Julia Hülsmann Quartet - Not Far from Here

The Guardian 80

(ECM)
Clever, thoughtful jazz from the cooly virtuosic composer-pianist gives the legendary ECM label another gem to celebrate on its 50th anniversary

Munich’s ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music), the legendary label whose remit – just for starters – has embraced jazz-warped Gregorian chanting, Nordic folksongs, Euro-Asian dialogues, and Keith Jarrett’s long-idolised Köln Concert, celebrates its 50th anniversary in November. Big shows in New York, London, and Brussels show the world’s respect for ECM’s unmodish alchemy of old and new, that has always seemed as natural as breathing to co-founder and continuing helmsman Manfred Eicher. Autumn’s releases have included stars such as Jarrett and Jan Garbarek, but for understated reinvention of the familiar, cool virtuosity, and the seductive ECM sense of a long gestation preceding and succeeding the recording, German pianist and composer Julia Hülsmann’s Not Far from Here is a standout. Hülsmann, who has been releasing subtle ECM gems with trio partners Marc Muellbauer and Heinrich Köbberling on bass and drums for a decade, has now added traditional-to-freeblasting Berlin tenor saxophonist Uli Kempendorff.