In March 2005 the Stuttgart Theaterhaus Jazztage Festival celebrated Eberhard Weber"s birthday with two spectacular concerts. Stages Of A Long Journey is the recording drawn from these concerts and is comprised of some of the biggest hits of Weber"s career newly arranged for soloists, small group and orchestra. The album also brings together an all-star group of musicians and long-term associates that includes Marilyn Mazur, Gary Burton and Jan Garbarek, with Burton and Garbarek together for the first time on disc. Stages Of A Long Journey is Eberhard Weber"s first recording as a leader in seven years and is sure to delight long-term and first generation ECM listeners. Born in 1940 in Sttutgart, Eberhard Weber made his first record as a leader, and first ECM recording, in 1973 - The Colours of Chloë. Since then he has made 11 more albums under his name and all of these on ECM. He has collaborated with a who"s-who of past and present ECM stars including Gary Burton, Pat Metheny and Jan Garbarek, as well as with the British pop star Kate Bush. Weber"s compositions are known for blending elements of jazz, classical, minimalism and ambient music with lyrical melodies and an attention to color and dramatic detail.