Various artists
Selected Signs III-VIII Music selected for the exhibition ECM – A Cultural Archaeology at Haus der Kunst, Munich
ECM (6-CDs) ****
Have you kept up with the Selected Signs story so far? You’d be forgiven if you haven’t, as the most recent of this compilation series appeared some 13 years ago, three years after the series launched in 1997. But this third luxury outing is a special occasion merited by the sense of event ushered in by the recent Cultural Archaeology exhibition in Munich. Visitors to the exhibition of label art could listen to the music issued here, culled from the ECM vaults, on headphones, surely a sensory overload with all the art on the museum’s walls. But now it's issued in isolation in classic minimalist fashion with gleaming white sleeves and only dots at the junction points of the label’s three capital letters for company. What’s between the covers goes back to 1978 (or 1961 if you count the licensed-in Carla Bley composed Jimmy Giuffre track ‘Jesus Maria’) covering both sides of the great label’s musical personality: jazz, and classical music. Label founder Manfred Eicher is 70 next month, and if ever any evidence were needed of the sheer artistry of the man then Selected Signs III-VIII, though not completely representative of the sheer variety that ECM releases (that would be an almost impossible task) provides proof of its extraordinarily high aesthetic qualities, and fulfilled ambitions. Yet the first disc of the set is bookended a little deadeningly by music and text from Heiner Goebbels although that’s made up for in quantity by an excerpt from Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians and parts of Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa. IV is mostly classical (the inclusion of work by Kiev composer Valentin Silvestrov a particular pleasure worth flagging up), while V is mostly concerned with music by Greek film composer Eleni Karaindrou issued just this year. Its inclusion may seem too soon, but it is justified if only for the inclusion of the beautiful ‘Requiem for Willy Loman’. VI is an important disc for new directions in Nordic jazz with selections from both the groundbreaking Khmer and Dream Logic, an excellent pairing as Eivind Aarset has taken on the mantle of Nils Petter Molvaer in a highly creative way in recent years particularly on Dream Logic which I think is his best album. VII has some great moments from Food, Tord Gustavsen and Norma Winstone, and ‘Zone’ from Ralph Alessi is an excellent sneak preview of the still unreleased Baida, the trumpeter's debut for the label. You could spend six very enjoyable evenings playing one disc per night from this set, your own private Late Junction with Eicher as silent disc jockey. That would be time more than well spent. Stephen Graham
Released on Monday