Awase cover
Released

Swiss pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch is synonymous with everything ECM stands for: careful control of atmosphere, meticulous attention to sound and space, and an underlying capitulation to the moment. Alongside Sha (bass clarinet and alto saxophone), Kaspar Rast (drums), and Thomy Jordi (bass), Bärtsch unravels some of the finest details of his “modular” approach. Offering an uncompromising ritual groove aesthetic on the altar of funk, he takes us through changes as seamless as they are surprising, linking every shift in angle to the same body. Like an Escher print, the more you regard it, the more variation it reveals.

Tyran Grillo

Recommended by

Suggestions
Not So Standards (Live at Nighttown) [Feat. Decebal Badila & Florian Weber] cover

Not So Standards (Live at Nighttown) [Feat. Decebal Badila & Florian Weber]

Jiggs Whigham International Trio, Florian Weber, Decebal Badila
Sco-Mule cover

Sco-Mule

Gov't Mule, John Scofield
Orchestras cover

Orchestras

Bill Frisell
Music for September cover

Music for September

Vadim Neselovskyi
Heartbeat cover

Heartbeat

Alexander Flood
All Our Reasons cover

All Our Reasons

Billy Hart, Ben Street, Ethan Iverson, Mark Turner
Music for K cover

Music for K

Tomasz Stańko
Sextant cover

Sextant

Herbie Hancock
Notes With Attachments cover

Notes With Attachments

Blake Mills, Pino Palladino
Dance Kobina cover

Dance Kobina

Joe Chambers
Stoa cover

Stoa

Nik Bärtsch's Ronin