The "Touchstones" series includes the album "Cello," whose cover features a photograph of Jean-Luc Godard. The music on that photograph gradually found its way into the director's well-known works. Soundscapes unfold in the listener's mind. Blogger Tyran Grillo describes David Darling's "Cello" as one of the most impressive albums ECM has ever released—regardless of genre. The compositions feel familiar, while Darling, with improvisational freedom, explores the depths of his soul, finding in the studio the opportunity to musically capture the spaces beneath the clouds depicted on the cover—ever penetrating further and ever closer to the pulse of life. The recordings were made at Rainbow Studio in Oslo in November 1991 and January 1992.
