ECM founder Manfred Eicher appears to have spent a fair part of last year sorting through boxes in the label's huge tape vault.
Having released more than 1,300 albums since making its debut with Mal Waldron's Free at Last in 1969, ECM has a long-established policy of documenting its artists both in the studio and in concert, with audiophile-quality recordings.
Some of its live albums - notably Keith Jarrett's 1975 Koln Concert - are classics, but there are many more concerts ECM recorded, also of excellent quality, which have never been released. Some are at last seeing the light of day on CD: Sleeper, a concert recording of Jarrett's 1970s European Quartet featuring saxophonist Jan Garbarek, drummer Jon Christensen and bassist Palle Danielsson, came out in August last year, more than three decades after it was recorded in Tokyo, in 1979.
A fine live recording of the ensemble which recorded 1974's Belonging, 1978's My Song and 1980's Nude Ants was hailed by John Kelman, writing for the All About Jazz website, as the "archival find of the year".
Another contender for that accolade would be Magico: Carta De Amor - a concert recording of a trio comprising Garbarek, bassist Charlie Haden and pianist/guitarist Egberto Gismonti. The ensemble made two earlier contributions to the ECM discography, 1979's Magico and 1981's Folk Songs - both are also worth hearing - but the performances on Magico: Carta De Amor are more adventurous.
The music here leans towards free jazz, with a good deal of experimentation from Gismonti, who uses his guitar as much as a percussive instrument as a chordal or melodic one. The 11 tracks, all recorded in Munich in 1981, are drawn from the Magico and Folk Songs albums, but also include compositions not otherwise recorded by the trio, including one from Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra's repertoire.
There is no leader here as such, but Gismonti is the dominant composer, contributing five pieces, including Carta De Amor, variations on which open and close the performance. Spor - the album's high point - has been considerably developed from the Magico version.