John Surman: Saltash Bells (ECM 2266)(www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/2200/2266)John Surman: soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones, alto, bass and contrabass clarinets, harmonica, synthesizerJohn Surman is an exceptionally versatile musician and his instrumental prowess has been showcased in many contexts. Yet his solo albums may be the best sources for insights into his melodic imagination. If you want to understand the wellsprings of his creativity, the solo albums are the place to go; “Saltash Bells” ranks with the best of them. This time around the compositions were inspired by the West Country of John’s English childhood, memories of special places – and sounds. The title track refers to the echoes of bell ringing from Saltash church resounding around the Tamar River valley, at the border of Cornwall and Devon. “Whistman’s Wood”, meanwhile, evokes the mysterious petrified forest of Dartmoor … And so it goes, ancient haunts inspiring vivid new music.
ECM Player "Saltash Bells" Louis Sclavis Atlas Trio: Sources (ECM 2282) (www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/2200/2282)Louis Sclavis: bass clarinet, clarinet Benjamin Moussay: piano, Fender Rhodes, keyboards Gilles Coronado: electric guitarLouis Sclavis’s band of the season is the Atlas Trio, an ensemble with a global reach of reference. Chamber-improvisation, polyrhythmic grooves, minimalistic pulse patterns, enveloping ambience, rhapsodic piano and funky Fender Rhodes, distorted guitar, clarinet soliloquies, contrapuntal themes, free group playing, a bit of everything. An open-form aesthetic applies in multi-facetted music simultaneously exploratory and involving. Recorded in the South of France last September, the album - Louis’s ninth for ECM – features a programme of new Sclavis compositions, and is issued in time for tour dates including a major showcase at the Europa Jazz Festival in Le Mans.
ECM Player "Sources" Arild Andersen: Celebration (ECM 2259)(www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/2200/2259)Arild Andersen: double-bass Tommy Smith: tenor saxophone Scottish National Jazz Orchestra Tommy Smith: directorBassist Arild Andersen shines as the principal soloist in a celebration of music from ECM with specially-commissioned new big-band arrangements of well-known pieces by Dave Holland, Chick Corea, Trygve Seim, Jan Garbarek, and Keith Jarrett. The resourceful Tommy Smith adds powerful tenor solos, arranges Garbarek’s “Molde Canticle”, and directs the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. Andersen’s composition “Independency” is a 16-minute highlight, in a sensitive and powerful arrangement by Mike Gibbs. Other contributing arrangers are Makoto Ozone, Christian Jacob, Geoff Keezer and Trygve Seim/Øyvind Bræke: all of them contribute sterling work, and their arrangements are likely to enter modern jazz’s big band repertory book. Recorded live at Glasgow’s Royal Conservatory, “Celebration” is a highly attractive album for a broad listenership, and as a statement about music introduced by ECM will be of special interest to long-time followers of the label.
ECM Player "Celebration"Credo che anche questi tre nuovi album dell'etichetta tedesca rapprentino ascolti rilevanti per ogni appassionato e li segnalo con la possibilità di un' anteprima audio grazie al Player che ho linkato. Buon ascolto