Ask ECM

[Lois Gilbert]

Steve Lake has provisionally agreed to try and answer your questions re ECM.

If you are curious about upcoming releases, how the records are made, specific recordings, please do it here.

If you want to berate the label, troll, pick apart the label or any of their artists or their choices, please don't do it here. Your comments will be deleted.

[guy]

Steve,

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions!

Here's mine -- is Marion Brown's Afternoon of a Georgia Faun now permanently out of print? I went looking for a copy recently and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available anymore. (Except as overpriced used copies.)

Guy

[Steve Lake]

Hello Guy,

Marion Brown’s record is currently out of print, yes. I hope not permanently. I remember buying that when it first came out, in 1970, in the grip of Braxton Completist Compulsion at the time, but really feeling that the recording opened up some new areas in its own right.

As to its present unavailability: ECM has tried for decades to keep its titles in print but sometimes you have to balance idealism against practicality and face the (less than thrilling) logistics of warehouse shelf space and related expenses, particularly the escalating expense of continually reprinting/repressing titles in small quantities. When you have a catalogue of a thousand titles, it’s no longer viable, unfortunately, to keep everything available and in stock all the time.

I don’t know where you’re based, but a quick web search shows that some of the Amazons have marketplace offers on the ‘Georgia Faun’ – some fairly reasonably priced. Like here at Amazon.de for instance:

http://www.amazon.de/gp/offer-listin...4178051&sr=8-2


best,

Steve

[guy]

Originally Posted by Steve Lake

I don’t know where you’re based, but a quick web search shows that some of the Amazons have marketplace offers on the ‘Georgia Faun’ – some fairly reasonably priced. Like here at Amazon.de for instance:

Thanks for the quick response, Steve! Alas, once shipping is taken into account those copies are well beyond what I am willing to pay. I'll stick with my downloaded copy until you guys reissue.

Guy

[Hot Ptah]

Bearing in mind what you just said, still--are there any plans to reissue Jack DeJohnette's "Inflation Blues" in the CD format for the first time?

[Steve Lake]

Yes, there are. "Inflation Blues" was supposed to have been issued this year, and in fact it is listed in the 2007 illustrated catalogue. However ECM's release schedule is always something of a moveable feast - you have to remember this is a company headed by an improviser! - and the disc, along with a few others, was temporarily nudged out. I'm confident it will see the light of day in 2008.

Steve

[bigtiny]

Hi Steve,

there have been scant details about Eberhard Weber. Is he sick? Is he okay? Is he playing?

bigtiny

[Hot Ptah]

Originally Posted by Steve Lake

Yes, there are. "Inflation Blues" was supposed to have been issued this year, and in fact it is listed in the 2007 illustrated catalogue. However ECM's release schedule is always something of a moveable feast - you have to remember this is a company headed by an improviser! - and the disc, along with a few others, was temporarily nudged out. I'm confident it will see the light of day in 2008.

Steve

Thank you for the very quick response, and the very good news! I have always thought that it was one of Jack's best albums as a leader.

[Steve Lake]

Just heard today that Eberhard leaves the hospital on Friday to recuperate at home. I haven't spoken to him personally but understand he is sounding stronger, and wants to get back to playing as soon as that is feasible - recognising that it will still take awhile.
*
Meanwhile, the Garbarek Group's long tour has been continuing with Yuri Daniel guesting on bass guitar.

best, steve

[Nefertiti]

Hi Steve, thanks for answering questions. ECM was the label that made me discover jazz, back in the early 80's. I have a few questions:

- Are there plans to reissue on CD the two Dave Liebman albums "Sweet hands" and "Lookout farm"? What about Enrico Rava's "AH" and "Opening night"?

- With the current vinyl revival, have you thought about releasing LPs again (new recordings) or reissuing classic ECM sessions on LP, or license some recordings to LP reissue companies such as Speaker's Corner?

Thanks

Claude

[Derek Taylor]

Hello Steve,

Thanks so much for taking time out of your schedule to field questions here. I am curious about Joe Maneri's current relationship w/ ECM, whether there are (hopefully) plans to record him again any time soon, & if so in what configurations. Thanks in advance for your reply.

[Steve Lake]

Originally Posted by Derek Taylor

. I am curious about Joe Maneri's current relationship w/ ECM, whether there are (hopefully) plans to record him again any time soon, & if so in what configurations. Thanks in advance for your reply.

Ah, I LOVE Joe Maneri. One of the great, undersung poets of new jazz. He is not playing at the moment, and I don't know if he will, ailments and age catching up with him. He's someone who ought to get a MacArthur grant or something similar - he really deserves it - so he can get some composing done, get more of his ideas down on paper...

There is a lot of unreleased material, hours of it, from The Angles of Repose session with Mat Maneri and Barre Phillips that I ought to look at again, including some pretty miraculous clarinet playing...

best, Steve

[Steve Lake]

Originally Posted by Nefertiti

- Are there plans to reissue on CD the two Dave Liebman albums "Sweet hands" and "Lookout farm"? What about Enrico Rava's "AH" and "Opening night"?

- With the current vinyl revival, have you thought about releasing LPs again (new recordings) or reissuing classic ECM sessions on LP, or license some recordings to LP reissue companies such as Speaker's Corner?

I think Sweet Hands isn't one of ours - Horizon Records maybe? The others you mention are not yet on a schedule but nothing's impossible. There is a very good new Rava/Stefano Bollani duo coming in November - I'm sure you'll like it.

Vinyl: ECM still periodically re-presses a few evergreen LPs.
What's the general feeling here? Is there a big interest in ECM vinyl?

Having spent long hours and days auditioning and rejecting substandard pressings at the end of the last vinyl era I don't feel especially nostalgic in this regard.

best, steve

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Originally Posted by Steve Lake

What's the general feeling here? Is there a big interest in ECM vinyl?

Having spent long hours and days auditioning and rejecting substandard pressings at the end of the last vinyl era I don't feel especially nostalgic in this regard.

You probably need to give that job to someone else, Steve! But the interest in vinyl is out there, whether ECM or not. I imagine ECM is doing well without the vinyl, but I know lots of people who prefer vinyl to CD's...the image on the cover is bigger, the sound is warmer, so many other reasons.

I personally prefer CD's just because of the convenience, but my boys love vinyl.

[Nefertiti]

Sorry Steve, I mixed it up with "Drum ode", which IS available on CD.

As far as vinyl goes, although I mainly own CDs, I prefer the sound of the 1970's and 1980's ECM sessions on LP (it sounds fuller and less distant), and I've recently replaced about 30 of my ECM CDs with LP versions (new or second hand). I understand the argument about not putting digital recordings on LP, although current digital recordings have a higher resolution than CD and would benefit from a higher fidelity output format (LP or SACD).

The ECM label is very popular among audiophiles and collectors, so I think LP reissues of popular titles would be an interesting niche market.

[BrianL1]

Steve, thanks for participating in this forum...

Are there any plans for issuing the 3 John Abercrombie Quartet albums from the late 70's/early 80's on CD

This seems a very notable omission in his discography!

This would make a nice 3 CD set (along the lines of the Azimuth set from a while back)

(I've seen the Japanese re-issue of Arcade on Amazon, etc)

While on the topic of Abercrombie, 5 Years Later, with Towner is still MIA too.

Thanks

[Freetoojazz]

Hi Steve,

I would like to known if one day ECM will release a special edition (anniversary edition) of Bright Size Life.

Last year, I saw the Pat Metheny trio (Antonio Sanchez & Scott Colley). He told the crowd that he, Jaco and Bob made a song during the studio recording of Bright Size Life, it was the song "Sun of Montreal". Metheny put it in his trio 99/00 disc with Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart.

Can we expect to hear it with Jaco and Bob on an aniversary edition of Bright Size Life?

[nude ant]

Hey Steve...

just curious as to whether or not the new Christian Wallumrod Ensemble album and the Frode Haltli album, Passing Images ever came out in the U.S. as well as whether or not the Sinikka Langeland album Starflowers is supposed to come out here as well... ?

I'm sure you can tell that I am a huge Arve Henriksen fan...

I'm also curious as to what you think about the Rune Grammofon label? Any particular favorite releases?

Thanks,
Brian.

[Steve Lake]

Originally Posted by BrianL1

Are there any plans for issuing the 3 John Abercrombie Quartet albums from the late 70's/early 80's on CD

This seems a very notable omission in his discography!

This would make a nice 3 CD set (along the lines of the Azimuth set from a while back)

(I've seen the Japanese re-issue of Arcade on Amazon, etc)

While on the topic of Abercrombie, 5 Years Later, with Towner is still MIA too.

Thanks

"5 Years Later" re-release is in preparation. Should be out early next year if not at the end of this one...
You're right about those Abercrombie Quartet albums. But it's not a 'boycott' or anything...individually those discs have been on and off release schedules for years. The 3-Cd set probably is the best way to do it.


best, Steve

[Steve Lake]

For Brian Nude Ant, a few posts back:

Consulted ECM distribution chief Heino Freiberg who tells me US release date for Wallumrød and Haltli is July 24. Sinikka is August 21. So you’re all set for a month of non-stop Arve.

What do I think of Rune Grammofon? As you probably know the label was launched by ECM’s previous Norwegian label manager Rune Kristoffersen, and I’m aware that it’s been heralded as an ECM for a New Generation etc in The Wire and so forth. But even if some of the same musicians occasionally appear in both places the labels are very different. ECM is a production company, firstly, and RG more like - no slur intended - a receiving station for finished tapes, its label identity perhaps provided more by the CD covers than by focused musical-editorial policy. In the period when ECM was distributing RG I liked some of the records very much and others not at all – just as I might like, say, some of Capitol Records’ discs and not others. (I don’t have any feeling at all for ‘Capitol’ - but I love my old Fred Neil and Quicksilver albums, y’know?)...

Of RG’s programme I think the Supersilent recordings are excellent and especially like their DVD. Very fine band. I like Nils Øklund’s recordings, and I like the all-girl band Spunk whose recordings have an avant-naive freshness. I don’t care for the pop group Chocolate Overdose or the various Arctic ambient discs with non-musicians doodling on laptops. Also: as someone who is both short- and long-sighted, I never found any way to read the tiny lettering on an RG cover, whether squinting at the things close-up or holding them at arm’s length!

best, S.

[Nim Chimpsky]

Originally Posted by Steve Lake

I don’t care for ... the various Arctic ambient discs with non-musicians doodling on laptops.

I noticed that David Torn's Prezens album was recorded in 2005 but didn't come out until this year. Why does it take this long to get the finished product out and what sort of 'backlog' do you have at the moment?

[Steve Lake]

The release plan has to balance a lot of factors including editorial coherence as well as commitments to the artists and their touring activities, if any. The New Series and the jazz records have to be in a certain approximate ratio each season, so do records that plainly have little chance in ‘the marketplace’ with other records that we think/hope might. Then there are distributors whose needs have to be taken, at least, into consideration. If there are, say, six new recordings by Italian artists, the Italian distributor will not want them all released at once, or they’ll be competing with each other, at retail as well as in the press.

In David Torn’s particular case he produced his album himself and spent a very long time tweaking the mix. Then the record had to be mastered. And a cover had to be made. And as Manfred is personally involved in the making of every ECM album cover, artwork sessions can only take place when he’s around. Much of the year he is in the studio....

The major licensees like Universal also need months of ‘lead time’ to prepare the release of an album, and that always adds a few more months to the wait. There are lots more factors...


How many albums in the backlog? More than sixty – that’s not counting various live recordings that may or may not be issued one day. With a staff as small as ours we can’t realistically release more than fifty albums a year, maximum, and meanwhile new albums are being made continuously. This is also why you sometimes have to wait for your old favourites to be re-released.


Steve

[Sand]

Originally Posted by Steve Lake

How many albums in the backlog? More than sixty – that’s not counting various live recordings that may or may not be issued one day. With a staff as small as ours we can’t realistically release more than fifty albums a year, maximum, and meanwhile new albums are being made continuously. This is also why you sometimes have to wait for your old favourites to be re-released.

Steve

Is it likely that ECM will release any Kenny Wheeler recordings from one or both of those categories - backlog and live recordings - in the future?

[Steve Lake]

Originally Posted by Freetoojazz

I would like to known if one day ECM will release a special edition (anniversary edition) of Bright Size Life.

Last year, I saw the Pat Metheny trio (Antonio Sanchez & Scott Colley). He told the crowd that he, Jaco and Bob made a song during the studio recording of Bright Size Life, it was the song "Sun of Montreal". Metheny put it in his trio 99/00 disc with Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart.

Can we expect to hear it with Jaco and Bob on an aniversary edition of Bright Size Life?

Which anniversary did you have in mind? 40th anniversary of Bright Size Life in 2015? ECM is generally against "outtakes". The overall form of an album is something discussed and agreed on by producer and musicians at the time.
... Anything left out is usually left out for a good reason.

[rene]

Originally Posted by Sand

Is it likely that ECM will release any Kenny Wheeler recordings from one or both of those categories - backlog and live recordings - in the future?

Sand--- i was thinkin of that question too, you just beat me to it. there's a lot of live unissued kenny wheeler recs that has circulated amongst us collectors, i.e. several in the UK, Sweden, etc... hope they will see the light of day..

[picsou]

One of my favorite ECM albums is "Dis". And I think Jan Garbarek said that he really loves the "windharp" and would (have) like(d) to use it more. Any plan for a DisII? I saw a footage with Garbarek and Mazur playing together which, to me, seemed a quite clear indication of them working on an album. True?

What links does ECM have with Norwegian record labels, for ex, KKV, Curling Legs, NOR-CD,...Was "Arv" not supposed to be released on ECM?


Christophe

[Steve Lake]

Originally Posted by picsou

One of my favorite ECM albums is "Dis". And I think Jan Garbarek said that he really loves the "windharp" and would (have) like(d) to use it more. Any plan for a DisII? I saw a footage with Garbarek and Mazur playing together which, to me, seemed a quite clear indication of them working on an album. True?

What links does ECM have with Norwegian record labels, for ex, KKV, Curling Legs, NOR-CD,...Was "Arv" not supposed to be released on ECM?

1. No plans for a Dis II
2. Yes, true. Marilyn Mazur has a new recording which features Garbarek. Due next year.
3. No links with Norwegian labels, really, except for Grappa, ECM distributor in Norway. Arild Andersen's "Arv" (KKV) was at one time planned as a licensed project at ECM. I no longer recall why that wasn't followed up.

best, Steve

[Steve Lake]

Originally Posted by Sand

Is it likely that ECM will release any Kenny Wheeler recordings from one or both of those categories - backlog and live recordings - in the future?

No, not likely. As you'll know, Kenny's mostly recording for CAM these days. There are also some good recent recordings featuring him, in freer mode, on Evan Parker's Psi label.

best, S.

[walto]

Steve, just wanted to drop into this thread to say that, IMHO, you're among the best liner notes writers ever to have plied that trade. I've been both entertained and enlightened by any number of your contributions to that medium.

Thanks.

[Rob C]

Hi, Steve, this has been a very interesting thread. Thanks for taking the time to answer questions.

Mine is: Any plans to issue Edward Vesala's Lumi? I've been wanting to hear this one since I saw it rated highly back in the first ed. of the Penguin Guide. I've never seen a copy, though.

Thanks! I've been enjoying several recent ECM new or re- issues lately, especially Paul Motian's recent ones, the new David Torn, and Julian Priester's Love, Love (I can't seem to stop spinning that one). Very stoked to hear Bennie Maupin's Jewel in the Lotus....