This Is What ECM Sounds Like in 2018

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Pianist Keith Jarrett—along with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette—released After The Fall (ECM) in March.

(Photo: Rose Anne Jarrett)

As ECM Records wades deeper into its 49th year, the German imprint has maintained a stunning persistence of vision—in both the types of jazz projects it produces and the visual aesthetic that’s become its trademark.

But it’s tough keep up with the label’s torrent of releases, so DownBeat has put together a helpful guide to some of ECM’s recent recordings. Dig in. DB



  • Rodney_Holmes_Courtesy_Meinl.jpg

    A drummer’s drummer, Rodney Holmes gigged with everyone from Joe Zawinul and Carlos Santana to Steve Kimock and the Brecker Brothers.

  • DB26_Critics_Poll_Montage.jpg

    Clockwise from top left, Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Adam O’Farrill, Keith Jarrett’s At the Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings, Sheila Jordan and Jaki Byard.

  • Abdhullah_Ibrahim_Detroit_Jazz_Festival_2022_by_Michael_Jackson.jpg

    Ibrahim was an early jazz acolyte, studying the music via 78s he would buy from soldiers stationed in South Africa — who also gave him the nickname “Dollar.”

  • DB26_Joe_Lovano_by_Michael_Jackson.jpg

    Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet will record live at New York’s Village Vanguard for ECM records on Aug. 26–27.

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    “There was something about her tone and sound and phrasing — an intimacy, a vulnerability, an honesty,” says Joshua Redman, who produced Cavassa’s record after she toured with his band.


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