from the magazine “The Most Beautiful Sound Next to Silence” ECM, an independent German music label, has thrived for 50 years by breaking all the rules. Arts and Culture Jazz is often called “America’s classical music,” but a 77-year-old man in Germany has spent most of his life debunking that claim, with formidable success. Few in the general public recognize the name Manfred Eicher. In the jazz world, however, he is regarded with reverence. His record label ECM, based in Munich, has transformed the landscape of contemporary jazz over the last half-century, and proves it year after year by winning polls, earning awards and accolades, and—perhaps most surprising—making money with music that other labels wouldn’t consider releasing.