Jazz & Improvisation / Free Improvisation

First duo album by pianists Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn, recorded live on 12 March 2018 at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, and produced by Manfred Eicher. Eight improvised pieces, several dedicated to Cecil Taylor, Muhal Richard Abrams, Geri Allen and Jack Whitten.

Debut album by the trio of Thomas Strønen (drums, percussion), Ayumi Tanaka (piano) and Marthe Lea (clarinet, voice, percussion), collectively improvised apart from a Norwegian folk tune, recorded August 2018 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by keyboardist Kit Downes (piano, church organ) with Tom Challenger (tenor saxophone), Lucy Railton (cello), Stian Westerhus (guitar) and Sebastian Rochford (drums), recorded November 2018 in Huddersfield and Snape, produced by Sun Chung.

Debut album of the trio Sun of Goldfinger: David Torn (electric guitar, live looping, electronics), Tim Berne (alto saxophone) and Ches Smith (drums, electronics, tanbou), with Craig Taborn and strings on one track, recorded 2015 and 2018 in New York studios.

First recording by the trio of Michele Rabbia (drums, electronics), Gianluca Petrella (trombone, sounds) and Eivind Aarset (guitar, electronics), mostly improvised, recorded January 2018 at ArteSuono Studio, Udine, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Derek Bailey (guitar) & Mm Xiao-Fen (pipa). Recorded N.Y.C. 1999." I met Derek at Clinton Studio and we started recording. I remember that my playing felt stiff at first, but I told myself to watch, listen and try to a have dialog with him and most importantly to follow my feelings. I still remember, during the middle of one track, Derek broke a string. I thought he might stop, but he continued playing, using the broken string to scratch on the frets. The results sounded incredible. Incredibly, …

Solo pipe organ album by Kit Downes, played on organs at Union Chapel, London, and two Suffolk churches (Snape and Bromeswell), with Tom Challenger on tenor saxophone on one track. Recorded November 2016; produced by Sun Chung.

Third album by François Couturier's Tarkovsky Quartet with Anja Lechner (cello), Jean-Marc Larché (soprano sax) and Jean-Louis Matinier (accordion): compositions, improvisations, Vivaldi and an anonymous piece. Recorded April 2016 in Lugano; produced by Manfred Eicher.

First trio recording by Louis Sclavis (clarinets), Dominique Pifarély (violin) and Vincent Courtois (cello), with compositions by all three and collective improvisation. Recorded September 2016 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Duo album by Vijay Iyer (piano, Fender Rhodes, electronics) and Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet), centred on a seven-part suite for the Indian artist Nasreen Mohamedi. Recorded 17-19 October 2015 at Avatar Studios, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher.

French violinist Dominique Pifarély's quartet with pianist Antonin Rayon, bassist Bruno Chevillon and drummer François Merville, eight Pifarély compositions. Recorded July 2015 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Trio album led by drummer and percussionist Ches Smith with pianist Craig Taborn and violist Mat Maneri, eight Smith compositions for improvisers. Recorded June 2015 at Avatar Studios, New York; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Largely improvised quartet album by Giovanni Guidi (piano), Gianluca Petrella (trombone), Louis Sclavis (clarinet, bass clarinet) and Gerald Cleaver (drums), recorded in February 2015 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Solo piano recital by Masabumi Kikuchi: nine improvisations, Bonfá's Manhã de Carnaval and his own Little Abi. Recorded live on 26 October 2012 at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Recital Hall, his last solo concert; mixed in Oslo and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by the Swiss-Italian trio Third Reel: Nicolas Masson (tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet), Roberto Pianca (guitar), Emanuele Maniscalco (drums, piano). Recorded August 2014 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano; produced by Manfred Eicher.

ECM leader debut of drummer Andrew Cyrille, with Bill Frisell (guitar), Richard Teitelbaum (synthesizer, piano) and Ben Street (double bass). Recorded July 2014 at Brooklyn Recording, New York; produced by Sun Chung.

Ben Monder's first ECM album as leader: solo electric guitar, duos with Paul Motian (October 2010, Sear Sound) and with Andrew Cyrille, plus trios with Cyrille and Pete Rende on synthesizer (December 2013, Brooklyn Recording). Produced by Sun Chung.

Fifth album by the Norwegian trio Jøkleba (Per Jørgensen, trumpet, voice; Jon Balke, piano, electronics; Audun Kleive, drums, electronics) and its first for ECM: free collective pieces recorded in May 2014 at Madstun and Rainbow Studio, Oslo.

Solo violin recital by Dominique Pifarély, improvised pieces dedicated to poets plus Victor Young's My Foolish Heart, recorded in concert at Poitiers (2012) and Argenteuil (February 2013); produced by Manfred Eicher.

Solo piano concert by Paul Bley, four of his own compositions and Sonny Rollins's Pent-Up House as encore. Recorded live in August 2008 at Kulturkirken Jakob during the Oslo Jazz Festival by Jan Erik Kongshaug; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Miroslav Vitous revisits Weather Report repertoire with a sextet of two saxophonists (Gary Campbell, Roberto Bonisolo), two drummers (Gerald Cleaver, Nasheet Waits) and keyboards. Recorded 2010-2011 at Universal Syncopations Studios, Clavesana.

Songs and improvisations on Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and opera arias, sung in Neapolitan by Maria Pia De Vito with François Couturier (piano), Anja Lechner (cello) and Michele Rabbia (percussion, electronics). Recorded December 2012 in Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Debut album of the bass-less Swiss-Italian trio Third Reel: Nicolas Masson (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Roberto Pianca (guitar), Emanuele Maniscalco (drums), sixteen composed and improvised pieces. Recorded February 2012 at the Auditorio RSI, Lugano.

Live duo recording by Lucian Ban (piano) and Mat Maneri (viola): pieces by Ban and Maneri, a joint improvisation and the spiritual Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen. Recorded 5 June 2011 at the Culture Palace, Târgu Mureș, Transylvania.

Duo album by bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marilyn Crispell: compositions by each, three free improvisations and a solo apiece, recorded January-February 2011 at Nevessa Production, Saugerties, NY, and self-produced. ECM 2292, 2013.

Album by the Bobo Stenson Trio, with Bobo Stenson on piano, Anders Jormin on double bass and Jon Fält on drums, recorded in November and December 2011 at the Auditorio RSI in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Live piano duets by Chick Corea and Stefano Bollani: improvisations, Jobim, Caymmi, Waller, Davis, standards and originals, recorded at the Umbria Jazz Winter festival, Teatro Mancinelli, Orvieto, at New Year 2010-2011. Produced by Manfred Eicher.

Solo piano album by Craig Taborn, his first as leader for ECM: thirteen pieces of his own, played on a Steinway D. Recorded in summer 2010 at Auditorio RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Eighteen short duets by Michael Mantler, partly notated and partly improvised, for classical pianist Per Salo and jazz guitarist Bjarne Roupé. Piano recorded June 2010 at Studios La Buissonne, guitar August 2010 in Copenhagen; released 2011.

An improvising quartet featuring four of the finest and most innovative musicians, who have extended the ranges of their respective instruments - piano, saxophones, harp and double bass - into new, uncharted territories. As well as having exceptional techniques, they are all virtuoso listeners, so that these first two performances as a quartet sound as if they have being working together for years. 68 minutes.

Eberhard Weber reworks twelve solo bass sequences recorded live with the Jan Garbarek Group between 1990 and 2007, adding keyboards, saxophone and selje flute by Garbarek and percussion by Michael DiPasqua. Mixed in 2011 at Studios La Buissonne.

First ECM solo piano album by Marilyn Crispell: seven improvised Vignettes and other pieces of her own, plus Jayna Nelson's Cuida Tu Espiritu and Arve Henriksen's Stilleweg. Recorded April 2007 at Auditorio Radio Svizzera, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

First ECM album by the Polish trio of Marcin Wasilewski (piano), Sławomir Kurkiewicz (double bass) and Michał Miśkiewicz (drums): originals, free improvisations and pieces by Björk, Wayne Shorter, Szymanowski and Stańko. Recorded March 2004, Rainbow Studio, Oslo.

Second album by Thomas Strønen's quartet Parish, with Bobo Stenson (piano), Fredrik Ljungkvist (clarinet, tenor saxophone) and Mats Eilertsen (double bass). Recorded April 2004 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Sacred song cycle by bassist Anders Jormin, commissioned for Västerås cathedral, with Lena Willemark (voice), Marilyn Crispell (piano), Karin Nelson (church organ) and Raymond Strid (percussion). Recorded May 2003 in the Organ Hall, Musikhögskolan, Gothenburg.

Paul Giger (violin, violino d'amore, viola d'amore, foot bells) with Robert Dick (flutes) and Satoshi Takeishi (percussion): solo pieces, duos and trios recorded 1995-2000 and edited at Big Ear Studio, Dübendorf, released by ECM in 2003.

Trio album by Yves Robert (trombone), Vincent Courtois (cello) and Cyril Atef (drums), Robert's first ECM album as leader, seven of eight pieces by him. Recorded March 2001 at Piccolo Studio, Paris, produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 1787, 2002.

Live recording by Keith Jarrett (piano), Gary Peacock (double bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums): four free improvisations and When I Fall in Love. Recorded 26 and 28 July 2000 at the Royal Festival Hall, London; produced by Manfred Eicher, released by ECM in 2001. CD edition.