Ketil Bjørnstad - Floating (2005)

This is not a ECM release, but it looks and sounds  like... Palle Danielsson (double-bass) and Marilyn Mazur (drums, percussions) add a subtle rythmic and sonic touch to Ketil Bjornstad lyrical and inspired piano playing, and the three of them built up beautiful climates, where melody, swing and atmosphere are mixed in a very creative way... Is it jazz ? ambient music ? chamber music ? As often, with ECM artists (and the three of them are ECM artists), labels and definitions are useless and disappointing...

Let say it is a kind of ambient chamber music whose strong identity and originality results from the unique way Ketil Bjornstad plays piano (delicate, introspective, melodic and melancholic)  and from the way the two other musicians listen to him...

Floating is a perfect title for this album: it is floating music, a quiet melodic soundscape that will surround you at the heart of the night...

link / mp3

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part1

part2

Terje Rypdal - Waves (1978)

Electronic soundscapes of ARP Synthesizer,  RMI Keyboard Computer,  Tac Piano and Ring Modulator; melodic lines of the trumpet and fluegelhorn of Palle Mikkelborg; the drums of Jon Christensen; the 6 & 4 string electric basses of Sveinung Hovensjo... and the space guitar of Terje Rypdal, between fire and ice, earth and sky, rock and jazz, atmospheres and melodies....

Waves is another landmark in the history of ECM and in the musical journey of Terje Rypdal. 

The shades and haze of the Northern landscapes are illuminated by the music of this quartet, ambient jazz with a light electronic touch, where vintage instruments add their unique colours to this beautifully produced album (Manfred Eicher producer, Jan Erik Kongshaug engineer).

Splendid and nostalgic...

link: mp3 / 320

TRWv.zip

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Jan Garbarek - Visible World (1996)

Jan Garbarek is obviously one of the artists who contributed to define ECM sound and unique aesthetics. His discography is a part of the history of European jazz and new music and it follows a free and creative path, between solo and band projects, and through many adventurous collaborations, with the Hilliard Ensemble or with Keith Jarrett to name but a few...

Visible World is a splendid CD and it is impossible to categorize it... Jazz and ambient, contemporary and world music, avant-garde and tradition... 

Jan Garbarek plays soprano and tenor saxophones on all the pieces, indeed, but also electronic keyboard and additional percussion on some and Meraaker clarinet one one. He is accompanied by other ECM stars, such as Marilyn Mazur (percussion, drums, shakers), Manu Katché (drums), Eberhard Weber and his unique bass sound, Rainer Brüninghaus (piano), Trilok Gurtu (tabla and spiral), Mari Boine (vocal on one track).

This music blends grooves and atmospheres, it is lyrical and intimate at the same times, it is very inspired and produced with a lot of subtlety (Manfred Eicher, who else ?, produced this album).

Inspired by traditions of the Chiricahua Apache traditions, commissioned for movies soundtracks, ballets or music videos, the 15 tracks of Visible World explore new islands in the archipelago of new instrumental musics... 

It is the perfect soundtrack for all your inner movies...

link: mp3 / 320

JGVW1.zip

JGVW2.zip

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Piano One - Private Music (1985/1990)

Joachim Kuhn, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Eddie Jobson and Eric Watson : where else could we find so creative and so different pianists than on this Piano One release by Private Music, creating in the '80s and early '90s new territories for instrumental music.. ? Jazz, progressive rock, neo classical...  this music just goes beyond the usual borders... We have just solo piano music here, but piano is played with such an elegance and a subtlety, recording and production are so perfect, that it is just a musical and audiophile paradise... 

In these last years of the last century, some innovative record companies were trying to invent new musics for new audiences... In the ocean of so often disappointing New Age music, Private Music is like a treasure island where one can still find pure musical gems...

Enjoy ! 

Link : mp3 / 320

POne.zip

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Hellen Merrill & Ron Carter - Duets (1989)

Music to be listened to after midnight, at home, when quiet sounds and voices are the colors of darkness..

This is a splendid album by two giants of jazz music, who chose the format of a duo instead of the big bands, quartets and trios they are accustomed to play with.

Hellen Merill's voice is unique, sensual and deep, evocative and nostalgic. Ron Carter's acoustic bass is the perfect accentuation of Hellen's a capella songs...

The two of them revisit standards such as "A child is born", "Autumn leaves", "My funny Valentine", and they chose a minimalist and intimate approach, where silence plays its own music  between the words...

I rediscovered this album yesterday and I love its unique atmosphere, its poetry, its delicate swing and mood.

Hellen Merrill is one of my favorite jazz singers...

Link: mp3 / 320

HM_RC.zip

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Paul Bley - Fragments (ECM, 1986)

Paul Bley is among my all times favorite jazz pianists. I just love the moods and atmospheres he creates, his lyrical and poetical playing, the way he is playing with silence, a unique musical creativity that makes all his recordings unique, either as a solo artist or within a trio or a quartet.

As an introduction to Paul Bley's musical universe, I chose this gorgeous ECM historical recording, featuring some of the finest ECM artists: John Surman (Soprano and Baritone Saxophones, Bass Clarinet), Bill Frisell (guitar), Paul Motian (drums). 

Is it still or is it only jazz ? Musical categories are not relevant here, as it happens frequently with ECM releases... 

Pure magy of studio sessions, under the inspired direction of Manfred Eicher... "Etats de grâce", where musicians can understand each other and play together without exchanging words, just following the path, listening to the sound, writing music while they play it.

Fragments of pure beauty, of deep feeling, of such an ambient soundscape that this recording does not seem to be more than 20 years old...

Did I say it already ?

ECM is my favorite record company... ECM music makes my daily soundscape for almost thirty years...

Since a long time, I wonder how I could tell Manfred Eicher and his artists how much their music matters for me...

Perhaps introducing a few of you to ECM could be an answer...

link: mp3 / 320

Fragments1.zip

Fragments2.zip

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Bill Carrothers - After Hours (1998)

"Jazz that gives you the shiver... This guy is a phenomenon, a poet of the keyboard, with a lot of inspiration and a master in the art of the trio. He plays with grace and goes around the cliches of music and comes out with an implicit chord of pure expression. Bill Carrothers jumps from anywhere, full of stylish maturity, and the least we can say is he surprises you, he seduces you, he brings you up and you can't resist it. You have to listen to this miraculous CD, After Hours"

- Les Inrockuptibles - 

Until 1998, the pianist Bill Carrothers was known only among small circles of jazz fans, especially in New York, where he was part of the club scene. This After Hours album gave him an international exposure and it was the starting point of an amazing career... All the songs of this fantastic album were recorded live, during late night "after the club date" performances, between 2:00 AM and 5:00 AM, in front of a very small audience. These improvised sessions were true miracles, with a great feeling, a romantic and intense mood in the playing, a magical interaction between the three musicians involved. Revisiting jazz standards, the musicians let the music develop itself, a music of late night or early morning, at the edge of consciousness and of dream.

This is one of my favorite jazz albums and I love to listen to it during the night, where the subtlety of Carrother's playing gets all its intensity. Shades and light, dreams and thoughts, imagination and feelings compose a kind of inner movie, and this After Hours album is its perfect soundtrack...

Bill Carrothers: Piano

Billy Peterson: Bass

Kenny Horst; Drums

links :  mp3/320

BCAfH1.zip

BCAfH2.zip

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