NOVEMBER 2019 VOLUME 86 / NUMBER 11 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Bobby Reed Reviews Editor Dave Cantor Contributing Editor Ed Enright Creative Director ŽanetaÎuntová Design Assistant Will Dutton Assistant to the Publisher Sue Mahal Bookkeeper Evelyn Oakes ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile Vice President of Sales 630-359-9345 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney Vice President of Sales 201-445-6260 [email protected] Advertising Sales Associate Grace Blackford 630-359-9358 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. 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POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: DownBeat, P.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale October 15, 2019) Magazine Publishers Association. Á 4 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019 NOVEMBER 2019 ON THE COVER 26 ECM Records BART BABINSKI In Search of the Sublime BY JOSEF WOODARD Established in 1969, ECM Records has become one of the most respected labels in jazz. In honor of the label’s milestone anniversary, DownBeat travels to Munich to sit down with the head of the label, Manfred Eicher, for a discussion about his 50-year journey and his unique approach to recording. We also check in with numerous artists 26 who have recorded for ECM over the decades. Vijay Iyer (left) and producer Manfred Eicher during the FEATURES June 2014 recording sessions for the pianist’s trio album Break Stuff Cover collage, clockwise from upper-left: Charles Lloyd photo by Michael Jackson; Pat Metheny by Hyou Vielz; Keith Jarrett by Richard Termine; cover art for the Chick Corea album Return To Forever; Jack DeJohnette by Tom 34 Crosscurrents Trio Copi; Vijay Iyer by Lynne Harty; Jan Garbarek by Hyou Vielz; box set package for The Art Ensemble Of Chicago Stylistic Convergence And Associated Ensembles; Enrico Rava by Eddy Westveer; Joe Lovano by Jimmy Katz; Jakob Bro by Michael BY THOMAS STAUDTER Drong; Tomasz Stanko by Andrzej Tyszko; Carla Bley by D.D. Rider; Manfred Eicher by Kaupo Kikkas. 38 Keb’ Mo’ Blues Progression BY BOB DOERSCHUK 42 Nubya Garcia Generous Collaborator BY JOHN MURPH 85 Fall/Winter 50 Ahmad Jamal 53 Ted Nash 59 Maria Chiara Argirò 60 Monty Alexander Festival Guide DRUM SCHOOL DEPARTMENTS 63 Drum Sets of the Stars 76 Master Class 8 First Take 64 Matt Wilson: BY HENRY COLE 10 Chords & Discords Sound Awareness 68 Peter Erskine: 78 Transcription 13 The Beat Making the Kit ‘Sing’ Jack DeJohnette Drum Solo C. ANDREW HOVAN 72 Kendrick Scott: 47 Reviews Instruments of Peace 80 Toolshed 106 Blindfold Test John Pizzarelli John Pizzarelli 6 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2019 First Take BY BOBBY REED ©DANIELA YOHANNES/ECM RECORDS Jack DeJohnette (left), Gary Peacock and Keith Jarrett ECM’s Golden Anniversary THE PHRASE “VAST IN SCOPE” CERTAINLY mance by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the applies to the ECM Records catalog. In celebra- groundbreaking collective that has a long histo- tion of the label’s 50th anniversary, we take an ry with ECM. Our Reviews section includes cri- in-depth look at a company that has released tiques of new albums on the label by trumpeter more than 1,600 albums. The huge ECM catalog Enrico Rava with saxophonist Joe Lovano; pia- includes jazz and classical music, as well as many nist Ethan Iverson’s quartet with trumpeter Tom works that defy easy categorization. Harrell; and a collaboration between trumpet- The Munich-based label Edition ofer Avishai Cohen and pianist Yonathan Avishai. Contemporary Music—widely known by its We also have a feature on the Crosscurrents acronym, ECM—has a devout following around Trio, which has a terrific new album on Edition the world. As longtime readers know, ECM is a Records titled Good Hope. Each member of the frequent winner in the Record Label category of group—bassist Dave Holland, tabla master the annual DownBeat Critics Poll, and the head Zakir Hussain and saxophonist Chris Potter— of the label, Manfred Eicher, is a perennial win- has recorded important works for ECM. ner of the Producer category in that poll. Our Fall/Winter Festival Guide has details Who, exactly, is Manfred Eicher? The prolif- on festivals around the world, including several ic and enigmatic producer was profiled in the that will feature tributes to ECM. 2009 documentary Sounds and Silence, which Play the game “Six Degrees of Separation gave many fans a glimpse of an artist whom they from Manfred Eicher” and you’ll wander into previously had known only as a name listed in some intriguing pathways. For example, Eicher the credits of hundreds of albums. DownBeat has worked with Paolo Fresu, who has recorded wanted to find out what drives Eicher. So, for our with Carla Bley, who frequently has collaborat- cover story, journalist Josef Woodard traveled ed with Steve Swallow, who has played duo con- thousands of miles and spent several months certs with Julian Lage, who has recorded with conducting interviews with Eicher and numer- Nels Cline, who is a member of Wilco. (This par- ous artists who have recorded for ECM. lor game could go on for hours.) The network of musicians who currently We hope our article on ECM provides you record for ECM—or who have worked with with a deeper understanding of Eicher’s aes- the label in the past—is quite extensive, as evi- thetic, and perhaps a greater appreciation for the denced by this issue of DownBeat. In our Drum breadth of the label’s cultural accomplishments. School section, we talk gear with Peter Erskine And we hope you’ll smile when you see the (whose credits appear repeatedly in the ECM old-school ECM T-shirt that DeJohnette is catalog), and we present a transcription of a Jack sporting in the 1976 photo in our cover collage. DeJohnette solo from one of the many brilliant (Details about this collage are on page 6.) ECM albums he has recorded in a trio with pia- If you’re anything like us, reading about nist Keith Jarrett and bassist Gary Peacock. ECM will inspire you to revisit a few of its land- In The Beat section, there’s a review of the mark albums—and to check out some of the Chicago Jazz Festival, which hosted a perfor- label’s new releases. The journey continues. DB 8 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 2019 2019 Chords Discords Dialogue of Disparity To me, the value and the beauty of all art forms, CREDIT including jazz, lie in the eye/ears of the behold- er. To paraphrase a common expression: “One person’s absolute joy is another’s noise.” A great example can be found in The Hot Box reviews of Esperanza Spalding’s 12 Little CARMEN DANESHMANDI Spells in the September issue of DownBeat. Giovanni Russonello gave it 5 stars, while John McDonough gave it 2 stars. This disparity drove me straight to Spotify. I tried to experience Spalding’s work from the viewpoint of each reviewer, and I found myself agreeing mostly with McDonough. But I was not quite so unmoved as he was. I have not been a fan of Spalding’s past work, but I certainly appreciate her technique. I would give this album 3 stars. Anyway, that’s one man’s opinion. JOHN R. VICKARY Esperanza Spalding CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA Shock to the System can’t tell much of a difference (high-quality As a longtime fan of the piano work and remastering aside). vocals of Eliane Elias, I was pleased—but WICK MOSES shocked—that her new album, Love Stories, [email protected] was given a 5-star review in your September issue.