Stuart Nicholson wrote in the BBC Music magazine of the "Rarum" series: "... selected by the artists themselves, this series is of enormous importance in revealing the breadth of each artist's work, as much for the converted as the unconverted looking for a window into the remarkable ECM catalogue". Arild Andersen's compilation takes a zigzag path through his discography highlighting his own groups, his soloist brilliance as a bassist and his perceptiveness in recognizing talent in bud. Quite a few musicians received early exposure through Andersen's efforts. Amongst them: Bill Frisell, Nils Petter Molv'r, Jon Balke, Bendik Hofseth, Bugge Wesseltoft and, more recently, Vassilis Tsabropoulos. Andersen's : rarum also includes encounters with established masters Paul Motian, Kenny Wheeler, and Ralph Towner. "It's been some fantastic years with ECM, and I feel I've just started".