I’ve created a playlist of my top selections form the ECM catalog. I’ll continue to update it as I listen. (Yes, there is a disproportionate amount of Paul Motian on here.) Have a listen. Are there any songs you would add? Remove? https://t.co/fitqdGToLs

Andersen, who should be a stranger to nobody who has any familiarity with ECM at all, has a new, young(er), all Norwegian group on this record. I haven't heard of the other players before, which is exciting...

2763 Arild Andersen Group "Affirmation" https://t.co/Lj95j02wYv

...liner notes?

..."Myr," which is a mesmerizing piece by Apeland. The title track is like a folk tune, but severely messed with. "Rullestadjuvet" is the only song written by both, which suggests an improvisation–and I think it is one. The lesson is clear: don't judge a book by its...

...If it were a film, the the traditional ones are when the group is sitting around the fire or tromping over fields of long grass, whereas originals would be the part that the elf morphs into a demon or the castle melts into the sea. I tend to like the originals, especially...

...pairing. At times this album sounds like Lord of The Rings, but at others it sounds like a whole lot more. The album is a mix of traditional songs and originals by each of the members. The songs are OF COURSE important, but the mood of this album is what really hooked me...

...surprised by "Monograph," a solo album. He also was on Lumen Drones, which I liked. I have to say I should stop being surprised by this man's music. Now is when that happens. Combining Økland's Hardanger Fiddle with Apeland's harmonium (it wasn't organ!) makes for a perfect..

...I looked up anything else by Nils Økland that I'd listened to before, and, having forgotten about it, saw that I was also pleasantly surprised by "Kjølvatn" by Nils Økland Band. I was also pleasantly surprised by "Lysøen" (the same duo as here). I was also pleasantly...

... and a violin playing European folk melodies. This is going to be quick, I thought. I'd write up something short and move on. Euro-folk-jazz is not my favorite sub-genre that comes down the ECM pipe from time to time. But I was wrong. Again. When preparing to write this...

2762 Nils Økland, Sigbjørn Apeland "Glimmer" Recorded January and March 2021 at ABC Studio, Etne, Norway I thought this was going to be a short listen. Having not read anything about this album before listening, as I usually do, the first thing I heard was a haunting organ...

2761 Anders Jormin, Lena Willemark, Karin Nakagawa, Jon Fält "Pasado En Claro" https://t.co/t8FevlTWIB

...completely differently than on that previous album. It's paired with Stubblefield's "Free Spirits." Great album. Great group. Listen to it right away. Please.

...way to play with the rhythm that the Pixies were so good at). And there's another bass solo in this one, too! A beautiful solo piano piece, "It Goes" leads us into the last song(s) and one that's repeated from "Uneasy," the Geri Allen song "Drummer's Song" which is handled...

...lot of sense. Again, it fits into this album seamlessly. It feels like another form of the released energy of "Tempest" and "Maelstrom." "Ghostrumental" is the heaviest groove in the set, with Sorey carrying us along. It's a theme over three measures of 4 (a straight-time...

...read the credits that I understood that "Overjoyed" was a Stevie Wonder song. It fits in to this repertoire as neatly as any other of Iyer's songs. I love the endlessly descending ending of this song. The free "Nonaah" is the Roscoe Mitchell song and knowing that makes a...

...into another fantastic bass solo. "Tempest" and "Maelstrom" flood out of the gates in an expression of joy, rage, frustration, and a whole lot of other things that come from the pent up unease that we have been living through the last several years. It wasn't until I...

...all feature Oh's bass early in the song after the theme is set. "Arch" starts with a repeating figure that feels both straight and odd-time all at the same time. "Panegyric" is a loping waltz that's not in 3/4 time and "Where I Am" begins with a vamp in 5 that leads right...

...Wonder tune, a Roscoe Mitchell tune, and a combo of John Stubblefield and Geri Allen tunes to end the set. The title track opens the album. It is contemplative and brooding, setting us up for the journey we're about to embark upon. "Arch," "Panegyric," and "Where I Am"...

...attention. There are so many places where she is front and center and I couldn't be happier about it. There is something so powerful about her sound, especially the way she's been recorded on this album. All of the compositions are great. Most are by Iyer, with a Stevie...

...I want to say all of that all over again. Simply: I just love this album. I've never been so impressed by the playing of Linda May Han Oh until this record. And that's not to say she hasn't been great before, it's just so evident on this album and it really caught my...