BETWEEN SOUND AND SPACE - An ECM Records Primer
by Tyran Grillo
Published by Rey Naranjo Editores
This wonderful book nearly slipped through the net. Originally published in 2019, for some reason it was deemed appropriate that the book should be given a soft launch, and the first edition was only made available in the South American market and only released globally earlier this year. Quite why is a mystery as this is an important work documenting some of the recordings of arguably one of the most important and forward-thinking record labels.
Author, Tyran Grillo has a Ph.D in Asian Studies from Cornell University, and is currently a visiting Professor at Clark University in Worcester, USA. In addition to his academic pursuits he travels extensively as a music journalist and photographer, writing for numerous websites and publications. He has an open mind and open ears, and writes in an engaging and informative style, that brings forth an enthusiasm for his subject that does not seek to sway the reader, but merely offers an opinion and suggestions that may be followed up.
In writing Between Sound and Space, Grillo has presented us with much more than simply reviews of 100 albums from the ECM catalogue, but has charted his musical journey in following the imprint's work over the last half a century and suggests ways in which the reader may enhance their own journey, whether an experienced listener and follower of ECM or indeed new to the music and just embarking on their path. Indeed, the author himself was introduced to ECM via their New Series classical recordings, saying that "Arvo Pärt's Te Deum was my gateway into ECM. I listened to the classical releases exclusively for a while before getting into jazz, which I knew very little about at the time. ECM was my jazz school, so to speak."
The selection is of course entirely subjective. Not everyone will necessarily agree with Grillo's choice of recordings by a particular artist perhaps, preferring another of their recordings, but that is precisely the point as the choices serve as no more than pointers, or new avenues to be explored. The albums represented cover a wide range of ECM's catalogue, with little regard for genre titles are featured from the labels main body of work that covers everything from jazz, world musics and hybrids thereof, as well as the New Series titles from the world of classical music (although Manfred Eicher will look to stretch these boundaries too). Some of the albums reviewed and discussed are obvious choices and 'no-brainers'; no book detailing ECM would be complete without mentioning what are surely their most successful, albeit surprisingly so, albums in Keith Jarrett's The Köln Concert, and Officum from unlikely pairing of the English vocal group the Hilliard Ensemble and Norwegian saxophonist, Jan Garbarek.
It will therefore come as no shock that both Garbarek and Jarrett are well served within these pages given their incredible output over the years; but combined with appraisals of albums by Tim Berne's Snakeoil, Marilyn Crispell, Charles Lloyd (from the US), along with Colin Vallon, Nik Bärtsch's Ronin, Sinikka Langland and Trygve Seim from Europe, to name just a few there is much to get one's teeth into. And that is before we start on the New Series albums from Paul Giger, Steve Reich, Anja Lechner, Pablo Márquez among others, that brings forth another spectrum of listening delights.
The book, as one would expect from its subject matter, is beautifully formatted with each individual album listed with title, catalogue number, recording date and personnel. This is accompanied with a quote from the author's text and a large picture of the album cover. Most reviews therefore occupy two pages, one with the above information and the other of Grillo's appraisal of the recording. Some exceptions to this include entries for Terje Rypdal, Azimuth (the group featuring pianist, John Taylor), Dino Saluzzi, Jarrett's Sun Bear Concerts, and Kim Kashkashian / Robert Levin's Hindemith Viola Sonatas where Grillo has clearly felt that more detailed analysis is required. The entries are not listed alphabetically by artist, but instead offer a "possible roadmap through ECM's labyrinthine output", and each time the book is picked up and opened at random a potential new listening experience is revealed.
How you use the book is a matter of choice. After initially checking out what Grillo had to say about some of my favourite albums that are included, my interest swiftly turned to albums that I have not heard for a while and perhaps have overlooked, and most importantly new music that I have yet to hear. I have subsequently compiled a mental list of recordings that I must seek out, and while unlike the author I came to ECM via the jazz route, I am now anxious to expand my listening further in the New Series releases. An invaluable source of reference that should be on every music lover's bookshelf.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Published by Rey Naranjo Editores
This wonderful book nearly slipped through the net. Originally published in 2019, for some reason it was deemed appropriate that the book should be given a soft launch, and the first edition was only made available in the South American market and only released globally earlier this year. Quite why is a mystery as this is an important work documenting some of the recordings of arguably one of the most important and forward-thinking record labels.
Author, Tyran Grillo has a Ph.D in Asian Studies from Cornell University, and is currently a visiting Professor at Clark University in Worcester, USA. In addition to his academic pursuits he travels extensively as a music journalist and photographer, writing for numerous websites and publications. He has an open mind and open ears, and writes in an engaging and informative style, that brings forth an enthusiasm for his subject that does not seek to sway the reader, but merely offers an opinion and suggestions that may be followed up.
In writing Between Sound and Space, Grillo has presented us with much more than simply reviews of 100 albums from the ECM catalogue, but has charted his musical journey in following the imprint's work over the last half a century and suggests ways in which the reader may enhance their own journey, whether an experienced listener and follower of ECM or indeed new to the music and just embarking on their path. Indeed, the author himself was introduced to ECM via their New Series classical recordings, saying that "Arvo Pärt's Te Deum was my gateway into ECM. I listened to the classical releases exclusively for a while before getting into jazz, which I knew very little about at the time. ECM was my jazz school, so to speak."
The selection is of course entirely subjective. Not everyone will necessarily agree with Grillo's choice of recordings by a particular artist perhaps, preferring another of their recordings, but that is precisely the point as the choices serve as no more than pointers, or new avenues to be explored. The albums represented cover a wide range of ECM's catalogue, with little regard for genre titles are featured from the labels main body of work that covers everything from jazz, world musics and hybrids thereof, as well as the New Series titles from the world of classical music (although Manfred Eicher will look to stretch these boundaries too). Some of the albums reviewed and discussed are obvious choices and 'no-brainers'; no book detailing ECM would be complete without mentioning what are surely their most successful, albeit surprisingly so, albums in Keith Jarrett's The Köln Concert, and Officum from unlikely pairing of the English vocal group the Hilliard Ensemble and Norwegian saxophonist, Jan Garbarek.
It will therefore come as no shock that both Garbarek and Jarrett are well served within these pages given their incredible output over the years; but combined with appraisals of albums by Tim Berne's Snakeoil, Marilyn Crispell, Charles Lloyd (from the US), along with Colin Vallon, Nik Bärtsch's Ronin, Sinikka Langland and Trygve Seim from Europe, to name just a few there is much to get one's teeth into. And that is before we start on the New Series albums from Paul Giger, Steve Reich, Anja Lechner, Pablo Márquez among others, that brings forth another spectrum of listening delights.
The book, as one would expect from its subject matter, is beautifully formatted with each individual album listed with title, catalogue number, recording date and personnel. This is accompanied with a quote from the author's text and a large picture of the album cover. Most reviews therefore occupy two pages, one with the above information and the other of Grillo's appraisal of the recording. Some exceptions to this include entries for Terje Rypdal, Azimuth (the group featuring pianist, John Taylor), Dino Saluzzi, Jarrett's Sun Bear Concerts, and Kim Kashkashian / Robert Levin's Hindemith Viola Sonatas where Grillo has clearly felt that more detailed analysis is required. The entries are not listed alphabetically by artist, but instead offer a "possible roadmap through ECM's labyrinthine output", and each time the book is picked up and opened at random a potential new listening experience is revealed.
How you use the book is a matter of choice. After initially checking out what Grillo had to say about some of my favourite albums that are included, my interest swiftly turned to albums that I have not heard for a while and perhaps have overlooked, and most importantly new music that I have yet to hear. I have subsequently compiled a mental list of recordings that I must seek out, and while unlike the author I came to ECM via the jazz route, I am now anxious to expand my listening further in the New Series releases. An invaluable source of reference that should be on every music lover's bookshelf.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
