All those born with wings

Time to report on the great ECM experiment of 2010. The initial feeling that I have come away with is that for every CD in the ECM collection that I love I will also buy one that will be recycled.

For instance - I love Jan Garbarek's Madar CD. It does have my latest hero, Anouar Braheim on it, but Garbarek's playing is very lyrical and entirely suits the combined mood of oud and tabla. On the basis of this I bought his 1987 CD All those born with wings. Unfortunately this one turned into a squonking atonal mess. Yeeech - didn't see that coming.

Another example? The Dave Holland Trio's Triplicate CD is a constant delight vs John Abercrombie's Selected Recordings, which is a dilly of a pickle - a few 'challenging' tracks left me in the dust (of which there is a fair amount in Qatar).

I'll leave you on a positive note - with another superb discovery - Bobo Stenson. His piano playing has it all for me and is challenging in a good way. This clip has the bonus of some stunning photography as well. Ka kite ano.