Clark Tracey has gathered a group of top-of-the-list UK jazz artists for a session that incorporates hard bop, some smooth jazz, and pretty ballads with a string quartet in attendance. For his debut solo album drummer Clark Tracey has brought together a range of musicians, each hand-picked as a result of who he thought best suited the mood of each piece. With connections borne of years in the industry Clark was able to have his first choice of performer on each instrument resulting in unbeatable interpretations. The guests musicians include Andy Sheppard, Tommy Smith, Tim Garland, Iain Ballamy, Nigel Hitchcock, Guy Barker, Christine Tobin, Gareth Williams, Arnie Somogyi, Laurence Cottle and the Locrian String Quartet.

"Trios" is one of the outstanding jazz albums of the season and marks the first time that a new Carla Bley album has appeared on ECM itself. Carla, Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow revisit classic Bley compositions in an exceptional album recorded in Lugano in April of 2012 by Manfred Eicher. Included here are spirited new versions of “Utviklingssang” and “Vashkar”, and the suites Les Trois Lagons, Wildlife and The Girl Who Cried Champagne. Carla’s robust tunes are vividly conveyed, all members solo compellingly, and the trio has never sounded better.

The combination of Espen Eriksen Trio and UK saxophone giant Andy Sheppard is truly a match made in jazz heaven, or in the words of Andy: “I knew from the first time I heard the trio play that I would fit right in. I loved the melodic sense and vibe and was thrilled when I was invited to guest with the trio in London in 2016”. This led to the very popular and critically acclaimed Perfectly Unhappy album in 2018, and now we are proud to introduce As Good As It Gets, the quite brilliant follow-up. It´s fair to say that the new album finds the trio slightly more lively and sunny in parts, still highly melodic and lyrical, often with a typically Nordic melancholic signature (check the Grieg nod in album closer "Drifting Clouds"). Eriksen is a master of catchy tunes and when Sheppard adds his inimitable playing to the trio´s minimalistic approach, pure magic is created.

Renowned musicians, saxophonist Andy Sheppard, double-bassist Michel Benita and drummer Sebastian Rochford share a sense of stylistic inventiveness. The highly regarded musicians extend this open-mindedness with the release of "Trio Libero". Included on this free-spirited work are originals compromised by the trio and the standard “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows.” Each musician utilizes their individual space creating expressive dialogues.