23.06.2023 | New Release

Luminessence is growing

The Luminessence Series is growing: 

Gary Burton’s The New Quartet as well as Old And New Dreams with Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell are now available on vinyl.

Luminessence, ECM’s new audiophile vinyl-reissue series, is a kaleidoscope, shedding light on the jewels of the label’s deep catalogue in elegant, high-quality editions. The hallmarks of the series: original and evocative music, imaginatively played and sensitively produced. The recordings underline the scope and variety of ECM’s world of sound and the LPs are presented in different formats.

The series features albums that have changed perceptions of creative music making, albums now heralded as classics. Some are offered in exclusive facsimile editions, others framed in high-grade gatefolds that include new liner notes offering historical context and fresh perspectives, while again others have been long out of print or even never before released on vinyl. Many of the re-issues are cut from the original analog master tapes and all Luminessence releases incorporate the striking cover art which has contributed to ECM’s renown.

Among the many other significant ECM recordings appearing in this ongoing re-issue series will be Keith Jarrett’s Bremen Lausanne 3-LP Box-set, Jan Garbarek’s Afric Pepperbird as well as Madar, by Garbarek and Anouar Brahem, which appears on vinyl for the first time. Also, Zakir Hussain’s Making Music and, of course, Luminessence, the 1975 album that gives the series its name and sees Jan Garbarek improvising over string-arrangements written explicitly for him by Keith Jarrett, will also be part of the edition and released soon. All of these records were produced by Manfred Eicher – and more will follow.

 

GARY BURTON: THE NEW QUARTET

As well as being the great vibraphone innovator of his era, Gary Burton has been a most astute talent scout. In 1973, The New Quartet introduced Abraham Laboriel: this was the first recording of the bassist who would soon become one of the most in-demand session players across all genres. “It must be emphasised that Laboriel sounds like a major artist in the making with his astonishing bass work,” wrote Melody Maker. Guitarist Mick Goodrick also emerged as a player to watch with this album, shining in a well-conceived programme with compositions of Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Carla Bley, Mike Gibbs and bandleader Burton.

 

DON CHERRY, DEWEY REDMAN, CHARLIE HADEN, ED BLACKWELL: OLD AND NEW DREAMS

Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell came together to celebrate the work of mentor Ornette Coleman, but the repertoire of their Old and New Dreams quartet soon blossomed into a project of much wider scope, addressing also the musical experiences the players had made individually in their travels around the world. As well as superlative versions of Ornette’s “Lonely Woman“ and “Open or Close“ this highly influential album, now regard as a classic of new jazz, includes pieces by Cherry and Blackwell inspired by African music, Redman’s enigmatic “Orbit of La-Ba”, and Haden’s impressionistic “Song for the Whales”. Recorded in Oslo in August 1979 and produced by Manfred Eicher, this vinyl reissue includes new liner notes providing historical context and background information.

 

 

Previous releases from the Luminessence series: