titles such as Historicity (Act Music, 2009) haven't already elevated his position accordingly. Once again in the company of bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, the visionary ...
The Most Exciting Jazz Albums Since 1969: 2011-2014
by Robert Middleton
What ties the albums together on our ninth installment of 72 Jazz Thrillers is the depth of emotion. Two joyous albums are followed by troubles, grace, exultation and deep sadness--albums from one of the greatest jazz composers of her age to a ramshackle bar band with a wild sense of humor. 72 Thrilling Jazz ...
Fred Hersch: Alive... And Kicking
by Jiaowei Hu
Few musicians have shaped jazz with such elegant, instinctive, and intimate variations as Fred Hersch. Constantly. Over four decades, life's ups and downs have not stopped him from coming back, time and again, to performing live. No word other than “alive" can be more suitable for the pianist, and it is no coincidence that he chose ...
