SUSAN ELLIOT"I JOHN STORM ROBERTS KEN EMERSON SAM SUTHERLAND TODD EVERETT NICK TOSCHES TOBY GOLDSTEIN KEN TUCKER DON HECKMAN JOHN S. WILSON

be heard, I'm sure. Lande's composi- tions, especially/the rhythmically com- The ECM Collection: plex Rubisa Patrol, the samba-tinged El Pueblo de las Vacas Tristes, and the dense lines of Perelandra, display the at- Contemporary Jazz at Its Best tractive talents of an ensemble that plays together with the passion and closeness by Don Heckman of blood brothers. "Times Square" is Gary Burton's sixth album as leadera for ECM. (Lord knows Art Lande and Rubisa Patrol: Desert perbly organized, almost intimately how many he has made since his days as Marauders. Manfred Eicher. producer. cohesive group that somehow manages a wunderkind of the vibes in the early ECM 1-1106, $7.98. Tape: •• M 5 El - to make sense out of Lande's quixotic Sixties.) His enormously facile style has 1106, i M8E1-1106, $7.98. contention that "when we play, we don't often led him into more technical fur Gary Burton: Times Square. Manfred know what we're going to play, and we than imaginative substance, but here—as Eicher. producer. ECM 1-1111, $7.98. never play the same way twice." on many of his recent recordings—he is Tape: Pe M5 E1-1111,08,M8E1-1111, Trumpeter Mark Isham is a marvelous held somewhat in check by the solid bass $7.98. improviser—one from whom more will work of Steve Swallow. Alas, it isn't al- Jack DeJohnette: New Directions. Manfred Eicher, producer. ECM 1-1128, $7.98. Tape: tie M5 E1-1128, et M8 El - 1128, $7.98. Ralph Towner: Batik. Manfred Eicher, producer. ECM 1-1121, $7.98. Tape: M5 E1-1121. *, M8 E1-1121, $7.98. Jan Garbarek: Places. Manfred Eicher, producer. ECM 1-1118, $7.98. Tape: •-• M5 E1-1118,O A M8 El -1118, $7.98. Steve Kuhn: Non-Fiction. Manfred Ei- cher, producer. ECM 1-1124, $7.98. Tape: tH! M5 E1-1124, ft M8 E1-1124, $7.98.

T here is something ironic about the fact that the record company that in recent years has shown the most unre- lenting dedication to contemporary jazz is based in Europe. Yet despite its single- minded aesthetic vision—as provided by Art Lande Sieve Kuhn producer Manfred Eicher—Germany- based ECM has managed to gain major. label distribution in this country, first from Polydor and now from Warner Bros. That's quite an accomplishment for labela whose producer/guiding light would probably discard anything that even resembled Top-40a single. Typically, this latest batch of releases is well engineered, attractively pack- aged, and uncluttered by any intrusion of production trickery. We can either like or dislike the music on these albums, but we cannot accuse Eicher of inserting his personality between us and the per- formers. "Desert Marauders" is the second ECM recording from Berkeley pianist Art Lande and Rubisa Patrol. It is su-a Jack Delohnene Jan Garbarek

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