Jazz breaking news: Charles Lloyd and Jan Garbarek perform at expansive ECM art and music retrospective
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Renowned not just for its instantly recognisable sound aesthetic but for its cover art’s use of photography, modern art and graphic design, iconic German label ECM has recently opened a wide ranging art exhibition in the Haus der Kunst, in Munich.
Curated by New York based Okwui Enwezor – the Igbo Nigerian-born American curator, art critic, writer, poet and educator – and gallery director Markus Müller, the exhibition entitled, ECM – A Cultural Archaeology, opened on 22 November 2012 and runs until 10 February 2013.
The exhibition covers the label’s various artistic, photographic, cinematic and graphical affiliations, shown across seven rooms, tracking the label’s history from its inception in 1969 to the present day. The exhibition’s sub-headings include: ECM: 1969-1984; Editions, Cinema, Music; Jean-Luc Godard – Nouvelle Vague; Peter Greenaway – Four American Composers: Meredith Monk; The Otolith Group; Meredith Monk – Ellis Island; Peter Guyer and Norbert Wiedmer – Sounds und Silence: Unterwegs mit Manfred Eicher; Stan Douglas – Hors-champs; ECM and design; Burrill Crohn – An Evening of Music and Theatre for Collin Walcott; Dorothy Darr – Home, Charles Lloyd and Billy Higgins. The exhibition also features work for the label by graphic designer Barbara Wojirsch and photographer Dieter Rehm – who between them helped establish ECM’s now iconic design style, through their work from the 1970s through to the 1990s.
There will also be screenings of films and documentaries such as one following Manfred Eicher and a band in rehearsal and preparation for a concert in Munich, 1971. Pieces on display also include large print photos of musicians during recording sessions, concerts and performances, such as the Steve Reich Octet, from New York in 1980 and Keith Jarrett’s Japan improvisation concerts from 1978.
The gallery’s West Wing also plays host to a series of specially staged concerts, which begin with Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin (10 Jan); Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Quartet and Food (11 Jan); and Tim Berne’s Snakeoil (12 Jan). The performances then continue with: Anja Lechner (26 Jan); Gidon Kremer, Giedre Dirvanauskaite and Daniil Grishin (27 Jan); Stefano Battaglia Trio (01 Feb); Charles Lloyd and Jason Moran (02 Feb); Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet (09 Feb); and Jan Garbarek/Hilliard Ensemble (11 Feb).
For more info go to www.hausderkunst.de
– Mike Flynn