Manu Katche, Touchstone for Manu

A change of pace today with an anthology of music by drummer Manu Katche, Touchstone for Manu (ECM 2419). We get selections from four albums, covering the period between 2004 and 2012. It is melodious and spacious ECM jazz that features Manu's very interesting jazz-rock playing with a host of sidemen from Jan Garbarek to Tomasz Stanko to Nils Petter Molvaer.

Manu is a drummer who plays an open jazz-rock style with its own twist, interjecting small cymbals and toms into a fluid pulse very nicely.

The music is first-rate ECM style jazz-rock and the soloing and tunes are well done.

I missed this music the first time around and find it quite worthwhile. It will certainly appeal to those who dig the ECM sound harnessed to a rock pulse.