With the holiday season barely over, many labels are announcing their vinyl releases for 2026. And to start the year off right, ECM revealed four new titles from its Luminessence series a few days ago, to be released in the first half of the year.
The duo of bassist Gary Peacock and guitarist Ralph Towner (who passed away earlier this year ; album reviewed in VU#64 FR) and the album Oracle, released on vinyl for the first time, will kick things off in January. Originally released in 1994, the record immortalizes the meeting between these two legends, in a delicious mix of composed pieces and more daring improvisations.
In May, it will be the turn of Tomasz Stanko’s cult classic Balladyna, which will be reissued on vinyl for the first time since 1976. The album is an addictive blend of lyrical beauty and controlled tension, a veritable open space for gentle melancholy with subtle and haunting melodic lines.
The beginning of summer will see the release in June of Bill Connors’ Of Mist and Melting, originally released in 1978 and now being reissued on vinyl for the first time since 1980, followed in July by Mick Goodrick’s In Pas(s)ing, also being reissued on vinyl for the first time since its release. While the former is a classic in the ECM repertoire, with superb atmospheric jazz masterfully orchestrated by Jack DeJohnette (drums), Gary Peacock (bass), and Jan Garbarek (tenor saxophone), the latter is an affirmation of Goodrick’s talent as a leader, offering a powerful electric jazz fusion ensemble with almost free contours.
31/01/2026
