It goes without saying that if you like Epistrophy you will also like its twin brother album Small Town that Frisell and Morgan released a couple of years ago.
Thanks for reporting back! I figured a record cut from tapes kept by the artist wouldn’t be up to the typical ECM SQ standard. But yeah.... Bley, Peacock, Motian. Seems like a no brainer.
I bet the album cover designer hopes people pay more attention to the trees than the mis-spelled album title...
Last night I heard for the first time Rypdal/Vitous/Dejohnette. I have the sequel record (with the breakfast table on the cover- I forget the name?) but this one is more interesting. I like how the drums are cooking most of the time even when the bass and guitar are doing more spacious and ambient textures. I want the vinyl, last night was streaming on Spotify through iPhone and earbuds
LOL...I never noticed that before. Same for the track list on the back of the cover. If I pull the record out and look at the label on the vinyl it's spelled correctly there.
Listened to an album by Steve Kuhn from 1978 titled Non-Fiction. While most (maybe all) of his other ECM recordings are available on streaming services, this one is not. It's a fine 70's acoustic jazz outing so I'm glad I grabbed the LP at one point along the way. Kuhn on piano, Steve Slagle on flute and saxophones, Harvie Swartz (later known as Harvie S) on bass, Bob Moses on drums.
So I decided to count my ECM records and Cds. 80 Lps and 20 CDs. Almost a cube in the Ikea shelf. That seems like a lot of ECM records. Funny thing is I only have around 30 jazz records. I'm not a huge jazz fan but like my ECM. Tibbetts, Rypdal, Metheny, Weber, Walcott and stuff with Vasconcelos make up the majority of the pile. Most recent ECM record is John Surman Such Memories of Winter. So far it's the one I like most of his ECM stuff.
It is amazing that this record hasn't been reissued on CD/LP/streaming by ECM. Listening to this on Youtube it is absolutely smoking! These guys are in total command on this record. I even looked on the ECM Records website and cannot find it in Steve Kuhn's discography. Anyway, congrats on owning this rare gem and thanks to whomever put it up on the internet. I thought I had heard a lot of the late 70's/early 80's stuff but I had totally missed this one. Slagle is also such a great player and he reminds me a lot of Steve Kujala in his flute style. Another one to check out w/Kuhn, although at a different speed/place is David Darling's album Cycles. Additionally, stylistically similar to some degree but in a more contemplative space is Mike Nock's Ondas w/John Christensen and Eddie Gomez. Edit: I did find it in the ECM catalogue but just the LP listed separately, not in his discography.
and just like everything else he touched, Collin Walcott makes it boogie in all the right places and times.
One of the great ECM piano trio albums. I always liked Stanley Clarke on the bass until my heart sank when School Days came out and I realized he sold out to commercial interests. He's great on this album (just like he is on Return to Forever). I saw Stanley on acoustic double bass with Return to Forever in concert during the late 70s. It was amazing.
Chick Corea - Trio Music Chick Corea – piano Miroslav Vitouš – bass Roy Haynes – drums I recently purchased the Blue Note "Tone Poet" re-issue of Chick Corea's "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs". Fantastic. Seemed like a good time to re-play "Trio Music". Great album - but I highly recommend the original album by this trio, especially the new vinyl.
I love this album! It's one of my favorite albums, not just on ECM. Funny thing is that it does not sound like an ECM record at all.
Steve's first two records were self released and are quite different from his ECM output. ECM did reissue his second "Yr". The least ambient (although there are still many ambient moments) of his output would be his first seven records. Northern Song, his third is quite atmospheric however. Safe Journey is his towering achievement in my opinion, it's an embarrassment of riches. Some of the most savage guitar shredding alongside the most otherworldly and beautiful sonic soundscapes I've heard. Exploded view continues in this vein and is quite excellent too. Big Map Idea is a little calmer and more typical of his later period sound. The Fall Of Us All is a bit of an oddity in his catalog, a dense, heavy and quite dark percussion and electric guitar centric work with slicker production. I tend to not listen to this one as much. I have to admit with regret that his work since has not connected with me. I had hoped that his newest would change that, but I find meandering, overly familiar and forgettable. Some fans love the latter period of his output. Tibbetts defies the ECM rulebook in a few ways, self produced, given time to record and experiment and came to ECM as an unknown non Jazz musician from Minneapolis. Here's a mind blowing clip of Steve with the equally amazing Mark Anderson playing some music from Safe Journey. Pinched harmonics and guitar drone beauty.
A big thank you for the thought out post and clip. I will check out safe journey. Very appreciative thanks!
Just want to thank all the posters in this thread, which has become a rich source of new listening material for me. Cheers!
Now playing AEC: "full force" Joseph Jarman, Don Moye, Malachi Favors, Lester Bowie and Roscoe Mitchell. Action packed with emotion, communication, drama and the (literal) bells and whistles the Chicago group is famous for. Bought this one from recoemmdations on the forum...
Don't forget Live in Europe from this same lineup. It's a different feel than the studio work, but what a performance! I've loved this album for over 30 years now.
