Pianist, composer, and musical mischief maker Django Bates has had a long -- if intermittent -- relationship with ECM. His first appearances in 1986 and 1989 were on par with First House albums. In the '90s, he worked on Sidsel Endresen's So I Write and Exile. In early 2017, he was Anouar Brahem's pianist for the stellar Blue Maqams in a quartet that also featured Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. The Study of Touch, recorded with his provocative piano trio Beloved, is his label debut. Bates has made a career of refusing to be pigoneholed. He has stated on more than one occasion that he would never lead a piano trio because there were too many already. His chance meeting with bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Peter Bruun in 2005 at Copenhagen's Rhythmic Music Academy changed all that. Beloved released two earlier recordings, Beloved Bird -- a set of Charlie Parker tunes (2009) and Confirmation (2012) for his own Lost Marble label. When Bates and his manager approached Manfred Eicher about recording for ECM, the label head and producer suggested the piano trio format. Never say never.

1		Sadness All the Way Down
2		Giorgiantics
3		Little Petherick
4		Senza Bitterness
5		We Are Not Lost, We Are Simply Finding Our Way
6		This World
7		The Study of Touch
8		Passport
9		Slippage Street
10		Peonies as Promised
11		Happiness All the Way Up