All Categories — LPs  

With Abercrombie on guitars, Richie Beirach on piano, George Mraz on bass, and Peter Donald on drums.... read more

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An essential 2LP set that's just about the only vinyl release you can find that documents the work of the legendary (and short-lived) Circle group – an important avant jazz combo that featured Anthony Braxton, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Barry Altschul. The record captures a Parisian... read more

One of Chick Corea's greatest moments on record – the self-titled album by the legendary Return To Forever group – a combo that included Joe Farrell on saxes, Flora Purim on vocals, Airto on percussion, and Stanley Clarke on bass! The sound is archetypal 70s fusion at its best –... read more

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One of the excellent DeJohnette albums cut for ECM in the mid 70s. He's playing here with John Abercrombie, Alex Foster, Mike Richmond and Warren Bernhardt in an electric setting, and the vibe has the sort of wide open feel that a lot of progressive players were exploring at the time: a sort of... read more

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Features work by Sheila Jordan on vocals, Marcus Belgrave and Tom Harrell on trumpets, Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky on alto and soprano sax, Dino Saluzzi on bandoneon, George Gruntz on keyboards, Julian Priester on trombone, and Charlie Mariano on alto, soprano, and flute.... read more

One of the greatest records that Charlie Haden ever did, and a record that stands as sort of a bookend to his Liberation Music album on Impulse. As with that record, he's got a large group on here, and also like that one, he's playing a batch of tracks that have a definite political bent. Players... read more

A wonderful early 70s avant garde side, and one of our favorite ECM recordings. Dave Holland leads a group with Circle bandmates Anthony Braxton and Barry Altschul, adding reedist Sam Rivers to the mix, with whom Holland was also working extensively at the time. Rivers' emotive, flowing approach... read more

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A great little trio session from Keith Jarrett – still in the mode of some of his other ECM work, but almost a bit more back to basics as well! The group here features Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – both working beautifully with Keith in a flurry of colors, tones,... read more

A heady double-length set from Keith Jarrett – some of his more sharper-edged work of the time, even though the session follows the free-flowing solo aproach of his other ECM recordings! The first half of the set features the extended "Invocations" suite – a work that has... read more

Jarrett's genre defining solo piano recording, one of what would become many, many documents of his improvised solo performances. While the music here is fully improvised, as nearly so as any music can be, it explores a more lyrical and contemplative side of improv than was the current approach to... read more

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After the success of Jarrett's Standards Trio recording, he revisits the format with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette – the first ever live recordings of this incredible trio in action! Like the studio recordings, this set features roomy, lyrical readings of standards, in a way,... read more

Pretty trippy stuff – duets between Jarrett and DeJohnette, in a variety of modes that run from out and improvised, to mellower and modal. Jarrett plays piano, electric piano, organ, and flute – and DeJohnette plays a variety of percussion. Titles include "Ruta & Daitya"... read more

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A great example of the sound of ECM in the early 70s, with Liebman playing in his post-Miles band angular modernist style with warm electric and acoustic accompaniment from Richard Beirach, Frank Tusa and Jeff Williams rounding out the quartet . The set is made up of three long, spiralling numbers... read more

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With Michael Mantler on trumpet, Carla Bley on piano, Mike Stern on guitar, Steve Swallow on bass, and Nick Mason on drums – plus some added strings conducted by Michael Gibbs!... read more

One of the most earthy, organic offerings of the Herbie Hancock scene of the 70s – a session that's led by Headhunter reedman Bennie Maupin, and which also features Herbie on acoustic and electric piano – all in a sound that's quite different from his own work of the time! The tracks... read more

A brilliantly evocative album from Pat Metheny – one that's got a quietly epic feel, as Pat and group soar out across the American landscape in a set of tunes that subtly explore space and sound while still remaining wonderfully fluid. There's nothing forced here, and nothing too slick... read more

One of our favorite Metheny moments ever – and one of the few albums of his that we can go back to, and still enjoy heartily! The album's wonderfully stripped down – and features only guitar by Metheny, keyboards by Lyle Mays, and percussion and vocals by Nana Vasconcelos, all blended... read more

One of Metheny's seminal sides for ECM, in a trio with Jaco Pastorius and Bob Moses. 8 tracks in all, including "Bright Size Life", "Sirabhorn", "Unity Village", "Missouri Uncompromised", "Midwestern Nights Dream", "Ubiquity Road", "O... read more

Arguably the last great album to come from the classic Pat Metheny collaboration with Lyle Mays – a record that's tightened up considerably from some of the group's earlier efforts, but which gives as its reward some wonderfully compelling tunes! Pat's still very much influenced here by a... read more

A completely solo album from Pat Metheny – but one that still sparkles with the same sort of energy as his fuller group sessions for ECM! At a point when Pat could be content to simply scrawl a few simple lines on the strings of his guitar, he instead does a great job of complicating things... read more

A really wonderful little record from Pat Metheny – quite possibly our favorite by the man, thanks to some really inventive sounds that still resonate strongly in the groove scene today! Pat's skirting nicely here between the sound-based quality of earlier records, and some of the more fluid... read more

A near-legendary album from Pat Metheny – the real birth of the "Metheny sound" on record, and a perfect example of the magically fluid groove that he crafted with keyboardist Lyle Mays! The sound here is hard to describe – and even harder when you try to pick out the... read more

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A sweet trio session with Charlie Haden on bass and Bill Higgins on drums. Titles include "The Calling", "Tears Inside", "Lonely Woman", and "Rejoicing".... read more

At the height of his success, Pat tries to prove to the world that he's still got cred – and hooks up with Ornette, Charlie Haden, and Denardo Coleman for a little bit of harmelodic jamming. Thing is, we actually liked the slick stuff better! Titles include "Mob Job", "Video... read more

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An excellent bit of spacey funk from Julian Priester – the Chicago hardbop trombonist who grooved mightily in the late 50s and early 60s with the likes of Sun Ra and Max Roach, but who here is reemerging as a 70s electric funk maestro, in the lineage of Herbie Hancock. Here, he's working... read more

Classic mid-period Reich – with an approach that's a lot more sophisticated than the earlier works, but a sound that's still filled with whimsey and surprise. The winner here is Music For A Large Ensemble, which features some excellent interplay between marimbas, vibes, and xylophone –... read more

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A classic ECM compilation – with material by Steve Kuhn & Sheila Jordan, Paul Motian, Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Jack DeJohnette, Steve Reich, Codona, Terje Rypdal, Old & New Dreams, and others!... read more