ECM: A Cultural Archaeology Hardcover – January 28, 2013

ECM recordings are not only recognized for a sound, they also constitute an art form, an aesthetic, an engineering standard, and a worldview. This book, created to accompany a major exhibition of photographs, documents, recordings and film about the company, is aptly subtitled "A cultural archaeology" because its establishment in 1969 was an outgrowth of an epic period of global cultural change, of mavericks and rebels, of experimenters and seekers. Interest in the book should not be restricted to those curious about the history of certain popular musical styles (e.g., Chess Records for R&B, Sun Records for early Rock, and other often short-lived labels); rather, sociologists, artists and photographers, cultural historians and cross-cultural disciplinarians will find much worthy here. The book is not a monograph; it does, however, contains a variety of critical essays and also a roundtable. Besides a wealth of photographs of the label's musicians and the co-founder (with businessman Karl Egger) and producer Manfred Eicher taken during concerts and recording sessions, there is a brief chronology and discography. Authors are Professor Diedrich Diedrichsen, currently at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna; Okwui Enwezor, the exhibition director and editor of the book and who has had positions with the San Francisco Art Institute, New York University, and the Whitney Museum; artist Kodwo Eshen; filmmaker and artist Renée Green, Karl Lippengaus, a musicologist and author; Steve Lake of the ECM staff; Markus Müller, a communications consultant, music professor and editor Wolfgang Sandner; Anna Schneider, assistant curator at Haus der Kunst, Munich; music historian Jüng Stenzl; and Manfred Eicher himself. The list demonstrates how much visual and sonic art is integral to the role of the label in furthering culture.ECM, which stands for Editions of Contemporary Music, began as a forum and outlet of avant-garde jazz musicians, those exploring 'free jazz', and also of a way to bridge American and European (chiefly Scandinavian) jazz expression. Key is the appreciation for space, both in the musical score and also the recordings, with close-in clarity yet a sense of chamber volume. The aesthetic of sparsity and elemental form is reflected in the austere photography of the album covers. ECM is intellectual and progressive. Consider only a few of the label's musicians: Keith Jarrett, Charles Lloyd, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, Dave Holland, Bobo Stenson, Terje Rypdal, Jan Garbarek, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Oregon, Stephan Micus, Pat Matheny, Egberto Gismonti, and Chick Corea. In 1984, ECM created the New Series for classical music that reaches back to the Renaissance (Hilliard Ensemble) and Baroque (Andras Schiff) and forward to such innovators as Elliott Carter, John Cage, and Arvo Pärt. Eicher was far more interested in function than profit, but surprisingly some recordings took the public by storm, such as Jarrett's Köln Concert (1975) and Pärt's Tabula Rasa (1984), which allowed ECM to survive and grow. Eicher had a 20-year friendship with filmmaker Jean-Luc Goddard, which was mutually influential in their productions.One of the essays concerns the group Codona, which had three albums between 1978 and 1982. Codona consisted of Collin Walcott (the percussionist and sitarist of Oregon), global musician trumpeter Don Cherry, and Brazilian Naná Vasconcelos. Their seminal albums, with the spartan elementals of a global music, brought forward with the timbres of Brazilian berimbau and cuica, hammered dulcimer, Indian sitar and tabla, Zimbabwean sanza thumb piano, Malian douss'n gouni (a kora-like lute), muted pocket trumpet, and vocalization of imaginary language suggestive of tribal dialects, expanded ears beyond traditional and popular world music. It was a step beyond Oregon, beyond Ornette Coleman. Walcott, who learned sitar from Ravi Shankar and tabla from Alla Rakha, died in a traffic accident, closing out that chapter; but it opened ECM to such world jazz musicians as Tunisian Anouar Brahem and Greek Savina Yannatou.Jazz fans and classical aficionados have caught up with the ECM approach and its musical endeavors. When ECM began in 1969, Eicher was at the frontier, hoping to be a promoter and friend of pioneering jazz musicians. This book offers an extensive look and appreciation of his unexpected success.

Complete in all aspects - Photos, complete discography, text etc. All you would ever need to know about ECM. I don’t regret spending $117 on this and that says a lot for a book! It’s not cheap but nor was is made it cheap.

Good Book with lots of insight

A good read and insight to the greatest record label.