Peter Tchaikovsky/Victor Kissine "Piano Trio"

Peter Tchaikovsky/Victor Kissine

Piano Trios

Gidon Kremer: violin

Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė: violoncello

Khatia Buniatishvili: piano

Two compositions bracketing the history of Russian chamber music. A revelatory account of Tchaikovsky’s piano trio op.50, juxtaposed with Victor Kissine’s “Zerkalo” of 2009, a work dedicated to performers Kremer, Dirvanauskaite and Buniatshvikli, and inspired by two lines from Anna Akhmatova: “The mirror dreams only of the mirror / Silence watches over silence.” Issued on the eve of a major tour with dates in both Europe and Japan, and with Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili and Lithuanian cellist Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė hailed as two of the most gifted players of their generation, this newest project from Gidon Kremer is certain to be one of the events of the season.

You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience, here is the link to the page on Amazon where you can preorder:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004OB4SU4?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004OB4SU4

Craig Taborn "Avenging Angel"

Craig Taborn

Avenging Angel

Craig Taborn: piano

“Avenging Angel” is Craig Taborn’s distinguished contribution to the great solo piano tradition at ECM, a powerful, purposeful and rigorous album, which rises to the challenges of the format and transcends them. The disc explores the textural dimensions of sound, builds new structures, uncovers a rugged lyricism. Recorded in the optimal acoustics of the recital room at Lugano’s Studio RSI, with Manfred Eicher producing, it’s Taborn’s first disc under his own name for ECM, following on from inspired sessions with Roscoe Mitchell, Evan Parker, David Torn and Michael Formanek.

You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience, here is the link to the page on Amazon where you can preorder:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SQAF70?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004SQAF70

Thomas Zehetmair / Ruth Killius

Manto and Madrigal

Thomas Zehetmair: violin

Ruth Killius: viola

Violinist Thomas Zehetmair whose recent Paganini recording from St. Gerold met with overwhelming critical acclaim last year and violist Ruth Killius have shared many years as musical collaborators in the Zehetmair quartet. The couple’s spectacular duo performance at last autumn’s ECM festival in Mannheim raised the expectactions for their new programme, a carefully composed anthology of contemporary pieces for violin and viola. Next to Bohuslav Martinů’s virtuosic and accessible “Madrigals”, written in 1946 in American exile, the central piece here is “Drei Skizzen” by Heinz Holliger, a triptychon with the instruments tuned in the scordatura of Mozart’s fomous “Sinfonia concertante” for violin, viola and orchestra. It was commissioned by the duo as an encore piece for their frequent renderings of Mozart’s masterworks on the concert platform. Its first movement “Pirouetts harmoniques” is entirely based on shimmering harmonics, whereas the second one is an exuberant perpetuum mobile. The cycle concludes with a six-part chorale that requires both string players to hum an extra voice. This idea, which is realised by the duo to a most stunning effect effect, was itself inspired by Giancinto Scelsi’s solo piece “Manto” for a “singing viola player”. The programme is complemented by compositions by Nikos Skalkottas, Béla Bartók and short pieces by Rainer Killius and Johannes Nied.

You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience, here is the link to the page on Amazon where you can order:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038QBP7U?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B0038QBP7U

Meredith Monk "Song of Ascension"

Meredith Monk

Songs of Ascension

Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble
Todd Reynolds String Quartet
M6 Voices
Montclair State University Singers

“Songs of Ascension” is a major new recording from composer Meredith Monk and her vocal ensemble. Written in 2008, it is conceived as a continuous composition, a departure from Monk’s earlier collaged or episodic extended works. In recent years Meredith Monk’s been expanding into the worlds of orchestra and string quartet. On “Songs of Ascension” she teams up with a string quartet of New York players well versed in new music. With winds, percussion and two vocal groups added to her already extraordinary singers, this is one of Monk’s most musically ambitious ventures. Voices and instruments are paired and balanced against each other to an extent rare in her music. Inspirations for the work included the Song of Ascents, a group of psalms said to have been sung during pilgrimages, and a timely invitation to perform at an 8-story tower designed by visual artist Ann Hamilton. “Songs of Ascension” finds Monk playing with the musical, sonic, metaphysical and literal connotations of upward movement.

You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience, here is the link to the page on Amazon where you can preorder: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TB6GSQ?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004TB6GSQ

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Konitz/Mehldau/Haden/Motion "Live at Birdland"

Konitz/Mehldau/Haden/Motian
Live At Birdland

Lee Konitz: alto saxophone
Brad Mehldau: piano
Charlie Haden: double-bass
Paul Motian: drums

A quartet of master musicians and a programme of jazz classics. “Live At Birdland” presents the finest moments from two inspired nights at New York’s legendary club, as Konitz, Mehldau, Haden and Motian play “Lover Man”, “Lullaby Of Birdland”, “Solar”, “I Fall In Love Too Easily”, “You Stepped Out Of A Dream” and “Oleo” with freedom, tenderness, and a love of melody that only jazz’s greatest improvisers can propose.

You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience, here is the link to the page where you can order: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PKOKTS?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004PKOKTS

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Colin Vallon Trio "Rruga"

Colin Vallon/Patrice Moret/Samuel Rohrer
Rruga


Colin Vallon: piano
Patrice Moret: double-bass
Samuel Rohrer: drums

Release Date: May 10, 2011

“Rruga”, meaning ‘path’, ‘road’ or ‘journey’ in Albanian, is the evocative title of the ECM debut by the trio of pianist Colin Vallon, bassist Patrice Moret and drummer Samuel Rohrer (who was previously heard on the ECM recordings “April” with Swiss/Dutch singer Susanne Abbuehl and “Currents” by the Wolfert Brederode Quartet). After shared musical experiences on the Swiss jazz scene, they began their trio journey five years ago, and have grown into one of Europe’s most promising bands, shaping a rugged and individual music, inspired by songs and singers, and by the music of the Caucasus region as well as by the jazz tradition. Challenging conventions of the modern jazz piano trio, the instrumentalists meet on equal terms as the music is created, arranged and developed collectively.

Listen to a few sample tracks here:

http://player.ecmrecords.com/vallon


You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience, here is the link to the pages where you can order it:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004D0YX1U?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004D0YX1U

Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ECMUSA

Mathias Eick "Skala"

Mathias Eick
Skala

Mathias Eick: trumpet, vibraphone, electric guitar, double bass
Tore Brunborg: tenor saxophone
Andreas Ulvo: piano
Morten Qvenild: keyboards
Audun Erlien: electric bass
Torstein Lofthus: drums
Gard Nilssen: drums
Sidsel Walstad: harp

Release Date: April 19, 2011

Mathias Eick’s intensely melodic trumpet occupies the center-stage in this album of self-penned tunes, which will appeal to an audience beyond “jazz”. Against the powerful backdrops offered by his sleek, modern band, driven by two drummers, he delivers richly lyrical soliloquies.
Available digitally on April 12th and on CD April 19th.

Listen to a few sample tracks here: http://player.ecmrecords.com/eick

You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience, here are the links to the pages where you can order:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004J21H6G?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004J21H6G

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/skala/id429225648

Find us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/ECMUSA

Iro Haarla Quintet "Vespers"

Iro Haarla Quintet
Vespers

Iro Haarla piano, harp
Mathias Eick trumpet
Trygve Seim tenor and soprano saxophone
Ulf Krokfors double-bass
Jon Christensen drums

Release Date: April 12, 2011

Six years after the much-loved “Northbound” – described by All About Jazz as “lovely, articulate, river-deep music”, a new album of emotionally- powerful ballads from outstanding composer-pianist-harpist Iro Haarla and her remarkable Finnish-Norwegian ensemble.

The line-up is unchanged, likewise the commitment of the players, top-flight improvisers, everyone. “Vespers” continues a tradition of music - and a scope feeling - that Iro helped establish in the Far North in her years as composer/arranger/orchestrator for Edward Vesala’s bands (and magical ECM recordings including “Lumi”, “Ode To The Death Of Jazz”, “Invisible Storm” and “Nordic Gallery”).

Listen to a few sample tracks here: http://player.ecmrecords.com/haarla

You should be able to find these albums in fine record stores but for your convenience, here are the links to the pages where you can order:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004I8AU1O?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004I8AU1O

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/no/album/vespers/id416799405

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Marcin Wasilewski Trio - "Imprint"

Marcin Wasilewski Trio
Faithful

Marcin Wasilewski piano
Slawomir Kurkiewicz double-bass
Michal Miskiewicz drums

Release date: April 12, 2011

Dazzling third ECM album by Poland’s Wasilewski Trio, which perfectly captures the group’s blend of energy and lyricism. There is space here for both the outgoing and the reflective, for profound composition and in-the-moment creativity.

The wide-ranging repertoire on “Faithful” (named after the Ornette Coleman title track) includes five new tunes from the pen of Marcin Wasilewski and timeless pieces by Paul Bley and Hermeto Pascoal. From the standard repertory, the trio plays “The Ballad of the Sad Young Men”. Reaching beyond jazz, the players also find a new approach to Hanns Eisler’s “An den kleinen Radioapparat”.

Listen to a few sample tracks here: http://player.ecmrecords.com/wasilewski

You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience, here is the link to the pages where you can order it:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NDVJJG?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004NDVJJG


iTunes:http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/faithful/id426488618

March 29th Releases!

Don’t miss these two new March 29th releases!


Julia Hülsmann Trio
Imprint

Julia Hülsmann: piano
Marc Muellbauer: bass
Heinrich Köbberling: drums

On the second ECM disc from the popular Berlin-based Julia Hülsmann Trio, the leader’s themes stand out in stark relief, as if stamped or printed into the surrounding improvisation. “Imprint” offers highly communicative jazz in which melody, clearly-etched melody, is paramount. Hülsmann is a gifted jazz-composer and there are surprises amongst her pieces here, including a powerfully-swinging Thelonious Monk tribute entitled “Who’s Next”. Bassist Muellbauer and drummer Köbberling also contribute intriguing tunes of their own, and this year’s offbeat cover version is a lilting Austrian Schlager tune from the 1940s, “Kauf dir einen bunten Luftballon”.

Listen to a few sample tracks here: http://player.ecmrecords.com/huelsmann


Ketil Bjørnstad / Svante Henryson
Night Song

Ketil Bjørnstad: piano
Svante Henryson: cello

Ketil Bjørnstad returns to the piano/cello duo, instrumentation which defined two of his best-loved albums, “The River” and “Epigraphs” with David Darling, back in 1996 and 1998. This new collaboration with Svante Henryson, however, tells a different story. As cellist, Henryson currently works in duos and trios with distinguished classical musicians including pianists Roland Pöntinen and Bengt Forsberg, clarinettist Martin Fröst, mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and baritone Mikael Samuelson. ECM listeners, however, first heard him as a member of Jon Balke’s Magnetic North Orchestra on “Kyanos” (2001). In jazz contexts, he has also played in diverse formations with Tord Gustavsen, Marilyn Mazur, Nils Petter Molvaer, Arild Andersen and others. In rock and pop, he has collaborated with artists from Yngwie Malmsteen to Elvis Costello. In brief, he is an artistic polymath, rather like composer/improviser/author Bjørnstad himself. The music they create together - atmospheric, dark-hued, of melancholic temperament - is similarly beyond category.

Listen to a few sample tracks here: http://player.ecmrecords.com/night-song

Upcoming solo performances by Ketil Bjørnstad in USA:
May 29th – Charleston, SC – Spoleto Festival
May 30th – Charleston, SC – Spoleto Festival
June 1st – Charleston, SC – Spoleto Festival

Starting March 29h, you should be able to find these albums in fine record stores but for your convenience, here are the links to the pages on Amazon.com where you can preorder:
Julia Hülsmann: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DLWGLS?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004DLWGLS
Ketil Björnstad: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004D0YX2O?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004D0YX2O

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Trio Mediaeval new release and tour

Trio Mediaeval is back with a new album of sacred music released on March 15, 2011.

Trio Mediaeval
A Worcester Ladymass
Anna Maria Friman voice
Linn Andrea Fuglseth voice
Torunn Østrem Ossum voice

Few vocal ensembles produce quite as beautiful and finely blended a sound as this Norwegian trio…
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times

Oslo’s Trio Mediaeval presents a reconstruction of a 13th century votive Mass to the Virgin Mary, based on surviving manuscripts from a Benedectine Abbey in the English Midlands. Inserted amid the medieval music are a Credo and Benedicamus Domino specially composed for this program by Gavin Bryars. Indeed, the old and the new intermingle in the work of this vocal ensemble. Anna Maria Friman: “The members of Trio Mediaeval feel that performing mediaeval music today gives us the freedom to let our imagination and ideas flow, as though we are creating contemporary music.”

Listen to a few sample tracks here: http://player.ecmrecords.com/trio-mediaeval

Upcoming performances of music by Trio Mediaeval in USA:
March 23 – Toronto - St Anne’s Church performance of new piece by James Rolfe
March 26 - Kansas City, MO - Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Friends of Chamber Music
March 29 - University Park, PA - Pasquerilla Spiritual Center Penn State University
March 31 - Hanover, NH - Dartmouth College

You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience, here is the link to the page on Amazon.com where you can preorder: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004IXPXGG?ie=UTF8&tag=various02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004IXPXGG

New release from Paolo Fresu and A Filetta

On February 22nd ECM released Mistico Mediterraneo, a mesmerizing collaboration between lyrical Italian jazz improvisers Paolo Fresu and Daniele di Bonaventura and the Corsican vocal ensemble A Filetta.

Paolo Fresu
Mistico Mediterraneo

Paolo Fresu trumpet, flugelhorn
Daniele di Bonaventura bandoneon

A Filetta:
Jean-Claude Acquaviva: seconda
Paul Giansily: terza
Jean-Luc Geronimi: seconda
José Filippi: bassu
Jean Sicurani: bassu
Maxime Vuillamier: bassu
Ceccè Acquaviva: bassu

Sketches of Corsica: the radiant lyric trumpet of Paolo Fresu glides across the massed voices of A Filetta, the singers who are both trailblazers and keepers of tradition in the realm of Corsican polyphony. The ancient and the experimental blend seamlessly in these compositions, several of them written by ensemble founder Jean-Claude Acquaviva, who has directed the singing group for more than 30 years. A powerful showing here also for Italian bandoneon innovator Daniele di Bonaventura, who contributes new music, solos imaginatively, duets with Fresu, and envelops voices and trumpet with an almost orchestral sense of form.

To sample a few tracks please click here: http://player.ecmrecords.com/fresu

You should be able to find this album in fine record stores but for your convenience here is the link to the correct pages on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Mistico-Mediterraneo-Paolo-Fresu/dp/B003UIIUXS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296492928&sr=8-1

ECM Records USA Facebook Page

Dear ECM Fan,
We have started a facebook page for friends of ECM who live in the USA. It is a place where you will be able find info on album release dates, tour activity, see artist photos and covers, and also hear sneak peeks from albums that are already out in Europe.


Check it out, and please share this news with all your facebook contacts.

Here’s the link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ECM-Records-USA/162880150429468

On January 25th, ECM released two new albums:


Giya Kancheli
Themes From The Songbook

Dino Saluzzi: bandoneon
Gidon Kremer: violin
Andrey Pushkerev: vibraphone


A very special album for Giya Kancheli’s 75th birthday... When starting out on his career as a creator of symphonic and chamber music, the Georgian composer also wrote much incidental music for the theatre and the cinema. Though still little-known in the West, the film music was widely heard across the former Soviet Union and the themes here (there are 20 on the album) enjoyed great popularity.

ECM decided to invite Dino Saluzzi to revisit Kancheli’s music for stage and screen, in his personal and highly creative way. Simultaneously Gidon Kremer, an old friend and champion of Kancheli’s music, also expressed an interest in doing something special for Giya’s birthday. With both Kremer and Saluzzi on board, the project took on new dimensions. Finding links between the worlds – Kancheli’s, Kremer’s, and Saluzzi’s - is a task adroitly handled by Pushkarev. The vibraphonist, who works often with Kremerata Baltica, prepared arrangements realized with Kremer in Riga, and also worked in Oslo with Saluzzi, intuitively supporting Dino’s very relaxed approach to the material.

Nine of the featured themes derive from Kancheli’s collaborations with internationally acclaimed theatre director Robert Sturua. There are also themes from films by Revaz Chkeidze, Sergei Bodrov, Revaz Gabriadze, Lana Gogoberidze and others.

To sample a few tracks please click here: http://player.ecmrecords.com/kancheli


Erkki-Sven Tüür
Strata
Symphony No. 6
“Noesis“– Concerto for Violin and Clarinet

Carolin Widmann: violin
Jörg Widmann: clarinet
Nordic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Anu Tali

“My pieces are abstract dramas in sound, with individual characters and an extremely dynamic chain of events; unfolding in a space that is constantly shifting, expanding and contracting.” Thus Erkki-Sven Tüür, characterizing his highly energetic recent works, and his new “vectorial” approach to writing music. The fifth New Series release dedicated exclusively to music by the Estonian composer presents world premiere recordings of two large-scale pieces for orchestral forces.

“Strata” and “Noёsis” are played by the Tallinn-based Nordic Symphony Orchestra under the direction of charismatic Estonian conductor Anu Tali. Both orchestra and conductor make their New Series debuts here. Gifted siblings Jörg and Carolin Widmann are the soloists on “Noёsis”. While Carolin has won unanimous critical acclaim for her renderings of Robert Schumann’s violin sonatas and for her 20th-century music recital “Phantasy of Spring”, Jörg Widmann counts among the pre-eminent young composers of our time, as well as one of the finest contemporary clarinetists.

Upcoming performances of music by Erkki-Sven Tüür in USA:
February 24, 25, 26 & March 1 – New York, NY - NY Philharmonic with Paavo Järvi conducting NY premiere of “Aditus”
http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventDetail&eventNum=2105&performanceNum=3532&seasonNum=10&mI=0&sI=0

February 24 – Washington, DC - Portrait Concert with New Tallinn Trio at the Phillips Collection
http://www.phillipscollection.org/programs/music/2010-11.aspx

May 13 & 14 – Cincinnati, OH – NA premiere of piano concerto w/ Awadagin Pratt / Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with Paavo Järvi conducting
http://cincinnatisymphony.org/Content.php?id=230


Starting January 25th, you should be able to find these albums in fine record stores but for your convenience, here are the links to the pages on Amazon.com where you can pre-order:
Giya Kancheli: http://www.amazon.com/Themes-Songbook-Giya-Kancheli/dp/B003T2OX8G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1294672906&sr=8-1
Erkki-Sven Tüür: http://www.amazon.com/T%C3%BC%C3%BCr-Strata-J%C3%B6rg-Widmann/dp/B0038QGXIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1294673113&sr=1-1