Founded by German producer Manfred Eicher in 1969, the ECM record label slowly blossomed from progressive-jazz roots into one of the most distinctive and influential imprints in the world. While jazz luminaries like Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, and Jan Garbarek were among its bedrock artists, starting in the late '70s ECM's reach into classical and world music often resulted in a dynamic admixture that dissolved genre boundaries and connected seemingly discrete approaches. ECM's production style is just as distinctive as its curatorial aesthetic, privileging space, reverb, and patience so that each recording has a meticulous atmospheric presence.