Meredith was the first singer to be recorded on ECM Records, and her loyalty to the label has been total since the release of Dolmen Music in 1981. On the occasion of the 80th birthday of singer and composer Meridith Monk, the ECM label is releasing The Recordings. This limited 13CD edition brings together everything Meredith Monk has recorded to date on ECM New Series. This beautifully designed box set comes with a 300-page booklet containing all the original liner notes, as well as new texts and interviews. It includes an introductory essay by Frank J. Oteri, "The Worlds of Meredith Monk", an autobiographical text by Meredith titled "The Soul's Messenger" and a foreword by Manfred Eicher. "Monk has mapped out a world that never really existed in the history of the arts. At once visceral and ethereal, raw and ravishing, her works banish the false complexities of urban life and reveal a kind of underground civilization made up of songs, dances and meditations on timeless forces." Alex Ross, The New Yorker