In the 41st episode of the ECM podcast we're joined by Florian Weber, who's new recording "Imaginary Cycle" sees the pianist in the company of a major brass section plus a flute. Florian talks about the various inspirations that went into the cycle, including madrigals and Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble's "Officum" album. He talks about his…

In the 40th episode of the ECM podcast, the Danish String Quartet's Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen and Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin join us to discuss their new album "Keel Road". They talk about the history of the quartet, their mission as classical musicians, the influence of folkloric music and many other things.…

In the 39th episode of the ECM podcast, Lucain Ban and Mat Maneri join us to discuss the fascinating process of making their new album "Transylvanian Dance". They talk about Béla Bartók, the duo's shared passion for folk music, and the beauty of transmission.By ECM Records GmbH

In the 38th episode of the ECM podcast, we're joined by the trio of Alice Zawadzki, Fred Thomas and Misha Mullov-Abbado, who present a rare alchemy on their trio debut "Za Górami", fusing folk idioms from a multitude of sources with free flowing interplay and fluid structures. Inhabiting their own stylistic realm, the trio encompasses folk song, ch…

In the 37th episode of the ECM podcast, we're joined by Italian pianist Giovanni Guidi, whose new album "A New Day" features his trio with bassist Thomas Morgan and João Lobo on drums, plus the new and exciting addition of James Brandon Lewis on saxophone.Giovanni talks about the individual band members, the collaboration with Manfred Eicher as a p…

In the 36th episode of the ECM podcast, the legendary singer Norma Winstone joins us to talk about her new duo album "Outpost of Dreams", recorded in duo with pianist Kit Downes.Norma talks about her incredible career, her history with ECM and the collaboration with Kit Downes.By ECM Records GmbH

In the 35th episode of the ECM podcast we're joined by saxophonist Oded Tzur, whose third recording for the label features an altered version of his quartet, with Nitai Hershkovits on piano, Petros Klampanis on bass and new arrival Cyrano Almeida on drums. "My Prophet" was recorded at Studios La Buissonne, in Southern France, and produced by Manfre…

In the 34th episode of the ECM podcast we're joined by pianist Fred Hersch, whose solo-debut for ECM Records, "Silent, Listening", was recorded in Lugano, in 2023 and produced by Manfred Eicher.In the conversation, Fred talks about the close collaboration with Manfred Eicher, the serendipity of life and how special this album is to him.…

Finally I dare to make myself the subject of an interview in my own podcast. The art/science pioneer Victoria Vesna grilled me on how I got where I am today: What I learned from John Cage, R. Murray Schafer, and all those birds, bugs, and whales I have made music with for years.By David Rothenberg

In the 33rd episode of the ECM podcast we're joined by Arve Henriksen and Harmen Fraanje, whose duo debut "Touch of Time" presents the musicians in both freely improvised forms and carefully wrought themes, picking up and finishing each other's phrases. They talk about their approach to improvising, how "Touch of Time" presents exactly where they m…

In the 32nd episode of the ECM podcast we're once again joined by Vijay Iyer, whose new album "Compassion" is the pianist's second outing with his trio of Linda May Han Oh on bass and drummer Tyshawn Sorey and was co-produced with Manfred Eicher. Vijay talks about the state of the world, the bond created when making music in collaboration with othe…

In the 31st episode of the ECM Podcast we're joined by the French Saxophonist Matthieu Bordenave, whose second leader-date for ECM, "The Blue Land" features a quartet with Florian Weber on piano, bassist Patrice Moret and new addition James Maddren on drums. The album was produced by Manfred Eicher.Matthieu talks about the inspirations behind the m…

David James Duncan worked on his masterwork novel SUN HOUSE for nearly two decades, and it has now arrived. I met him last in the early days of the project, and now sixteen years later we sit down to talk about why the best things often take time, and why it was indeed that we all spent so much of our youth musing on distant spiritualities and phil…

In the 30th episode of the ECM Podcast we're joined by Nils Økland & Sigbjørn Apeland, whose second duo recording with ECM, Glimmer, showcases their special musical chemistry in a trans-idiomatic context. On the album the violinist and harmonium player equally draw from traditional folks songs and contemporary music.Nils and Sigbjørn talk about the…

In the 29th episode of the ECM Podcast we're joined by pianist Nitai Hershkovits, whose leader-debut for ECM Records is an impressive piano-solo album, recorded in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher.In our conversation, Nitai talks about his inspirations, the old wise ones in his life, the recording of this album and the magic of music.…

In the 29th episode of the ECM Podcast Sinikka Langeland joins us to talk about her new album "Wind And Sun", featuring a Norwegian cast of ECM-stalwarts including trumpeter Mathias Eick, saxophonist Trygve Seim, bassist Mats Eilertsen and Thomas Strønen on drums. Sinikka talks about nature, sounds and poetry.…

In the 27th episode of the ECM Podcast we are joined by John Scofield, whose newest recording, the double-album "Uncle John's Band" - the guitarist's third leader-date for the label - features Vicente Archer on bass and Bill Stewart on drums.John talks about the music he loves, the joy of playing with friends and how to turn anything into a jazz so…

In the 26th episode of the ECM Podcast we met up with Austrian guitarist/composer Wolfgang Muthspiel to talk about his new trio recording "Dance of the Elders" with Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums. On the album the group's interplay has grown even more fluid.Wolfgang takes us through the album song by song and talks about the collabor…

In the 25th episode of the ECM Podcast Polish alto-saxophonist Marciej Obara joins us to talk about his new album "Frozen Silence", recorded with his long-standing quartet of Dominik Wania on piano, Ole Morten Vågan on bass and drummer Gard Nilssen. It is the group's third album for the label and perhaps the quartet's strongest musical statement to…

In this 24th episode of the ECM Podcast we're joined by Elina Duni to talk about her new recording "A Time To Remember", which sees her continuing her intimate musical conversations with Rob Luft on guitar, Fred Thomas on piano and percussion as well as Matthieu Michel on flugelhorn.Elina talks about images, sounds, exile, water and love.…

In this 23rd episode of the ECM Podcast, guitarist Jacob Young joins us to talk about his new trio recording "Eventually", with Mats Eilertsen on bass and Audun Kleive on drums.Jacob talks about the process of writing and recording his first guitar trio album, about other guitarists and guitar trio records that inspired him and about the influence …

Sun Chung founded Red Hook Records after working for more than a decade at ECM Records in Munich. It's rapidly becoming a beacon for what a creative music label can be in our tumultuous times. In this extensive conversation, we discuss why it can take years to set up a recording session for improvised music, and why it then might take a few more ye…

In the 22nd episode of the ECM Podcast, trumpeter Ralph Alessi talks about his new quartet recording "It's Always Now", on which he is joined by pianist Florian Weber, bassist Bänz Oester and Gerry Hemingway on drums. The album was produced by Manfred Eicher.Ralph gets into the differences of being a musician in the US and Europe, talks about educa…

In the 21st episode of the ECM Podcast, Zsófia Boros joins us to talk about her new album "El último aliento".The Vienna-based, Hungarian guitarist recorded the album at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, with Manfred Eicher producing. On the record Zsófia interprets contemporary Argentinian compositions from Carlos Moscardini, Joaquín Alem, Quiq…

In the 20th episode of the ECM podcast, we are joined by acclaimed American guitarist Ralph Towner, who has been with ECM since back in 1973, when his debut for the label was released. On his new solo album, “At First Light”, recorded in Lugano in 2022, the guitarist presents new and familiar original compositions as well as a couple of songs from …

In this 19th episode of the podcast, we are joined by British drummer and composer Sebastian Rochford, whose leader-debut for ECM, “A Short Diary”, was just released and finds him in intimate performances of deep feeling and hymn-like clarity, together with pianist Kit Downes. The album is dedicated to Rochford’s father, Aberdeen poet Gerard Rochfo…

A far-reaching conversation with one of the finest bass players of our time, Glen Moore, known for his work with the Paul Winter Consort and Oregon, he also recorded many albums on ECM and Intuition with the likes of Tim Hardin, Larry Coryell, Art Lande, Rob Scheps, Larry Karush, and of course Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless, and Collin Walcott. Why …

Music Sucks and I Want to Die has a new series! It's called the Composer's Toolbox, and it's where Jake and Matt take a specific tool at the composer's/songwriter's disposal, and talk about how to implement it, how it's been used before, specific nuances, etc. The first one is all about the key change. They talk about a few different types of key c…

In this 18th episode of the podcast, we are joined by the Norwegian saxophonist-composer Mette Henriette, whose sophomore recording for the label, “Drifting”, was just released and finds her in an intimate trio setting with Johann Lindvall on piano and Judith Hamann on violoncello.Mette talks about the relationship between improvisation and composi…

In the third of a recurring series, Jake and Matt review one good song, one bad song, and one ugly song (of which there's still no settled definition of exactly what that means in this context). Kendrick Lamar - Backseat Freestyle is the good, Dua Lipa/Elton John - Cold Heart is the bad (really, really bad). And Owl City - Fireflies is the ugly. Wh…

In this episode, special guest Ty Bailie joins Jake and Matt to talk about his music life, from humble beginnings in small-ass town Washington to touring with Katy Perry to Nashville and more!By Music Sucks and I Want to Die

In this 17th episode of the ECM Podcast we got together with German-American pianist Benjamin Lackner, whose ECM debut “Last Decade” features Mathias Eick on trumpet, Jérôme Regard on bass and drummer Manu Katché.Benjamin talks about the recording of the album at Studios La Buissonne, about his past ten years and why they ended up as the album’s ti…

In this recurring series, Jake and Matt discuss 3 albums, one from pre-2000, one from post-2000, and one randomly selected from Piero Scaruffi's blog through a series of stupid and arbitrary random number generators. Discussed are The Darkness, The Buggles, and Teeth of the Sea.By Music Sucks and I Want to Die

For this 16th episode of the ECM Podcast we met up with both Joe Lovano and Jakob Bro whose new album “Once Around The Room” is a tribute to Paul Motian and features bassists Thomas Morgan, Larry Grenadier and Anders Christensen as well as both Joey Baron and Jorge Rossy on drums.Joe and Jakob talk about the influence of Paul Motian in their music …

Time for some clickbait!!!! Jake and Matt discuss what band is possibly the greatest American band of all time. Excluded are solo artists, groups of singers with ringers for a backup band, and more arbitrary garbage. Who do YOU think is the greatest? And please let us know how wrong we are with our choices. Also discussed is the concept of greatnes…

Special guest American Federation of Musicians union representative Nate Omdal comes on to talk about his job with the Seattle AFM division, and the role it plays in the Seattle music scene, what it does to support artists, etc. Along the way, he clears up several misconceptions Jake and Matt had about the role of the union in the working musician'…

In this 15th episode of the ECM Podcast, we get together with German pianist Julia Hülsmann, whose new album “The Next Door”, was just released. It’s the second album by her quartet lineup with Uli Kempendorff on saxophone, Marc Muellbauer on bass and Heinrich Köbberling on drums.Julia talks about her different approaches to creating new music, wha…

In this 14th episode of the ECM Podcast we’re joined by Norwegian drummer and composer Gard Nilssen, whose ECM leader-debut, “Elastic Wave”, features André Roligheten on saxophone and Petter Eldh on bass. Together the three are known as Acoustic Unity.Gard Nilssen talks about his new album, his influences – such as Ornette Coleman and Louis Moholo …

In this 13th episode of the ECM Podcast, we meet up with Enrico Rava and Fred Hersch to discuss their duo album “The Song Is You”, produced by Manfred Eicher.We talk about friendship in music, the dynamic of this duo and the music they love to play together.By Enrico Rava, Fred Hersch

In the third of the series, Matt and Jake each pick 2 artists/groups they really enjoy and talk about why. Artists featured are Gyorgy Ligeti, David Fiuczynski, Pixies, and Gentle Giant. What a couple of NERDSBy Music Sucks and I Want to Die

In this 12th episode of the ECM podcast we’re joined by the acclaimed American guitarist and long-time ECM recording artist Steve Tibbetts, whose discography-spanning anthology „Hellbound Train“ was released in July 2022. The double album comprises music from eight albums recorded over 40 years, from as early as his debut for the label, Northern So…

For more info on this topic, check out EP 5 - Jam Sessions. Book mentioned - Derek Bailey: Improvisation https://www.amazon.com/Improvisation-Its-Nature-Practice-Music/dp/0306805286/ Listening of the Week - Akron/Family + Angels of Light https://akronfamily.bandcamp.com/album/akron-family-angels-of-light Joe Jackson - I'm the Man twitter.com/musics…

In this 11th episode of the ECM podcast, we’re joined by saxophonist, bandleader and composer Oded Tzur, who released his latest ECM album “Isabela” alongside Nitai Hershkovits on piano, Petros Klampanis on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums.Oded talks about love, classical Indian music, rhythms and inspirations.…

Matt and Jake discuss the "Taylor's Version" of Taylor Swift's albums: the motivation for the re-recordings, any sonic differences between them, and why in general #taysway can SLAP.By Music Sucks and I Want to Die

In this 10th episode of the ECM Podcast, we’re joined by trumpeter Mathias Eick, whose latest record, “When we leave” features his band with violinist Håkon Aase, Andreas Ulvo on piano, bassist Audun Erlien, Stian Carstensen on pedal steel guitar as well as drummers Torstein Lofthus and Helge Andreas Norbakken.In our conversation Mathias talks abou…

In this ninth episode, we meet guitar legend John Scofield to talk about his first-ever solo album, “John Scofield”, released on May 6. In our conversation, John talks about his solo work, what inspires him and how to stay fresh.By John Scofield

In this eight episode, we catch up with Norwegian pianist and composer Tord Gustavsen, whose newest trio record, “Opening”, was released on 8 March. On the album, Tord is joined by his longtime collaborator Jarle Vespestad on drums and new addition Steinar Raknes on bass. Tord talks about what happens when you’re able to channel spontaneous inspira…

In this seventh episode, we are joined by saxophonist, bandleader and composer Mark Turner, whose new album, “Return from the Stars”, was released on 25 March. The album features Mark’s quartet with Joe Martin on bass, trumpeter Jason Palmer and Jonathan Pinson on drums. Mark talks about his fascination for sci-fi novels, the titles of his composit…

Today I speak with the poet, activist, and environmental writer Lisa Wells, author of Believers: Making a Life at the End of the World. We talk about the anger of youth, the fallibility of heroes, and the value of art and beauty in dark times.By David Rothenberg

In this sixth episode, we meet with Israeli trumpet player, composer and arranger Avishai Cohen, whose fifth album as a leader for ECM Records, “Naked Truth”, was released on February 25th. The album features his long-time comrades: pianist Yonathan Avishai, bassist Barak Mori and drummer Ziv Ravitz.Avishai talks about the inspirations and the proc…