Ecm

Michelle Makarski/Keith Jarrett: Six Sonatas... [2 CD]

Danish String Quartet: Prism IV [CD]

Beethoven/Schnittke/Bach: Prism II [CD]

På sitt andra soloalbum på ECM utnyttjar den svenskfödde basisten Björn Meyer elbasens tekniska potential för att skapa slående klangfärger och kornrika texturer, samtidigt som han är ytterst medveten om det akustiska rum där hans musik uppstår och blommar.

Efter mycket uppmärksammade ECM-album som "Not Far From Here" (2019), "The Next Door" (2022) och "Under the Surface" (2025) har den tyska pianisten Julia Hülsmann beslutat sig för att höja ribban med en nybildad oktett bestående av idel prisbelönta instrumentalister och sångare, bland annat den svenska basisten Eva Kruse.

ECM is particularly pleased to present this two-disc set by one of the most outstanding groups of its era, the group often referred to as 'Belonging' or Keith Jarrett's 'European Quartet', heard here in a previously unreleased concert recording from 1979. After more than three decades in the archive, this "sleeper" now awakes, sounding thoroughly alive and of the moment. <br/><br/>"Sleeper" is a significant addition to the group's small discography, until now comprised of the albums "Belonging" (1974), "My Song" (recorded 1977, released 1978), "Nude Ants" (recorded 1979), and "Personal Mountains" (1979, released 1989). The pieces performed by the quartet on April 16, 1979, at Tokyo's Nakano Sun Plaza were Jarrett compositions - "Personal Mountains", "Innocence", "So Tender", "Oasis", "Chant of the Soil", "Prism" and "New Dance" - all written for this ensemble (in later years, "Prism" and "So Tender" would be reinterpreted by the "Standards" trio), all delivered with enormous verve. This was a group that could play very freely, and joyously, inside the melodic and rhythmic structures set up or implied by Keith Jarrett's writing, with an extraordinary and unforced sense of flow. As Jarrett said at the time: "I myself, as a so-called leader, wish very, very often to blend with the other three musicians and that situation [the Belonging band] allows that, because no one is fighting with anyone else. Everyone is just trying to make the thing transparent and clear and feeling good."

LIRA GILLLAR!<br/>"Jag har svårt att tänka mig en musik som bättre passa årstiden än Driftings femton tätt sammanflätade spår. Varje spår leder till nya destinationer längs samma snötäckta landskap. Atmosfäriskt så det förslår." (Timo Kangas, Lira)