If by any chance you read my recent ‘best of 2024’ post, you may have noticed, among the new musical releases, the inclusion of an album entitled Relations, attributed to Thomas Strønen, Craig Taborn, Chris Potter, Sinikka Langeland and Jorge Rossy. That would be a rather eccentric line-up for a group – a Norwegian percussionist, … Continue reading It Takes Two to Tango… or the Magic of Musical Duets
The last couple of months have seen ECM release four wonderful albums by some of my favourite jazz musicians. There was September Night with the late, great trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, his Polish quartet – its members later the Marcin Wasilewski Trio – recorded at their peak in a Munich concert in 2004. (I recall seeing … Continue reading A Musical Cornucopia: Five Great New Jazz Releases
A few days ago, I read a post by Richard Williams on his excellent blog, The Blue Moment; he was reviewing Orchestras, the new double album by renowned guitarist-composer Bill Frisell, which I’ve subsequently listened to and certainly agree is excellent. I’ve been happy to check out Frisell’s music ever since I first heard him … Continue reading Musical Goodies from Bill Frisell… and Michael (Mike?) Gibbs
Those of you who have visited my website more than once or twice may be aware of my enduring interest in much of the music released by ECM. One of the mainstays of the label over the years, alongside the likes of Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Norma Winstone, John Surman and others, was the great … Continue reading Glimpses of a guitar great: meeting John Abercrombie (on film)
Year in, year out, Easter throws up gigs galore with music that’s good for the soul: Bach, of course – especially the Passions, for obvious reasons – but also masses, motets and so on by the likes of Pärt, Pergolesi or Poulenc, Tavener, Taverner or Tallis, not to mention Handel’s inevitable Messiah. Evidently, the profound … Continue reading Stops Making Sense: Organ music with a difference
‘It’s always good if you can find a theme for an album. In this case, what happened was this: Glauco often plays little tunes during sound-checks, and when you ask him what the music is, it frequently turns out to be from some film. So I thought it would be nice to take music which … Continue reading Reworking music from the movies: Norma Winstone’s ‘Descansado’
When the news broke a few days ago that ECM, the illustrious and proudly independent Munich-based music label founded by Manfred Eicher in 1969, was making its remarkable back catalogue available to major streaming services, a film critic friend sent me a piece in the New York Times which singled out 21 ‘essential’ ECM albums. Knowing … Continue reading Now Streaming… The Musical Treasure Trove of ECM
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 