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In the late 1970s, Keith Jarrett was leading both an American quartet and a European one, though the designations referred strictly to the makeup of the groups, not to the venues they played. These 1979 recordings by the European band were made during a tour of Japan. On five of the pianist's tunes, there's exceptional group interaction between Jarrett and Scandinavians Jan Garbarek, on tenor and soprano sax, Palle Danielsson on bass, and Jon Christensen on drums. That interplay shows to best advantage in the extended performances here, the turbulent title tune and the moody, dissonant "Oasis," the group's individual voices coming together in tense, vibrant dialogue. The funky "Late Night Willie" takes full advantage of Garbarek's R&B sound, while Jarrett shines on the luminous ballad "Prism" and the hymnlike simplicity of "Innocence." Personal Mountains is as well sustained as the group's studio set, My Song, or the contemporaneous Nude Ants from the Village Vanguard. (Stuart Broomer - Amazon.com)Keith Jarrett piano, percussion
Jan Garbarek tenor and soprano saxophones
Palle Danielsson bass
Jon Christensen drums
Tracklist:
- Personal Mountains
- Prism
- Oasis
- Innocence
- Late Night Willie
Recorded April 1979ECM 1382
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MP3 320 Mbps / 150 Mb / ScansA recording that pays tribute to a musician of towering importance – and for Steve Kuhn an album of powerful memories. For two months in 1960, Kuhn, then just 21 years old, was the pianist in John Coltrane’s quartet: an unforgettable experience for a young musician, to embark each night into jazz of such torrential emotional intensity. Half-a-century later, joined by a team of gifted collaborators playing at the top of their form, Kuhn rechannels the energies of the era in an album of astonishing invention and wild beauty. Kuhn and Joe Lovano improvise gloriously together, riding the surging waves of Joey Baron’s polyrhythms, in a programme of tunes written by or strongly associated with Coltrane. Tracks include “Welcome”, “Song of Praise”, “Central Park West”, “Spiritual” and more. Recorded December 2008 at New York’s Avatar Studio. (ECM Records)Joe Lovano tenor saxophone, tarogato
Steve Kuhn piano
David Finck double-bass
Joey Baron drumsTracklist:- Welcome
- Song of Praise
- Crescent
- I Want To Talk About You
- The Night Has A Thousand Eyes
- Living Space
- Central Park West
- Like Sonny
- With Gratitude
- Configuration
- Jimmy’s Mode
- Spiritual
- Trance
Recorded December 2008ECM 2099
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FLAC / 282 Mb / Scans (booklet)In principio (2003) for mixed choir and orchestra:"His music makes the basic human need for a link between aesthetics, ethics and spirituality clear and perceivable – a need so often subordinated to politics and economics in our society." Thus the words with which Arvo Pärt was awarded the International Bridge Prize of the twin cities Görlitz and Zgorzelec in 2007. His new CD, ‘In Principio’, demonstrates the extent to which his more recent music manifests this very link. Twenty-five years ago ECM launched its New Series with Pärt’s Tabula Rasa. Now its twelfth Pärt album, again produced by Manfred Eicher, presents six compositions of various lengths spanning a period of almost ten years. Four of the pieces appear here for the first time on disc. The meticulous performances were recorded by Estonian ensembles under the baton of Tōnu Kaljuste, a conductor well-versed in Pärt’s music for many years, and accompanied by the composer every step of the way. The range is wide: Pärt creates masterly syntheses of the expressive resources he has pursued ever since his personal style emerged in the mid-1970s. The intimate and the monumental co-exist; streams of chords flow towards dramatic eruptions. The inflection of his pieces is always based on their underlying emotive significance. In Principio is a five-movement setting of the opening verses of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word". The elegiac orchestral piece "La Sindone" conjures up the image of Christ on the Shroud of Turin. "Cecilia, vergine romana", written to celebrate the sacred year 2000 in Rome, is devoted to the martyrdom of the patron saint of music. A serene plea for peace, memories of a deceased friend and contemplation of the ‘peaks and troughs’ of life: these are the emotional way-stations of the three relatively short pieces here, encapsulating the magic of Pärt’s music. (ECM Records)Estonian Philharmonic Chamber ChoirEstonian National Symphony OrchestraTallinn Chamber OrchestraTõnu Kaljuste conductorTracklist:- I. In principio erat Verbum (John 1:1–5)
- II. Fuit homo missus a Deo (John 1:6–8)
- III. Erat lux vera (John 1:9–11)
- IV. Quotquot autem acceperunt sum (John 1:12–13)
- V. Et Verbum caro factum est (John 1:14)
- La Sindone (2006) for orchestra
- Cecilia, vergine romana (2000, rev. 2002) for mixed choir and orchestra
- Da Pacem Domine (2004/07) for mixed choir and orchestra
- Mein Weg (1989/99, rev. 2000) for 14 strings and percussion
- Für Lennart in memoriam (2006) for string orchestra
ECMPlayer for "In Principio"
Recorded June 2008 and May 2007ECM New Series 2050DownloadPurchase on AmazonPurchase on ECM Records
MP3 320 kbps / 130 Mb / ScansDer Bote - Elegies for PianoDescribing his recital as a "quiet meditation", Alexi Lubimov brings together music of three centuries. Each piece defines its own atmosphere, and the biographies of the featured composers could hardly be more different, and yet there is an undeniable "kinship" between the compositions. Lubimov has chosen a programme that associates, connects and contrasts ten works that are profoundly elegiac in nature. (ECM Records)Tracklist:- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Fantasie für Klavier fis-Moll
- John Cage: In a landscape
- Tigran Mansurian: Nostalgia
- Franz Liszt: Abschied
- Michail Glinka: Nocturne f-Moll ""La séparation""
- Frédéric Chopin: Prélude cis-Moll op. 45
- Valentin Silvestrov: Elegie
- Claude Debussy: Elégie
- Béla Bartók: Vier Klagelieder op. 9a, Nr. 1
- Valentin Silvestrov: Der Bote
Recorded December 2000ECM New Series 1771DownloadPurchase on AmazonPurchase on ECM Records
MP3 320 kbps / 107 Mb / Scans
The great Rostropovich puts his cello at the service of old friend Giya Kancheli: "I love this composer for his independence," Rostropovich says. "Olivier Messiaen revealed for me the limitlessness and endlessness of time, and the same is true for Kancheli." These premiere recordings feature inspired performances by the Royal Flanders Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Jansug Kakhidze. Essential listening. If you like Magnum Ignotum, then you'd probably like: Giya Kancheli, Lament Giya Kancheli, Exil Giya Kancheli, Abii ne Viderem Giya Kancheli, Trauerfarbenes Land Giya Kancheli, Vom Winde beweint. (ECM Records)Koninklijk Philharmonic Orchestra van Vlaanderen,Jansug Kakhidze (conductor) Mstislav Rostropovich (violoncello)Tracklist:- Simi
- Magnum Ignotum
Recorded December 1997ECM New Series 1669DownloadPurchase on AmazonPurchase on ECM Records
