Year in a review

As the year is approaching its conclusion, it’s the perfect opportunity to reconsider the many albums that were released on ECM and its New Series imprint throughout 2024.

On ECM, between January and June, seven new albums saw the light of day, starting with Arve Henriksen and Harmen Fraanje’s Touch of Time as well as Matthieu Bordenave’s The Blue Land. Both were released to critical acclaim, with Stereophile magazine finding in Touch of Time “a mood so deep and encompassing that you lose yourself in it,” and Jazzwise magazine calling The Blue Land “an intriguing, collectively expressive set of chamber ensemble pieces.”

In February, Vijay Iyer’s Compassion was released, the second album to include his triowith bassist Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey on drums – the “group improvises with entrancing dynamism” (Wall Street Journal). The same month saw the release of John Surman’s Words Unspoken – in the year that Surman announced his retirement from performing live. Fred Hersch’s piano solo record Silent, Listening followed in April, with Fred Hersch “telling a secret story in music” that amounts to “very high art,” according to French paper Le Monde.

Oded Tzur released My Prophet, his third album with ECM Records, while Tomasz Stanko’s September Night captures a live recording from 2004 with Stanko alongside the Marcin Wasilewski trio in striking form. “Five albums in, Tzur feels like he’s just hitting his stride,” says All Music, while in regards to September Night, Making A Scene speaks of “a previously unreleased package of beauty – What a blessing to finally present it for public consumption.”

Take another look at the releases in the video below and grab the albums in the ECM webshop. Each of the seven records was released on CD and LP.