Barre Phillips - Mountainscapes (1976)

One of the most satisfyingly avant-garde ECMs from the label's first decade, and also the first appearance in-house for reedsman John Surman, whose association with ECM continues to this day.  Recorded in March 1976, Mountainscapes was the result of the Surman-Phillips-Martin trio being given fresh purpose by the addition of Austrian electronics wizard Dieter Feichtner.  

 

The collision of free jazz and synth ooze makes for a unique and thoroughly enjoyable listening experience, with the tracklist simply a numbered suite to immerse yourself in.  Parts III and VII are duos between Phillips' bass improvisations and the eerie glow of Feichtner's synths, cut from a 40-minute free-form session (imagine that in its entireity sitting in Eicher's vault somewhere...).  The closing piece makes good use of a happened-to-drop-by John Abercrombie, adding another texture to this singular record.

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