An absolutely fascinating interview with ECM founder Manfred Eicher on the occasion of the label’s 40th anniversary last November is now online. Though he downplays the importance of the label’s cover designs, they were tremendously influential in shaping my initial interest in graphic design. Lars Müller’s book of ECM covers Sleeves of Desire is almost always in reach of my desk, and another, Windfall Light, is soon on the way.

In answering jazz critic Gary Giddins’s question about the sleeve designs, Eichner cites Gertrude Stein’s maxim to “think of your ears as eyes.” ECM often uses the quote in its materials, but Eichner says it was used first in liner notes for the elegantly understated design of Keith Jarrett’s 10-LP box set The Sun Bear Concerts. (Eichner also playfully describes designer Barbara Wojirsch’s choice for the box binding material as “trash paper.”) The Tokyo concert’s meditative second section continues to be one of the most remarkably evocative things I’ve ever heard on the piano—play it, and you’ll no doubt see the rain falling.