ECM Records

Visionary German entrepreneur Manfred Eicher started the ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) label in 1969, slowly building a cottage industry that continues to prosper today. Guided by his own unflinching auteurist aesthetic and unfailing ear, he amassed a discography that prefigured the popularity of everything from world music to ambient stylings, made the careers of iconic jazz and modern-classical artists, and established a singular approach to production and presentation of modern music outside the pop arena. Most people associate ECM with airy, contemplative post-bop bearing soft, pastel tones that occasionally border on a Windham Hill-like new age sensibility. While that description fits a portion of the ECM catalog, in reality the label offers a rich, eclectic array of sounds ranging from the contemporary classical compositions of Arvo Part to Keith Jarrett's piano improvisations, Pat Metheny's jazz fusion, Jon Hassell's international ambient flavors, and more. Nevertheless, there's a common thread connecting everything in ECM's massive discography, thanks to Eicher's careful curation and quality control. The graphic side of ECM's output is equally sui generis, maintaining a minimal, modernist look that immediately identifies every album as a part of Eicher's comprehensive concept.