The relationship between Alex Harding and Lucian Ban has been long and fruitful. Their combination of elements of improvisational music have helped the pair develop a unique musical language that transcends the expectations of the jazz genre. Their new recording, Blutopia, highlights their attuned rapport while allowing their music to unfold with their own singular ensemble, propelled by the tuba stylings of the great Bob Stewart.

There are moments that are forever imprinted in one’s mind. Feelings and impressions from scenes past from decades before can be recalled instantaneously with the appropriate trigger. These memories shape lives and attitudes, whether recalled impeccably or distorted by time.

The Bell features dynamic chamber music compositions written for masterful improvisers. The best thing I caught all weekend, said critic Peter Margasak of the 2014 New York Winter Jazzfest, was a superb trio led by drummer Ches Smith with pianist Craig Taborn and violist Mat Maneri, which expertly infused seductively narcotic writing with a mixture of brooding melody and rich texture.

Nearly ninety years after its opening in Paris at Opera Garnier, Transylvanian expat pianist Lucian Ban and American violist Mat Maneri present a radical re-imagination of George Enescu’s famous Oedipe opera. For decades, the opera was seen as too difficult to perform, the score and four long acts demanded much from the musicians, but Enescu’s Oedipe has finally begun to receive the attention that it rightly deserves and to be recognized as one of the greatest works in the operatic repertoire.

"Transylvanian Concert" marks the ECM debut for Romanian pianist-composer, Lucian Ban. Recorded in Targu Mures, Romania, Ban is joined by acclaimed violinist, Mat Maneri. The pair performs a program of their self-penned ballads, blues, hymns and abstract improvisations, plus Mat’s chilling solo performance of the spiritual “Nobody Knows The Troubles I’ve Seen”. In all, a unique and compelling set.

Recorded on the cusp of our voyage into isolation, Wordless Voices sings songs from the collective unwinding at the heart of improvised music. The 4 tracks traverse, intertwine and disentangle myriad territories of microtonality, pulse, melody, and noise and present an incorruptible expression of group improvisation and, just as significant, a remembrance of collective listening shared by audience and performer.