JOACHIM KÜHN — Europeana : Jazzphony No. 1 (Michael Gibbs) (1995) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Europeana won the Annual German Record Critics' Award upon its initial CD release in 1995. ACT
Tracklist :
1    Castle In Heaven 4:16
French Horn [Solo] – Theo Wiemes
2    Black Is The Colour Of My Ture Love´s Hair 4:42
Oboe – Douglas Boyd
Tenor Horn – Django Bates
3    The Shepherd Of Breton 4:34
Accordion – Richard Galliano
Orchestra – Members Of The NDR-Bigband
4    The Ingrian Rune Song    2:19
5    The Groom´s Sister 3:41
Soprano Saxophone – Christof Lauer
6    Norwegian Psalm 4:48
Flugelhorn – Markus Stockhausen
Oboe [Solo] – Martin Stoll
7    Three Angels 4:20
Tenor Saxophone – Christof Lauer
Trombone – Albert Mangelsdorff
8    Heaven Has Created 3:56
Piccolo Trumpet – Markus Stockhausen
9    She Moved Through The Fair 5:55
Soprano Saxophone – Klaus Doldinger
10    Crebe De Chet    4:14
11    Midnight Sun    5:28
12    Londonderry Air 4:41
Violin [Solo] – Volker Worlitzsch
13    Otra Jazzpaña    5:35
Credits :
Bass, Soloist – Jean-François Jenny-Clark
Concertmaster – Volker Worlitzsch
Conductor, Arranged By – Michael Gibbs
Drums, Soloist – Jon Christensen
Orchestra – Radio Philharmoníe Hannover NDR
Painting – Gerhard Richter
Piano, Soloist – Joachim Kühn
Soloist – Albert Mangelsdorff, Christof Lauer, Django Bates, Douglas Boyd, Klaus Doldinger, Markus Stockhausen, Richard Galliano

LARS DANIELSSON — Libera Me (2004) SACD, Hybrid | APE (image+.cue), lossless

This intriguing set features the compositions and bass playing of Lars Danielsson. The music is beautifully recorded, often sparse (à la ECM) and thoughtful. The instrumentation varies from track-to-track even if the mood tends to stay quiet and reflective. Soprano-saxophonist David Liebman is featured on "Libera Me," singer Caecilie Norby has a guest pop vocal on "Newborne Broken," and the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra is heard with their huge string section on a few numbers, sometimes sounding a little sleepy. Other than a few spots for Nils Petter Molvaer's introspective trumpet, most of the other solos are by bassist Danielsson. This melodic set works well as both background music and for close listening although it develops slowly. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Asta    5:38
Written-By – Lars Danielsson
2    Suffering    6:39
Written-By – Lars Danielsson
3    The Teacher    2:49
Written-By – Lars Danielsson
4    Newborn Broken    5:35
Lyrics By – Cæcilie Norby
Music By – Lars Danielsson
Voice – Cæcilie Norby
5    Libera Me    7:19
Arranged By – Lars Danielsson
Written-By – Gabriel Fauré
6    Shimmering    6:01
Written-By – Lars Danielsson
7    Granada    6:29
Written-By – Lars Danielsson
8    Both Sides Now    3:15
Written-By – Joni Mitchell
9    Forever You    4:03
Written-By – Lars Danielsson
10    Bird Through The Wall    2:13
Written-By – Lars Danielsson
11    Cornelia    6:48
Written-By – Lars Danielsson
– BONUS TRACK –
12    Asnah    7:22
Cello, Sampler – Lars Danielsson
Drums – Jon Christensen
Orchestra – DR Danish Radio Concert Orchestra
Percussion – Xavier Desandre Navarre
Sampler – Jan Bang
Trumpet – Nils Petter Molvær
Voice – Cæcilie Norby
Credits :
Acoustic Bass, Cello, Piano, Producer – Lars Danielsson (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5)
Conductor – Frans Rasmussen
Cymbal [Cymbals] – Anders Kjellberg (tracks: 2, 4)
Drums – Jon Christensen (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8 to 10)
Guitar – Carsten Dahl (tracks: 2, 9), Lars Danielsson (tracks: 4)
Orchestra – DR Danish Radio Concert Orchestra
Percussion – Jon Christensen (tracks: 6, 10), Xavier Desandre Navarre (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5)
Piano – Tobias Sjögren (tracks: 4)
Sampler [Samples] – Jan Bang (tracks: 6)
Saxophone [Soprano] – David Liebman (tracks: 5)
Trumpet – Nils Petter Molvær (tracks: 1, 6, 10)
Vocals – Cæcilie Norby (tracks: 4)

STEVE KUHN TRIO — Watch What Happens! (1968-2006) RM | Serie European Collection – 22 | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Like many pianists, Steve Kuhn seems to put out one quality disc after another but doesn't ever seem to get the attention he deserves. This beautifully recorded studio date from 1968, with bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen, is a good example. Eschewing the typical easygoing approaches to Michel Legrand's "Watch What Happens," he launches into a very brisk bossa nova arrangement. J.J. Johnson's gorgeous ballad "Lament" was never in better hands as Kuhn delivers a shimmering but poignant performance; the piece segues into Gary McFarland's unjustly neglected "Once We Loved." A mini-medley of Burt Bacharach songs, "Windows of the World" and "Here I Am," with its unusual chanting introduction, has also stood the test of time. Carla Bley's "Ad Infinitum" delves briefly into the avant-garde but quickly reverts to post-bop. [The Japanese reissue of this long unavailable session, originally on MPS, retains the identical gatefold packaging of the LP, complete with photos and liner notes -- a very nice touch.] Ken Dryden
Tracklist :
1    Watch What Happens 2:50
Written-By – Michel Legrand
2    Silver 2:17
Written-By – Steve Kuhn
3    Lament / Once We Loved 6:57
Written-By [Lament] – Jay Jay Johnson
Written-By [Once We Loved] – Gary McFarland
4    Tom Jones 6:41
Written-By – John Addison, Mack Davis
5    Windows Of The World / Here I Am 4;20
Written-By – Burt Bacharach
6    I Fall In Love Too Easily 4:07
Written-By – Cahn-Styne
7    Ad Infinitum 8:57
Written-By – Carla Bley
Credits :
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Drums – Jon Christensen
Piano – Steve Kuhn

CHARLES LLOYD QUARTET - Fish Out of Water (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Fish out of Water was the first in a string of recordings Charles Lloyd made for ECM throughout the '90s and into the next century. As such, this album ended a long reclusive period for Lloyd and re-established him as a major post-Coltrane tenor stylist. Joining him and his new piano partner, Bobo Stenson, are Palle Danielsson on bass and Jon Christensen on drums -- the players who comprised the rhythm section of Keith Jarrett's famed European quartet. There's a serene, haunting quality to much of the music, particularly "Haghia Sophia" and "Tellaro," both of which feature Lloyd on flute (possibly alto flute on the former). The quartet picks up the pace on the swinging "Eyes of Love" and locks into a Coltrane-esque slow burn on "The Dirge." The title track contains some parallel major sevenths that recall "Forest Flower," Lloyd's most famous song. While some may find the disc a bit too placid overall, there's much to be said for Lloyd's unruffled, effortlessly bluesy playing.  David R. Adler
Tracklist :
1    Fish Out Of Water    9:20
2    Haghia Sophia    7:24
3    The Dirge    10:10
4    Bharati    8:23
5    Eyes Of Love    8:32
6    Mirror    9:28
7    Tellaro    4:02
Credits :
Bass – Palle Danielsson
Drums – Jon Christensen
Painting [Cover Painting], Photography By – Dorothy Darr
Piano – Bobo Stenson
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Composed By – Charles Lloyd

SIDSEL ENDRESEN - So I Write (1990) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist
1    So I Write 7'49
(Jon Balke)
2    This Is The Movie 6'02
(Jon Balke)
3    Dreamland 3'59
(Jon Balke)
4    Words 6'26
(Audun Kleive)
5    Mirror Images 5'09
(Django Bates)
6    Spring 5'06
(Audun Kleive)
7    Truth 7'20
(Eivin One Pedersen)
8    Horses In Rain 5'54
(Django Bates)
Credits :
Sidsel Endresen - Voice
Django Bates - Piano, Tenor Horn
Nils Petter Molvaer - Trumpet
Jon Christensen - Drums, Percussion
 

SIDSEL ENDRESEN - Exile (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The material on Exile, the second ECM album by singer/poet Sidsel Endresen, had its genesis in a commission from the Molde Inter­national Jazz Festival 1993. Working outward from the lyrics, using them as the basis for a larger form, Endresen conceived a series of linked songs, con­nected by atmosphere and theme that she was to title "Pagan Pilgrimage". Some musical ideas were communicated together with the lyrics to the co-composers she had chosen for the task; other pieces she developed herself, in collaboration with the arranger for the whole work: Morten Halle.

Audience reaction to "Pagan Pilgrimage" was extremely positive, and the Norwegian press seconded the crowd's emotions. Terje Mosnes, in leading daily Dagbladet, spoke of "seventy-five minutes of beautiful music, with evocative harmonies and dissonances and surprising melody lines". Mosnes continued: "Only an artist with strong musicality and vocal control can allow herself to choose such a naked, vulnerable form as she does, and still make the listening experience so gratifying and rich."

However, a successful stage presentation does not necessarily translate effortlessly into the recorded medium. In the studio (Oslo's Rainbow studio), the decision was taken to depart from the larger form of "Pagan Pilgrimage", and concentrate on the separate pieces. Some sections were excised altogether, new elements were added, including improvised pieces by Endresen and David Darling. The album, then, is presented as a collection of songs – lyrics by Endresen –  music by Django Bates, Jon Balke, Jon Eberson, Darling and Endresen herself – grouped under the title Exile. ecm
Tracklist
1    Here The Moon 2'29
(Sidsel Endresen)
2    Quest 6'31
(Jon Eberson)
3    Stages I, II, III 7'46
(Django Bates)
4    Hunger 6'25
(David Darling)
5    Theme I 2'11
(Sidsel Endresen, David Darling)
6    Waiting Train 3'50
(Jon Eberson)
7    The Dreaming 4'37
(Jon Balke)
8    Dust 7'59
(Jon Eberson)
9    Variation III 3'10
(Jon Christensen, David Darling)
10    Theme II 2'31
(Sidsel Endresen, David Darling)
11    Exile 8'08
(Sidsel Endresen)
Credits :
Sidsel Endresen - Voice
Django Bates - Piano, Tenor Horn
Nils Petter Molvaer - Trumpet
Jon Christensen - Drums, Percussion
David Darling - Cello
Jens Bugge Wesseltoft - Keyboards 

BOBO STENSON | ARILD ANDERSEN | JON CHRISTENSEN - Underwear (1971-2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This LP from ECM's early days finds Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson leading bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Jon Christensen in a program of uncompromising, collectively improvised post-bop. Andersen is prominent in the mix and plays just tons, all of it totally relevant to the music. Christensen provides structure, drawing on his breathtaking talent to contribute a dazzling range of color, a deft, flawless pulse, and fresh rhythmic ideas for the pianist and bassist. Stenson stakes out a middle ground, communicating closely with his partners and underpinning the group with subtle cues and harmonic shifts. Stenson's title track, a great post-bop, piano-bass-drum performance, goes for broke, but with discipline and a shared sense of purpose. From delicate beginnings, the pianist's two ballads, "Luberon" and "Tant W.," build steadily in power and intensity. Ornette Coleman's "Untitled" gets a short, manic workout, reminiscent of pianist Keith Jarrett's involvement with Coleman's music. "Test" is a mesmerizing piano vamp, over which Andersen adds arco effects, as Stenson strums and plucks from inside the piano, and Christensen busies himself with miscellaneous percussion toys. The concluding track, "Rudolf," is an Andersen reworking of Miles Davis' "Mademoiselle Mabry." Although structured as a piano trio, this set's main attraction is the opportunity to hear, up close, the enormous talents of Christensen and Andersen. That, in turn, though, says something about the egalitarian spirit of Stenson. Jim Todd  
Tracklist :
1     Underwear 7'38
Bobo Stenson
2     Luberon 9'16
Bobo Stenson
3     Test 3'35
Bobo Stenson
4     Tant W. 8'52
Bobo Stenson
5     Untitled 3'54
Ornette Coleman
6     Rudolf 6'13
Arild Andersen
Credits :
Bobo Stenson   Piano
Arild Andesen   Double Bass
Jon Christensen    Percussion

BOBO STENSON TRIO - Reflections (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Bobo Stenson is best known for his longtime association with Charles Lloyd. On his trio set (which has fine support from bassist Anders Jormin and drummer Jon Christensen), he often sounds a bit like Keith Jarrett, Lloyd's pianist of the 1960s. Stenson shows more energy than one might expect to hear on an ECM date, although he also has several introspective explorations. Highlights include a somber "My Man's Gone Now," an impressionistic version of Duke Ellington's "Reflections In D," the Latin feel of "Minidatyr" and a spirited "The Enlightener." Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1     The Enlightener 6'53
Bobo Stenson
2     My Man's Gone Now 6'16
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward
3     Not 4'50
Anders Jormin
4     Dörrmattan 5'47
Bobo Stenson
5     Q 5'52
Anders Jormin
6     Reflections in D 5'26
Duke Ellington
7     12 Tones Old 4'47
Bobo Stenson
8     Mindiatyr 10'26
Bobo Stenson
Credits :
Double Bass – Anders Jormin
Drums – Jon Christensen
Piano – Bobo Stenson
Producer – Manfred Eicher

BOBO STENSON TRIO - War Orphans (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

While the last Bobo Stenson Trio offering found the band cohesively searching for a new harmonic language together and separately as composers, on War Orphans they seem to have found it. Stenson (piano), Anders Jormin (double bass), and Jon Christensen (drums) have sought to distill their tonal language into meditational musical space. They are content to open everything up slowly to get everybody on board and then head for new harmonic directions constantly, through melodic invention and lyrical interplay. As evidence of this, only one of the album's eight selections is by Stenson, three are by Jormin, and the rest by Ornette Coleman (two works including the title), Duke Ellington, and Silvio Rodriguez, whose "Oleo de Mujer Con Sombrero" opens the album. Stenson plays the melody in the upper register, a full octave higher than the original. Jormin takes a Mingus-like role, playing melody and counterpoint simultaneously and never stepping out of Christensen's rhythmic boundaries. On Coleman's title track, the trio fuels a quiet fire with responsive harmonic invention by tracking mode and interval to the melodic source -- and if you can't hear melody in Coleman, then you can't hear. Stenson takes the melodic idea, reduces it to five notes, and allows Jormin to bow in near silence as if he were playing a drum. The tonal range of his restraint is noted in the way Stenson reassembles the melody and brings with it the resident deep emotion it was composed with. Christensen whispers along his cymbals and snare. The delicate overtonal balance is swaying between piano and bass, fragile, sorrowful, and sharp. When Stenson finds the melodic part of the tune coming around again, he stutters and staggers the harmony, and just when you think it will go into overdrive, his glistens head to a shimmering, near-silent close. This was truly a meditation on death. On Jormin's "Sediment" we hear the lighter side of the trio playing out a series of chromatic interludes that resemble preludes but are actually interludes with a melodic framework to guide them through their open, spatial architecture here. On this tune, we can hear Paul Bley's influence come to bear on Stenson, as he organizes the melodic frame around the space Jormin has given him to play it. It's cool and collected and musically out of this world when Stenson's arpeggios begin to move angularly against the rhythm. The set closes with a gorgeous reading of Ellington's "Melancholia," a healthy dose of balladic psychosis wrapped around a creative jazz fugue. Everyone seems to be playing out of time, but the time is in the center of the changes that are stretched out to the breaking point and left for dead as new ones enter the intervallic proscenium. Stenson's power as a pianist is in full evidence here; one can hear every year he put in with Charles Lloyd holding down the ever-weird fort where melody and harmonic strangeness fought each and every night and resolution was temporal and fleeting. As the trio moves through the middle and end of the tune, it's Christensen who shows its true flavor by stomping the sh*t out of the rhythm and changing it to suit his own improvisational needs since the band is so adaptable. Seven time signatures reveal themselves before it's all done and a flurry of soft arpeggios on top of diminished ninths. As the melody disappears into silence, the listener becomes aware that he or she has just witnessed something aurally so special he or she will be tempted never to play it again for fear of losing its feeling. Not to worry; it happens every time.
(This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa')
Tracklist :
1    Oleo de mujer con sombrero 8'30
(Silvio Rodríguez)
2    Natt 8'07
(Anders Jormin)
3    All My Life 6'24
(Ornette Coleman)
4    Eleventh Of January 5'55
(Anders Jormin)
5    War Orphans 6'16
(Ornette Coleman)
6    Sediment 5'20
(Anders Jormin)
7    Bengali Blue 8'16
(Bobo Stenson)
8    Melancholia 5'28
(Duke Ellington)
Credits :
Bobo Stenson   Piano
Anders Jormin   Double Bass
Jon Christensen   Drums

BOBO STENSON TRIO - Serenity (2000) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Over its last two albums, Reflections (ECM 1516) and War Orphans (ECM 1604), the Bobo Stenson Trio has enveloped itself in a study of chromatic lyricism and modal architecture that balances the three traditional jazz elements for alchemy -- rhythm, harmony, and melody -- the organization of space within the composition. On Serenity -- the group's most ambitious project to date and Stenson's ever -- the Bobo Stenson Trio (Bobo Stenson, piano; Anders Jormin, bass; Jon Christensen, drums) has taken the results of its earlier explorations along this line and transformed them into an entirely new kind of spontaneous compositional terrain, one that holds balance for the space between players rather than on individual contributions of sound. The fact that this methodological apparatus has worked lyrically with adherence to Western scale and melodic invention is a surprise; that it has deepened over time as the band's communication and sense of adventure develops is a wonder. Over two CDs, Stenson proves his trio is capable of realizing spatial improvisation in the context of not only their own compositions and improvisations, but within the constructs of composers such as Wayne Shorter ("Sweet Pea"), Hanns Eisler ("Der Flaumenbaum"), Alban Berg ("Die Nachtigall"), Silvio Rodriguez ("EL Mayor") -- a Stenson favorite -- and Lorens Brolen, whose two-part "Polska of Despair" unites each of the CDs in the package and the recording date as a whole. Given the track record of Stenson and Jormin to compose or invent the kind of musico-linguistic symbolism necessary for this kind of improvising, it is perhaps more useful to look outside the quartet into some of these other compositions to see how their method of performance can reconcile Charles Ives, Berg, Eisler, and Wayne Shorter to one another while not betraying any hint of the composer's or trio's original intention, that a music as ethereal and strikingly crystalline and beautiful such as Stenson's can hold within it the apparent contradictions of atonalism, serialism, and vanguard humor (Ives). On Bolen's "Polska of Despair II," which appears on the first disc, Stenson and Jormin call the melody up with triads and fourths, as Christensen dances between them. On the third measure the melody introduces itself between triads, and other chords enter the space between the three members. Jormin moves to build upon those chords a minimal architecture of harmony and rhythm that is fed back to Stenson, who spaces out an even greater number of chords, all played in triad form, tossing out all sorts of rhythmic possibilities to Christensen, who moves away from his brushes and onto his sticks just as the chords disappear in a glimmer and single-note runs begin to appear from both piano and bass. The entire tune is open now, so chords both plucked and played can enter into a dialogue with one another and offer tonal sonances as a communicative gift to a drummer who contains all of it by moving forward into the next measure and stripping the seam for small arpeggios, and flatted sevenths tonally engage with other chords, and melody seeps through over the tonal structure of the improvisation. On Shorter's "Sweet Pea," percussion leads the way in; restrained, almost silent rhythmic patterns and polyrhythms introduce themselves via the drums, cymbals, the body of the bass, and the wooden top of the piano. It's the sound of a clock double-timing and reversing itself. As it gradually winds down, bass and then piano enter, creating a chromatic interval that stretches seemingly forever though it's only a minute or so. The harmony is the melody in Shorter's tune so chords and scalar invention go hand in hand in a restrained dynamic range gushing over only once or twice. The group's improvisations are stunningly original as well. "Fader V" by Stenson is a shimmering study in microtonal improvisation and space from the inside of the piano until it logically leads out via Christensen's tomtoms and two open E lines from Jormin. Without fail, the deep lyrical song at the root of Stenson's style and this trio's heart carries it out over the piano and into a space that is forever widening around the skeins of notes and chords. On Berg's "Die Nachtigall," the trio reveals the hidden melodic nature of serialism via timbral exploration and tempered tonal extension. Simply put, there are no records like the Stenson Trio's Serenity. The band has outdone themselves by their slow, careful development over three records and has become one of the premier rhythm trios on the planet. Serenity is not only the group's coup de grace, but also a jazz masterpiece of the highest order.
(This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa')
Tracklist 1 :
1    T. 6'43
(Anders Jormin)
2    West Print 2'21
(Bobo Stenson)
3    North Print 2'01
(Anders Jormin)
4    East Print 2'38
(Jon Christensen)
5    South Print 2'29
(Bobo Stenson)
6    Polska of Despair (II) 4'37
(Traditional)
7    Golden Rain 5'12
(Bobo Stenson)
8    Swee Pea 6'51
(Wayne Shorter)
9    Simple & Sweet 8'14
(Anders Jormin)
10    Der Pflaumenbaum 4'31
(Hanns Eisler)
Tracklist 2 :
1    El Maylor 5'26
(Silvio Rodríguez)
2    Fader V (Father World) 7'20
(Bobo Stenson)
3    More Cymbals 4'14
(Anders Jormin, Bobo Stenson, Manfred Eicher)
4    Extra Low 0'38
(Anders Jormin, Manfred Eicher, Bobo Stenson)
5    Die Nachtigall 4'48
(Alban Berg)
6    Rimbaud Gedicht 3'12
(Hanns Eisler)
7    Polska of Despair (I) 6'51
(Traditional)
8    Serenity 5'16
(Charles Ives)
9    Tonus 6'14
(Bobo Stenson)
Credits :
Bobo Stenson   Piano
Anders Jormin   Double Bass
Jon Christensen   Drums

JAKOB BRO - Gefion (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

'Gefion' is Danish guitarist Jakob Bro’s first ECM album as leader, following recordings for the label as sideman with Paul Motian and Tomasz Stanko. Like the work of those masters Bro’s balladeering distils a sense of jazz history in its specific and highly personal atmospheres. The open forms of Bro’s compositions leave plenty of space for his companions – drum legend Jon Christensen and creative bassist-of-the-moment Thomas Morgan - to make their statements, interactively and in parallel. And there is space too for the listener’s imagination to follow the flow and the delicate melodic tracery of Bro’s electric guitar in this thoughtful and poetic album. 'Gefion' was recorded in Oslo’s  ecm
Tracklist :
1    Gefion 10'33
(Jakob Bro)
2    Copenhagen 4'24
(Jakob Bro)
3    And They All Came Marching Out Of The Woods 4'30
(Jakob Bro)
4    White 5'09
(Jakob Bro)
5    Lyskaster 4'14
(Jakob Bro)
6    Airport Poem 3'28
(Jakob Bro)
7    Oktober 4'17
(Jakob Bro)
8    Ending 2'46
(Jakob Bro)
Credits :
Jakob Bro   Guitar
Thomas Morgan   Double Bass
Jon Christensen   Drums 

JAKOB BRO - Streams (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

On his second leader album for ECM – following on from the prizewinning Gefion - Danish guitarist Jakob Bro continues to refine his trio project, with its emphases on melody, sound, space, layered textures and interaction. The rapport between Bro and Thomas Morgan (Bro calls him “my musical soul mate”) has become something extraordinary, and often guitarist and bassist develop improvisational ideas in parallel. There’s an historical aptness, too, in the choice of Joey Baron as the band’s new drummer, for Bro first encountered Morgan when the bassist was playing in Baron’s band a decade ago… On Streams Joey Baron dives into the music’s detail with obvious pleasure. This recording features five new Bro pieces: “Opal”, “Full Moon Europa”, “Shell Pink”, “Sisimiut” and “Heroines” (heard in both a trio version and a particularly lovely solo version). Completing the album’s repertoire is the freely improvised “PM Dream”, dedicated to the late Paul Motian. Jakob’s approach to melody acknowledges the influence of Motian, and both Bro and Morgan played in the late drummer’s ensembles . ecm
Tracklist :
1    Opal 4'40
(Jakob Bro)
2    Heroines 5'35
(Jakob Bro)
3    PM Dream 9'37
(Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron)
4    Full Moon Europa 10'19
(Jakob Bro)
5    Shell Pink 8'17
(Jakob Bro)
6    Heroines (var.) 2'33
(Jakob Bro)
7    Sisimiut 7'30
(Jakob Bro)
Credits :
Jakob Bro   Guitar
Thomas Morgan   Double Bass
Joey Baron   Drums

JAKOB BRO - Returnings (2018) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Danish guitarist Jakob Bro plays jazz as if in a dream; a harmonic sparkle of ocean spray, dispersing on a rocky shore. It's a sound he displays to potent, soothing effect on his third album for ECM, 2018's Returnings. Joining him are longtime bandmates drummer Jon Christensen, bassist Thomas Morgan, and legendary Scandinavian jazz trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg. While this is Bro's third outing for the storied European label, he has been recording since the early 2000s, and got early experience with luminaries such as Paul Motian and Tomasz Stańko. He brings all of that experience to bear here, collaborating with his bandmates on a set of deeply evocative, soulful, yet always restrained performances. Mikkelborg, who began his career in the '60s, is the perfect addition to Bro's ensemble, offering his lyrical lines and warm, somewhat mournful, Miles Davis-esque tone. Tracks like the opening "Oktober," with its far-eyed, Spanish-tinged melody, and the supple "Song for Nicolai" bring to mind a minimalist take on Davis' work with Gil Evans. Similarly, the eerie title track is a dissonant fever dream, with Mikkelborg and Bro filtered through a refraction of delay effects, like jazz played on the surface of the moon. Bro also clearly loves space and openness in his improvisations, and offers his bandmates plenty of room to express themselves. "View" begins with extended interplay between Morgan and Christensen, before the rest of the group enters from the aural mist. Though subtle and rife with harmonic nuance, there is a straightforward sensibility to many of the songs here, a style that recalls the work of fellow guitarist Bill Frisell. The sweetly played "Lyskaster" sounds like a Nordic cowboy song, as if the band is performing campside at the edge of an expansive fjord. Matt Collar  
Tracklist :
1    Oktober 4'19
(Jakob Bro)
2    Strands 4'43
(Jakob Bro)
3    Song For Nicolai 5'19
(Palle Mikkelborg)
4    View 8'38
(Jakob Bro)
5    Lyskaster 5'03
(Jakob Bro)
6    Hamsun 5'14
(Jakob Bro)
7    Returnings 5'36
(Jakob Bro, Palle Mikkelborg)
8    Youth 2'37
(Palle Mikkelborg)
Credits :
Jakob Bro   Guitar
Palle Mikkelborg   Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Thomas Morgan   Double Bass
Jon Christensen   Drums

SHANKAR - M.R.C.S. (1991) WV (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1     Adagio 2'03
Shankar
2     March 2'27
Jon Christensen
3     All I Care 6'23
Shankar
4     Reasons 5'32
Shankar
5     Back Again 4'40
Shankar
6     Al's Hallucinations 6'19
Shankar
7     Sally 4'31
Shankar
8     White Buffalo 3'20
Zakir Hussain / Vikku Vinayakram
9     Ocean Waves 7'47
Shankar
Credits :
Drums – Jon Christensen
Ghatam – Vikku Vinayakram
Producer [Produced By] – Manfred Eicher
Tabla – Zakir Hussain
Violin [Double Violin] – Shankar

JOHN ABERCROMBIE - Animato (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Animato is not so much John Abercrombie's date simply because his name is listed first alphabetically. It is much more the music of Vince Mendoza, who composed six of the eight selections, and whose work on synthesizer is the dominant voice on this set of ethereal progressive instrumental music. Drummer Jon Christensen takes no backseat in urging the music forward with a subtle presence that represents a distinct primal and tribal jazz element. What electric guitarist Abercrombie does is link with Mendoza, merging his own synthesized blends of earth, sky and space to create beautiful textures and soundscapes in tandem with Mendoza's conceptual arrangements and expanded color palates. In "First Light" and "Last Light," the trio has touched on a theoretical circadian cycle, beginning in darkness, peace, serenity, and quietude, merging to darting guitar lines, bright steel drum samples, complex and dense activity, with Christensen's drum work a steadying and balanced influence. There's a hymnal quality in the airy "Single Moon" and the thin, dim "For Hope of Hope" with Mendoza's organ assimilations. "Right Now" is a space spiritual sped into animated bop mode with just Abercrombie's spare guitar and Christensen's fleet Euro swing, while "Ollie Mention" is a little waltz with tiny notes, the most tuneful of these pieces, with Mendoza's keyboards traipsing in dark, sacred, enchanted woodlands. Whooshing, vortex sounds akin to the Fairlight synthesizer identify the core of Abercrombie's lone composition in a somewhat playful fashion, while "Agitato" is clearly nestled in the new age style, a minimalist piece with hard drum accents buoying Abercrombie's individualist hypothesis. An unusual but beautiful item in John Abercrombie's discography, and a coming out for Mendoza, Animato signals a different direction for the ECM label, enabling electronic sounds in a way they had never fully embraced prior. by Michael G. Nastos  
Tracklist :
1     Right Now 7:32
John Abercrombie / Jon Christensen
2     Single Moon 4:20
Vince Mendoza
3     Agitato 5:06
Vince Mendoza
4     First Light 1:35
Vince Mendoza
5     Last Light 4:06
Vince Mendoza
6     For Hope of Hope 8:52
Vince Mendoza
7     Bright Reign 5:11
John Abercrombie
8     Ollie Mention 7:34
Vince Mendoza
Credits :
Synthesizer [Synthesizers] – Vince Mendoza
Drums, Percussion – Jon Christensen
Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer – John Abercrombie
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Programmed By [Synthesizer Programming], Electronic Valve Instrument [EVI] – Judd Miller

RALPH TOWNER - Solstice / Sound And Shadows (1977) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Ralph Towner is in fine form on this set of five tracks, the first of which, "Distant Hills," is an Oregon standard from the band's Vanguard period. Towner's compositions shine with their subtlety and grace. Towner's playing here, with a group of other ECM artists, is what made the label so noteworthy: it is full of elegance and aplomb and the musicians are as aware of space as they are of what fills it. There are no excessive solos in the improvisational sections no matter how long the tracks are. "Distant Hills" and "Balance Beam" are both over ten minutes in length but remain collaborative; compositional structure is given due consideration in the plot and expression of a particular player's solo. Towner, at least at this point in his career, and again much later, was a master of understatement. His sonic intentions were to allow his works to occur to the listener in process rather than be recognizable immediately. They develop, even the shorter pieces, over time and musical motif; modal structures seemingly appear from the ether though they had been in the making from the first measures. Also, rhythmic considerations are modular in Towner's works and Jon Christensen is the perfect drummer for executing them. Jan Garbarek's playing was just beginning to take on its melodic, contoured style incorporating folk melodies from his and other native lands into his playing -- though his tone was and is unchanged. And Eberhard Weber and Towner have near telepathic communication between them. His basslines and cello phrases hang like ghosts in the air unmoving in the stillness, allowing Towner's guitars to puncture them and move them along into different modes of expression and tonality. This is a very solid date by a group of musicians who could be nearly invisible as individuals in order to put a tune through its paces if that's what it took; a very fine effort.
(This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa')
Tracklist:
1     Distant Hills 10:43
Ralph Towner
2     Balance Beam 10:37
Ralph Towner
3     Along the Way 5:11
Ralph Towner
4     Arion 8:40
Ralph Towner
5     Song of the Shadows 9:25
Ralph Towner
Credits:
Bass, Cello – Eberhard Weber
Design [Cover] – B. Wojirsch
Drums – Jon Christensen
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Jan Garbarek
Twelve-String Guitar, Classical Guitar, Piano, French Horn, Composed By – Ralph Towner

RALPH TOWNER - Solstice (1975-2008) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

When Ralph Towner burst onto the contemporary jazz scene in the mid-70s, listeners were well aware of his awesome talent as a member of Oregon. But when Solstice was issued on the ECM label, it took the brilliant guitarist's caché to a much higher level, especially as a composer. With the otherworldly curved soprano sax and flute playing of Jan Garbarek, the precise drumming of Jon Christensen, and unique bass sounds of Eberhard Weber, the music on this album lifted the ECM/Euro-styled jazz and improvised music to a new realm of pure expressionism. Simply put -- this music is stunningly beautiful. The incredible "Oceanus" begins with Towner's cascading guitar, followed by the swelling and symphonic bass of Weber, a swinging drum line by Christensen with Garbarek's atmospheric and dramatic curved soprano layering contrasting timbres, symmetry, and unusual colors. "Nimbus" opens with some astounding technical harmonics from Towner, more so considering the acoustic nature of his instrument. A circular theme in implied 3/4 underneath 4/4 leads to overdubbed flutes from Garbarek, bowed bass, the curved soprano in 6/8 all identifying the pure ECM sound. "Piscean Dance" is a funky workout between Towner and Christensen, the earthiest track on the date, and an exercise of intuitive confluence. Other portions of the disc are space oriented like the loose, free and haunting "Red & Black," "Visitation" with multiple percussion sounds of flexatone and shakers under Weber's bowed bass and Garbarek's alien dragonfly flute, while Weber's "Sand" has the musicians staring at the Crab Nebula while firmly rooted in a strut later in the piece. Towner's wondrous piano is heard on "Drifting Petals," a pretty and pensive waltz with unison lines alongside Garbarek's flute, then Towner switches to guitar in a deeper discourse with the quartet. As cold as the Norwegian studio (Oslo) they were recording in, "Winter Solstice" is not so much profound as it is telepathic, as the players use stop-start techniques, again inserting a 3/4 rhythm into a 4/4 equation. Of the many excellent recordings he has offered, Solstice is Towner's crowning achievement as a leader fronting this definitive grouping of ECM stablemates who absolutely define the label's sound for the time frame, and for all time.  by Michael G. Nastos  
Tracklist :
1 Oceanus   10:59
Ralph Towner
2 Visitation   2:32
Ralph Towner
3 Drifting Petals  6:54
Ralph Towner
4 Nimbus   6:26
Ralph Towner
5 Winter Solstice  3:58
Ralph Towner
6 Piscean Dance   4:11
Ralph Towner
7 Red and Black   1:14
Ralph Towner
8 Sand   4:08
Eberhard Weber
Credits :
Bass, Cello – Eberhard Weber
Composed By – Ralph Towner (tracks: 1 to 7)
Drums, Percussion – Jon Christensen
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Jan Garbarek
Twelve-String Guitar, Classical Guitar, Piano – Ralph Towner

RALPH TOWNER - Lost And Found (1996) APE (image+.cue), lossless

This 1995 date shows guitarist and composer Ralph Towner in estimable form. For a guy who's released literally dozens of records under his own name and with his band Oregon and played on dozens more, he still seems to have plenty to say with only two guitars in his arsenal (well, there was the period where he used a Prophet Five synthesizer with Oregon, but we won't go into that here). Using familiar (Marc Johnson and Jon Christensen) and new (Denny Goodhew) faces, Towner goes searching for that elusive muse he has been pursuing for over 30 years: the root of what makes complex harmonic and melodic improvisation possible. His relentlessness is in fine shape here. Using the horns and Johnson's large dynamic range for texture and shading, he, with Christensen in tow, can go ferreting through intervallic forests of prismatic chromaticism and changeling modal systems to place notions of "song" firmly within the context of spontaneous composition. Nowhere is this more evident than on the striking "Élan Vital." Towner opens the track and Goodhew follows him playing soprano. There are three melodic exchanges, each more far-reaching than the last, before Towner goes off with Christensen trading fours and slipping through chorded wreaths and trills of augmented sevenths and ninths. There is a space at midpoint where Johnson, for the sake of adding color to the melodic abstraction, begins by playing chords and then others based on those, singly, then doubly, until the bass sings! There are 15 tunes on Lost and Found, most of them Towner's compositions, but two by Johnson -- "Col Legno" and "Sco Cone" -- deserve special note. On the first, his bowing of this wrinkled, out of time immemorial melody, and his restraint to keep the timbres in the piece from mixing too much, are stunning. On the second, a solo work, his subtle lyricism is in dramatic contrast to his funkiness and staccato playing. It was gracious of Towner to include them. This is a guitar player's recording, but it is obvious that Towner writes for ensembles equally well, and he has clearly written the vast majority of this recording for this particular ensemble. It's seamless from start to finish; it moves and is far less ponderous than some of his earlier outings; it's a winner for sure.
(This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa')
Tracklist:
1     Harbinger 2:34
Ralph Towner
2     Trill Ride 3:11
Marc Johnson / Ralph Towner
3     Élan Vital 6:20
Ralph Towner
4     Summer's End 5:15
Ralph Towner
5     Col Legno 3:16
Marc Johnson
6     Soft Landing 2:17
Denney Goodhew / Marc Johnson / Ralph Towner
7     Flying Cows 4:57
Denney Goodhew
8     Mon Enfant 4:06
Anonymous Composer
9     A Breath Away 5:17
Ralph Towner
10     Scrimshaw 1:26
Ralph Towner
11     Midnight Blue... Red Shift 3:27
Denney Goodhew
12     Moonless 4:39
Marc Johnson / Ralph Towner
13     Sco Cone 3:44
Marc Johnson
14     Tattler 3:08
Ralph Towner
15     Taxi's Waiting 4:34
Ralph Towner
Credits:
Classical Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar [12-String Guitar] – Ralph Towner
Design [Cover Design] – Barbara Wojirsch
Double Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums – Jon Christensen
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Sopranino Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Denney Goodhew 

MIROSLAV VITOUS - First Meeting (1980) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

This 1980 quartet session, unavailable in the U.S., features a young Kenny Kirkland on piano along with John Surman on soprano sax and bass clarinet and Jon Christensen on drums. Vitous wrote all but the title track, a tension-filled group improvisation. The dramatic "Silver Lake" begins the disc with rubato filigree and evolves into a driving yet impressionistic feel. "Beautiful Place To" follows, with its odd, Zen-like repeated melody, leading into "Trees," another rubato exploration with a short, precise melodic theme at its core. "Recycle," the album's high point, is prefaced by a beautiful piano and bass clarinet duo passage that sets the stage for hard-swinging improvisation. Vitous is unaccompanied on "Concerto in Three Parts," giving his warm, ardent arco style an extended feature (he bows throughout much of the disc as well). The lilting "You Make Me So Happy" serves as the finale. Recommended but hard to find, First Meeting documents the strength of Vitous' writing and playing and also yields a satisfying encounter with the late Kirkland, early in his career. by David R. Adler
Tracklist:
1 Silver Lake 10:49
Composed By – Miroslav Vitous
2 Beautiful Place To 5:06
Composed By – Miroslav Vitous
3 Trees 6:06
Composed By – Miroslav Vitous
4 Recycle 10:08
Composed By – Miroslav Vitous
5 First Meeting 4:44
Composed By – Surman, Christensen, Kirkland, Vitous
6 Concerto In Three Parts 5:28
Composed By – Miroslav Vitous
7 You Make Me So Happy 4:33
Composed By – Miroslav Vitous
Credits:
Bass – Miroslav Vitous
Drums – Jon Christensen
Piano – Kenny Kirkland
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – John Surman

MIROSLAV VITOUS - Journey's End (1982) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Bassist Miroslav Vitous recorded this quartet session in 1982 with John Surman on soprano and baritone saxophones and bass clarinet, John Taylor on piano, and Jon Christensen on drums. Unavailable in the U.S., the disc includes two remarkable pieces by Surman, the lilting 3/4 "Tess" and the churning, wildly unpredictable "Paragraph Jay." Taylor weighs in with the closing track, "Windfall," another shimmering entry in 3/4 time. Vitous' nine-minute opener, "U Dunaje U Prespurka," inspired by a Czech folk song, is a marvel of gradual development and abstract grooving. "Only One," a rubato meditation that Vitous dedicates to his late father, finds the leader switching from upright to electric fretless bass. Surman's rhythmic clicking of keys on bari sax serves as the foundation for "Carry On, No. 1," a wholly improvised piece; Vitous intuitively sends it into high gear about halfway through with superbly chosen low notes. Journey's End is highly recommended to those willing to search for it. by David R. Adler
Tracklist:

1 U Dunaje U Prespurka 9:18

Miroslav Vitous
2 Tess 5:56

John Surman

3 Carry On, No. 1 5:08
John Surman
4 Paragraph Jay 6:16
John Surman
5 Only One 7:14
Miroslav Vitous
6 Windfall 6:17
John Taylor
Credits:
Baritone Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – John Surman
Bass – Miroslav Vitous
Composed By – Surman (tracks: 2, 4), Vitous (tracks: 1, 5)
Drums – Jon Christensen
Piano – John Taylor
Producer – Manfred Eicher