ECM Vinyl & CDs

Review: Call on the old Wise is a magnificently captivating solo album that was largely improvised in the moment. It finds pianist Nitai Hershkovits delivering some of his best work as he draws on a wide array of influences that go from his extensive work in the jazz world to more cutting-edge and contemporary explorations via plenty of his own personal classical music experiences. In it, there's a great balance of light and dark, heavy and more airy as well as rich arrays of colour and timbre. It was recorded in 2022 and produced by Manfred Eicher following his work with Oded Tzur's quartet on two acclaimed albums, Here Be Dragons and Isabela.

Review: Like many veteran jazz artists, American pianist Keith Jarrett has amassed a vast discography. The 92 solo and collaborative albums he's notched up since 1968 cover many styles of jazz, making it tricky for newcomers to know where to start. We'd suggest beginning with this 1999 album, which is as pure as you'll get. Made up entirely of solo piano pieces - mostly covers, with a sprinkling of Jarrett's own compositions - "The Melody At Night With You" not only offers a brilliant introduction to Jarrett's trademark playing style, but also the breadth of material he's covered. More importantly, the whole collection is hugely entertaining and enjoyable, with Jarrett putting his own twist on everything from Duke Ellington classics and Oscar Hammerstein show tunes, to Gershwin ballads and traditional favourites.

Review: Cult favourite Keith Jarrett lived on the fringes of musical experimentation with his pioneering post-bop approach to the piano making him a favourite of the last half-decade. He last ever concert was in France in 2016 at the Auditorium de l'Opera National de Bordeaux. Here the concert is captured on record in all its freeform improv glory with 13 tunes making up one ever-evolving suite that goes through a gamut of moods, grooves and emotions. Though his 1975 Koln concert will always be his most famous, this one is thought to come very close by a certain quarter of fans.

Review: Keith Jarrett's 2016 European tour has already been subject to one vinyl release (Munich 2016 ) and now ECM capture another of the nights on wax. This sumptuous double album documents the pianist's solo performance at Budapest's Bela Bartok National Concert Hall, which the artist is said to have considered something of a homecoming. Comprised of suite-like structures, which are themselves made up of independent "movements", the album is a marvel of spontaneity and resourcefulness. It brims with creative energy and complex abstractions as well as more striped back and soothing pieces.

Review: Violinist Nils Okland and keyboardist Sigbjorn Apeland have been working togeter on music for 30 years. Their work often explores a place where Norwegian traditional music and improvisation meet and this new album is another exceptional one full of touching and tender moods. Glimmer builds on the folk music traditions of the Haugalandet region of Western Norway and is built around original compositions that range from those written for a film about great Norwegian landscape painter Lars Hertevig, to pieces inspired by modernist composer Fartein Valen. The two musicians find great harmony throughout to ensure this is another moving work from the old friends.