News

Pat Metheny's 11 LP ECM Album Catalog Available For Streaming and Downloading July 31st

Michael Fremer  |  Jul 28, 2020

This just in: Pat Metheny’s complete ECM catalog of 11 albums, which includes Bright Size Life, Offramp, and 80/81, will be available for the first time on July 31st as high-resolution masters for download and streaming.

According to ECM’s mastering engineer Christoph Stickel:

“The main premise in digitizing the Pat Metheny tapes was not to change the sound of the recordings, but to realize them in the original form, in the best possible quality. The work was based on the original, analogue stereo master tapes. The masters are in very good condition and can be played without problems. All tapes were played by a Studer A820, which was meticulously calibrated to the respective tape. The analog signal was digitized in 96kHz / 24bit, which covers the complete spectrum of the original bands. In each case, a decision was made between a PrismSound ADA-8XR, an Antelope Eclipse Mastering AD, and a Mytek Brooklyn ADC, depending on which one suited best the respective recording. No de-noising and no other restoration affecting the sound was carried out.”

This is good news on several fronts: firstly that you'll be able to get these records properly digitized and secondly that the tapes are in excellent condition so that perhaps a few can be reissued on vinyl from the original tapes.

Among my faves and visible in the photo I took using my LPs is the unusual, percussion-rich and mesmerizing As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (ECM 1190) recorded September 1980 by the late Norwegian recording engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug who created the ECM "sound" and who passed away last November at age 75. Joining Metheny on this production were Metheny's long-time keyboardist-musical partners Lyle Mays who went last February at age 66 and the late versatile Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos who is also gone. He died March of 2016 at age 71. At least Pat and the music live on!

Qobuz (HD download and streaming)
HDtracks (HD download)
Acoustic Sounds (HD download)
Prostudiomaster (HD download)
Tidal (MQA Master streaming)
Apple (Apple Digital Master download and streaming)
Amazon (Amazon HD streaming)

COMMENTS
minormist's picture
Submitted by minormist on Tue, 2020-07-28 19:05

That's the music I grew up listening to as a kid, and I'm happy to have all of that on vinyl today, but it'll be great to be able to stream it away from home. I'd even consider buying some vinyl reissues. Not sure how much say Pat has in this, but I've found his current releases on vinyl to be excellent quality, and it sounds like ECM is trying to do things right.

Drummer's picture
Submitted by Drummer on Tue, 2020-07-28 19:16

Hoped for this for a long time!

New Chataqua, Offramp, AmericanGarage

Something really nice to look forward to.

Montpier's picture
Submitted by Montpier on Wed, 2020-07-29 06:00

with the somewhat unusual rhythm section pairing of Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette -- Haden recorded much more frequently with Paul Motian while DeJohnette with Dave Holland was the house section on many 70's ECM dates. Plus Dewey Redman and Michael Brecker on reeds. Was reissued on vinyl not that long ago and looks like the fine sounding Kongshaug engineered double LP still available from some sources.

Saw Metheny live in 1981 with Redman, Haden and Motian in place of DeJohnette (3/4 of Keith Jarrett's "American" quartet) and they were fantastic.

Jim C.'s picture
Submitted by Jim C. on Wed, 2020-07-29 08:06

The hi-res remastered 80/81 has been out for some weeks now. Let's just say, if all the other ones sound as good as this, I'll be very happy.

Mijostyn's picture
Submitted by Mijostyn on Wed, 2020-07-29 08:30

I have all the original vinyl in excellent condition so I'm not sure if I will go for the digital versions. I probably will try one, probably Bright Size Life.
I have always found the house ECM sound a bit annoying. The cymbals are always way too forward creating a somewhat perverse sound stage. But, the music is essential so I have to tolerate it. Life is tough:)

Glotz's picture
Submitted by Glotz on Wed, 2020-07-29 12:52

I have most of the others but to have a newer copies on a few like 'So Falls" would be amazing. Fingers crossed!

Drummer's picture
Submitted by Drummer on Wed, 2020-07-29 18:27

So interesting to me, I have always loved the clarity of the cymbals on ECM records, recorded beautifully, as a life long drummer I know what cymbals sound like and the ECM sound is exemplary.

But hey there's this thing called tone controls!

Happy listening!

Drummer's picture
Submitted by Drummer on Wed, 2020-07-29 18:30

So interesting to me, I have always loved the clarity of the cymbals on ECM records, recorded beautifully, as a life long drummer I know what cymbals sound like and the ECM sound is exemplary.

But hey there's this thing called tone controls!

FYI Pat has said he wants to hear the cymbals on stage and in the mix, he considers this instrument to be a driving rhythmic element in his music. We wouldn't tell Picasso his blue was wrong now would we?

Happy listening!

avanti1960's picture
Submitted by avanti1960 on Thu, 2020-07-30 11:23

Hopefully "V" once the dust has settled.
The latest PM I have on vinyl is "From this Place" and is spectacular in the ECM mode.
For the uninitiated "80/81" with Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette is amazing and in a more traditional jazz style. In my top LPs of all time.
Peace.

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