ECM Thread

[jeff1225]

I have a rather large ECM collection and I'm going to share a few of the best albums I have.. The lable has an amazing group of artists. A few of my favorites Keith Jarret, Eberhard Webber, Jack De Johnette, chick Corea, Jan Garbarek and Pat Metheny. The side men are equally as good with players such as Jon Christianson (drums), Paul Motian (drums) Charlie Haden (bass), and Gary Peacock (bass) The music is produced by the visionary Manfred Eicher and the fidelity is superb.

The music is fusion, atmospheric jazz and modern classical.

 

[KeithR]

Great thread idea. I really dig Nik Bartsch:

 

[audioquattr]

I have a rather large ECM collection and I'm going to share a few of the best albums I have.. The lable has an amazing group of artists. A few of my favorites Keith Jarret, Eberhard Webber, Jack De Johnette, chick Corea, Jan Garbarek and Pat Metheny. The side men are equally as good with players such as Jon Christianson (drums), Charlie Haden (Bass), and Gary Peacock (Horns.) The music is produced by the visionary Manfred Eicher and the fidelity is superb.

The music is fusion, atmospheric jazz and modern classical.
View attachment 48891

I fully agree with all you said above.
I also have a lot of ECM. Most on server and lot of cd’s. I prefer the earlier vinyl above recent vinyl of them.

 

[audioquattr]

Great thread idea. I really dig Nik Bartsch:

.
Me too . I have been to this ^ acoustical concert of them, awesome!
Their best performance from the last 3 concerts of them i have been to.

I prefer the 24bit/96k above the vinyl..

 

[Number9]

One of the first searches I did when I started my new Quboz streaming was ‘Ecm.’ Plenty there to listen to. Great stuff!

 

[christoph]

Great thread idea. I really dig Nik Bartsch:

Saw and heard him last Monday in his home base, the Exil in Zurich.
Very nice guy, very nice and energetic concert

 

[analogsa]

Gary Peacock (Horns.)

What?

 

[audioquattr]

We have been last friday to this great concert of the Tord Gustavsen Trio in Amsterdam.
Not a very large room but a great atmosphere and good sound.



I have two vinyl records and 7 cd's of them, all ECM.

 

[asiufy]

One of my favourite labels! You can't go wrong with just about anything they put out in the mid-70s!
Some highlights (for me):

Eberhard Weber "The colors of Chloe" (or just about anything this guy did for ECM!)

Julian Priester "Love, Love" - this one's like a lost Herbie session from the early 70s. Amazing!

Terje Rypdal "Odyssey" - one of the most highly recognizable guitarrists in jazz - you know it's him even if he plays underwater Incredible session, long form spacey jamming. Word on the street is that there's tons more material like this he recorded in the studio and live, that's in the vaults. Hopefully this will eventually be released!

 

[Lee Henley]

ECM is one of my favourite labels, have been collecting for some time now and have around 100 vinyl pressings. In no particular order here are a few of my favourites on vinyl

Zakir Hussain - Making Music
Eberhard Weber - Later that evening
Ralph Towner - Solstice
Pat Metheny - American Garage, this was my first ECM vinyl that I brought
Keith Jarrett - Koln concert, just an incredible recording
Dominic Miller - Silent Light
Nik Bartsch - Continuum

For the guys that use Tidal the whole catalogue is available in excellent quality and well worth checking out

Lee

 

[christoph]

ECM is one of my favourite labels, have been collecting for some time now and have around 100 vinyl pressings. In no particular order here are a few of my favourites on vinyl

Zakir Hussain - Making Music
Eberhard Weber - Later that evening
Ralph Towner - Solstice
Pat Metheny - American Garage, this was my first ECM vinyl that I brought
Keith Jarrett - Koln concert, just an incredible recording
Dominic Miller - Silent Light
Nik Bartsch - Continuum

For the guys that use Tidal the whole catalogue is available in excellent quality and well worth checking out

Lee

Hi Lee
Thanks for your recommendations
The same applies for Qobuz

 

[jeff1225]

What?

Haha yes total screw up! I was specifically talking about the "house" rhythm section.

 

[jeff1225]

One of my absolutely favorite artists on ECM is Nana Vasconcelos, the Brazilian percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player. The music will transport you to another dimension.


With the extremely talented Egberto Gismonti

 

[asiufy]

If you like the pairing Nana + Egberto, look up Egberto's "Dança das Cabeças" album, from 1977.

 

[Lee Henley]

Y

If you like the pairing Nana + Egberto, look up Egberto's "Dança das Cabeças" album, from 1977.

Yes this is an excellent album , another one of my Egberto favourites and one I play quite often is Sol Do Meio Dia, the musicians on this include Nana, Ralph Towner, Colin Walcott and Jan Garbarek, its well worth checking out

 

[analogsa]

I have little doubt that a significant percentage of audiophiles are ECM lovers. Myself - since the mid seventies.

Which begs the question, and perhaps someone on this forum will know the answer: what makes the ECM house sound? Microphones, specific hardware, recording techniques? Whether one likes it or not it is as unique as their musical selections.

 

[Lee Henley]

I have little doubt that a significant percentage of audiophiles are ECM lovers. Myself - since the mid seventies.

Which begs the question, and perhaps someone on this forum will know the answer: what makes the ECM house sound? Microphones, specific hardware, recording techniques? Whether one likes it or not it is as unique as their musical selections.

Yes this is a question I've thought about myself over the years of collecting their albums. I don't have the answers but one thing is is that they are consistent no matter what studio they use for the recording, perhaps they use specific microphones, I will have to look into this further myself.

 

[microstrip]

Yes this is a question I've thought about myself over the years of collecting their albums. I don't have the answers but one thing is is that they are consistent no matter what studio they use for the recording, perhaps they use specific microphones, I will have to look into this further myself.

In the book Pat Metheny: The ECM Years, 1975-1984 the ECM house sound is referred, considering that it was not an artificial creation but a natural consequence of the choice of musicians and style of production.

But some people consider that, in general, ECM recordings are "non-natural" - most are close miking with some added reverberation. Perhaps because I listened to them a lot for decades I really appreciate their sound quality - my ECM recordings shelves are long ... Please do not forget to see our old WBF thread on ECM https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/any-ecm-records-fans-here.7972/

 

[dminches]

One of my favorite albums. I saw them live in the NYC village in 1979.

 

[asiufy]

Yes, the ECM recordings are absolutely studio creations, won't mistake them for "live". But that's the point, I guess. The studio/production being used as a vehicle for artistic expression. Nothing wrong with that, if you ask me.