2017

A year after his impressionistic, critically-lauded ECM debut "Into The Silence", trumpeter Avishai Cohen's "Cross My Palm With Silver" introduces a programme of new pieces which put the focus on the ensemble, on teamwork, with a quartet of the highest calibre. The adroit, almost telepathic interplay among the musicians allows Avishai Cohen to soar, making it clear why he is one of the most talked-about jazz musicians on the contemporary scene. "All of these people together are my dream team", says the charismatic trumpeter of fellow players Yonathan Avishai, Barak Mori and Nasheet Waits, who share his sense for daring improvisation and his feeling for structure. "I feel we're in a perfect place with the balance. It's open and there's so much room for the improvisation to take the music any place we can. At the same time the composition is very specific and the vibe is very direct and thought about." As with "Into The Silence", "Cross My Palm With Silver" was produced by Manfred Eicher at Studios La Buissonne in the south of France. It is issued on the eve of a major European tour, with concerts in France, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.

Digipack.<br/><br/>"Jag låter min musik frodas i den nordiska melankolins tonspråk. Där vill jag varsamt förvalta arvet efter några av de mest älskade namnen inom svensk jazz och visa. Musiken hedrar en tradition men tar den in i en samtid med de infallsvinklar en 90-talist upptäcker i sig själv och andra."<br/>Amanda Ginsburg<br/><br/>"Albumdebuterande sångerskan Amanda Ginsburg har redan låtit tala om sig; i våras släppte hon en singel, i höstas ännu en, och till på köpet nominerades hon till P2:s Guldkatten i kategorin Årets nykomling. <br/>Fullängdaren "Jag har funderat på en sak", som innefattar båda singlarna, rör sig mellan jazz och visa, med texter på svenska. Det är musik som vinner mycket på just språket, men tilltalet är också musikaliskt okonstlat och direkt. Andra har gått före i samma spår - Sarah Riedel, till exempel. Men Ginsburg har sin egen timbre och en närhet till sin musik och sina texter som känns distinkt personlig. En viss poppighet smyger sig osökt på, samtidigt som musiken ekar av samma gammelsvenska traditioner som Jan Johansson och andra utvecklade på 60-talet".<br/><br/>- Johannes Cornell - DN

Svensk jazzhistoria vol. 11/Jazz Cosmopolit är en box med fyra fullmatade cd-skivor och en 188-sidig bok om den svenska jazzen på 1970-talet.<br/> <br/>Här hörs musik av så vitt skilda namn som Alice Babs, Monica Dominique, Nannie Porres, Monica Zetterlund, Lars Gullin, Georg Riedel, Bernt Rosengren, Nisse Sandström, Janne Schaffer, Bobo Stenson, Eje Thelin, Per Henrik Wallin, Putte Wickman, Lennart Åberg och grupper som Egba, Iskra, Mount Everest, Oriental Wind, Rena Rama, Sevda, Solar Plexus, Radiojazzgruppen, Tintomara m.fl.

Jazz är en musikform som enligt oss upplevs bäst live - i stunden, här och nu. Under de snart 15 år som kvartetten existerat har Bernt nästan varje konsert tagit med låtar som vi aldrig har spelat innan. Små arrangemang som under tiden vi spelar ofta ändras och formas om, allt beroende på vilken väg som musiken visar. Ett spelsätt som bara fungerar då kemin, tilliten och kommunikationen i gruppen stämmer till fullo. När vi nu gick in studion för att spela in gruppens fjärde skiva var målet att få precis den live-känslan men med studions fördelar som ett varmt akustiskt ljud och en bra, välstämd flygel. Alla låtar på skivan är förstatagningar och spelades in i den ordning som de återfinns på skivan, med samma upplägg som om vi skulle ha spelat en konsert. Med skillnaden att ingen publik finns samt att vi tog några pauser för kaffe och lunch. Nu får du som lyssnare uppleva precis det som vi upplevde i studion under 2 dagar i maj. <br/><br/>// Hans Backenroth

Hancock Herbie: Broadcast vollection 1973-83 [8 CD]

British pianist Django Bates returns to ECM with one of his very finest constellations, the trio Belovèd, with Swedish bassist Petter Eldh and Danish drummer Peter Bruun, and an aptly named album, "The Study of Touch". All three musicians are highly individual players, subtly challenging the conventions of the jazz piano trio. The group came together a decade ago when Bates was teaching at Copenhagen's Rhythmic Music Conservatory. The shared work has included inspired reconstructions of pieces associated with Charlie Parker - a formative influence for both Bates and bassist Eldh - and in this new album, Parker's tune "Passport" is set amid Django originals, and played with respect, contemporary sensibility and joy. Some of Django's own tunes here - such as "Senza Bitterness", "Sadness All The Way Down" and "We Are Not Lost, We Are Simply Finding Our Way" have become core pieces in Belovèd's repertoire, continually remodeled by this trio of improvisers. Bates' composing and arranging skills are much in evidence, along with his freewheeling, free-flowing virtuosic melodic sense. The terse, percussive edge of Petter Eldh's bass provides momentum and drummer Peter Bruun details the music with an almost painterly touch. In the crowded world of the piano trio, Belovèd has developed a sound all its own. "The Study of Touch" was recorded at Oslo's Rainbow Studio in June 2016, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

My Foolish Heart is the latest solo album by master guitarist Ralph Towner, recorded at Lugano's Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in February 2016, and produced by Manfred Eicher. Solo music is an important thread through Towner's rich discography. Diary was the title he gave to his first ECM solo album back in 1973 and each of his solo albums since then - the list includes Solo Concert, Ana, Anthem, and Time Line - has had a special autobiographical, diary-like character. The solo music is where one can see most clearly the inspirational strands informing Towner's music. He alludes to this in the performer's note introducing the new album, his first solo disc in a decade:<br/><br/>"'My Foolish Heart', the title song of this album had an immeasurable impact on my musical life, as it did with many of my colleagues in the world of jazz and improvisation. The seminal version, played by Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian set me on a course to try to attain the magic of this trio in my own attempts to play the piano, and later, on the classical guitar which became my principal instrument. I needed to know how it felt to inhabit such a reverent musical space. So, many years later, I've decided to pay a visit to this song and include it among a variety of my own pieces. I hope I've continued to use the inspiration I gained from that first encounter in all the music I play."