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



  • John_Hammond_courtesy_johnhammond.com.jpg

    Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.

  • Flea_by_Gus_Van_Sant_copy.jpg

    “Cerebral and academic thought is a different way to approach music,” Flea says of his continuing dive into jazz. “I’ve always relied on emotion and intuition and physicality.”

  • Dee_Dee_Bridgewater_Courtesy_Dee_Dee_Bridgewater.jpg

    Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will be among the headliners at this year’s DC JazzFest.

  • Maria_Schneider_%C2%A92026_Mark_Sheldon_-07_copy.jpg

    “These days, with curated news, where people only get half the story, people can’t even speak to family members anymore,” Schneider laments.

  • JAM_posters_-_a_selection_cropped.jpg

    Each of the 25 JAMs has delivered a poster featuring a jazz legend that is sent out to schools across the nation. This year’s poster features Tony Bennett.


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