Moshkiae Jan Garbarek Eventyr 1981

With Nana Vasconcellos and John Abercrombie

Sometimes, I wonder if some of these things are really jazz, even though many of the players are almost exclusively jazz wisened and practiced.

This middle period of Jan Garbarek's is interesting ... not sure you can call it much of anything other than "ambient", as you never really get that feeling that the players are going to break out and jam on their instruments. With Nana Vasconcellos doing his thing on various percussive instruments, and John Abercrombie adding some very light (and beautiful) touches to what Jan Garbarek is doing, and the best part of it ... they keep it going, very smoothly.

This is a special album, for me ... the opening is one of the nicest things I have ever heard and felt ... it has a calling f some sort, and it sounds very lonely, and not quite desperate, but you can feel the emotion with the call. Soria Maria is a Norwegian tale, and even though we might not know what that story is, you get the feeling that you know it some by the piece of music. It's beauty is a bit on the side of the likes of a siren's call in the old greek stories, it has a bit of an inebriated feel to it, or at least a bit on the person being affected if not by stimulants, then by the desire to do what the hero has to do in the story.

It feels like you have been enchanted while listening to it ... forget music ... just close your eyes and see if you can find the visual for it ... I think it gives us the terrain and the majority of the feeling surrounding it. It was, thought of as a "new age" type album, but with all due respect, that is not even a good suggestion in my book. The music here is way and far above a lot of that stuff that was created simply with a name on it to sell, and had not half as much an image as the stuff in this album does.

The whole album is fantastic, and not of the pieces are weaker or not as vivid as any of the others, although none of them have the incredible wake up call that Soria Maria has, which is very strong, and gets stronger as Nana Vasconcellos augments the piece with some of his drums very lightly ... this adds a bit of "distance" to your view of it, but it does not take away from the piece, the story of which has some long voyages.

The title, as it turns out, and I did not know it until I tried to look for a definition just as I am writing this is defined as "a bold or exciting undertaking or experience" ... and well, I think that is all you need to know to enjoy this album of fantastic music. It is a far out experience, and not always something that many of us take on, specially with a soundtrack!!!

The long pieces, (Soria Maria, Eventyr, Once Upon the Time, East of the Sun and West of the Moon) are all the special things here, and just about, all you need to listen to, but please don't do that ... this album deserves a full listen, as the smaller pieces might be thought of as simpler ... with the longer pieces all "a story" and it is my thought that it was Jan Garbarek's idea to tell a story, with the playing, and I think it succeeds well ... most jazz is not about a story ... it is ... here we go, and then each person does their thing and meet up somewhere in the end ... but here, as a piece is coming to an end, you want more ... even though I kinda think that some folks might consider this whole album a bit somber ... a soundtrack for an imaginary story ... a fable from the Norwegian history.

An album worth having, if you are a fan of folks experimenting well and trying to do something different than just play notes and chords a la jazz style ... this is about the mood and its continuation here, that defines this album ... and if you like that ... this is just fine.

Excellent work, and a part of a period of Jan Garbarek, that I think he was looking to see what could be done with jazz that was not so invisible as most jazz playing is, and so tightly based on notes and chords by most players. Hearing this, the first thought of mine ... was .. this is not "jazz" ... and I suppose that this is ambient, with a jazz like bend ... but that might be hard ... since you can close your eyes and this has a movie somewhere.

NOTE: Parts of this album was used in the film "JOURNEY OF HOPE" in 1990 a Swiss/Turkey film, about the plight of many refugees trying to get out of Turkey. The music in the film has Arild Anderson (not sure which album yet), Jan Garbarek and Terje Rypdal (from EOS) ... and it presents Xavier Koller's film with astounding images with various parts of the music, making it look like the music is about the hope that these folks have for a new life. It won an OSCAR for Best Foreign Film the following year.

Moshkiae Jan Garbarek Places 1978

I'm not sure that I would call these 4 pieces in this album ... something called jazz. I kinda think that this is more "mood music" than it is something that could be called "jazz", although it is easy to think that it is so, simply because of Jan Garbarek. And, this is a rather difficult album to review, in that we just about have to "see" what the ideas/thoughts might be coming from the music, and in this sense, "jazz" makes sense, since it is not always anything other than just folks meandering together sometimes together, and sometimes apart.

But, in this case here, the difficulty is trying to match the titles to the actual music, and then see if they come together in your imagination ... kinda ... for me! But the listening is neat, quiet and nice all around ... and you never feel like a lot of jazz, where ... more of this or that is not really necessary, but it is added all the same, with another instrument or even the same player adding a different touch.

"Going Places" is the one that you wonder the most, specially as it has a repeating theme, and you wonder what is that happens (visually) in between the themes ... and it is a cool exercise of your mental abilities, though you and I have to remember that jazz is not as strong proving a "movie moment" as classical or rock music can be ... but sometimes it works, specially when it is to demonstrate a mind broken in parts or at least making an effort to come together, but still very apart.

With an organ sound all the way through the album, it almost feels like the rest of any instrumentation is just an addon, but it does not deter from the moods. And more often than not is actually makes tings interesting, although, for example, the ending of "Going Places" is probably the only part that you end up saying ... now that is jazz! But you know what? Compared to the rest of the stuff, it's almost like it doesn't fit ... but you accept it as a part of the music as it returns to the soft and meandering style of this album.

"Passing" has a bit of a somber tone, and feels like a dirge at the start ... and the tough part is when it ends suddenly ... and I think it is meant to be intentional ... as an image of death, if you will ... gone! And here, the solo guitar is absolutely a treat and neat, and the better part is that Jan Garbarek allows him to do his thing and not join in as a lot of jazz folks do ... and when it does it feels fine, except you don't want the guitar to stop, but it does. From that point on the themes repeat and the piece continues, until the saxophone leads them to another area. And it is very tasty and pretty, with the somber organ in the background and never coming to the front to let you know ... this is an organ, probably one of the nicest things in this album altogether, which helps define a lot of moods.

A very nice album, and compared to a lot of Jan's earlier work, it is a lot less "jazz" than it is ... simply ... great and enjoyable music, though I suppose that some folks in the audience are going to fall asleep on it ... gosh, we still have the kid stuff and feel in us! And we allow the music to take us away with it!

Very nice album ... not exactly a "jazz" standard, but a wonderful experiment of some of the things that jazz folks can do that help take jazz a bit further than just the cacophony of instruments all screaming for attention. There is no such detail here at all, and it makes this album special!

Steve Wyzard THE BEST ECM SAX WITH ORGAN ALBUM

For many years, this album was not available on CD, and was very hard to find. Now that it has been re-issued, listeners and collectors can finally hear this very successful pairing of the saxophones of Jan Garbarek with the organ of John Taylor. This album was recorded in December 1977, mere weeks after the very prolific Garbarek played on Keith Jarrett's My Song. He also appears on Gary Peacock's December Poems and Bill Connors' Of Mist and Melting, both of which were recorded at the same time. That's four full-length albums in less than three months, and Places is definitely the best of the four.

There is no double bass on Places, but the album doesn't suffer for it. Three of the four lengthy compositions open with Taylor's ethereal organ. "Reflections" is a two-part epic: "part one" features Garbarek's slow-building phrases, Bill Connors' softly picked acoustic guitar, and Jack DeJohnette's mystical cymbals. Suddenly the tempo picks up for "part two". Taylor contributes background colors over Garbarek's best blaring tone while Connors takes a solo over DeJohnette's louder, more vibrant drums. "Entering" is the shortest and most accessible track. Garbarek plays plaintively, nostalgically over Connors' acoustic guitar. DeJohnette enters halfway through, and the song closes peacefully with a short coda. In spite of brilliant performances, "Going Places" is just a little unfocussed, with a few too many mood changes. After a busy DeJohnette opening (this is his best playing on the album) and much shrill Garbarek soloing, this track moves into much slower, more atmospheric territory. There's also a great Connors solo and a drum-and-organ duet before Taylor switches to percussive piano for the only time on this album. "Passing" has Connors introducing the melody before Garbarek joins in over Taylor's organ cadences. This more subdued, almost bluesy track closes the album with Garbarek's best deep guttural groans and DeJohnette playing military drum patterns.

So where does Places fit within the Jan Garbarek catalog? It's not an earth-shaking, all-time classic like Witchi-Tai-To, or an openly experimental album like Dis or All Those Born With Wings. It's not as accessible as Photo with... or It's Okay to Listen to the Gray Voice, or as introspective as Paths, Prints. There's a similar feel on Places to some of Terje Rypdal's work from the same time period without ever digressing into the early-1970s avant-garde sound. And it's much better than Dansere, Eventyr, or Wayfarer. All this adds up to...highly recommended!

Steve Wyzard LONG, LONG LINES

The cover photo, by Petra Nettelbeck, is almost an ECM cliché: a long, empty road stretching off into nowhere beneath a clouded sky. The music contained within, however, is not. Released in 1982, Paths, Prints is one of Jan Garbarek's most atmospheric and introspective albums. "The Path", "Footprints" (with ethnic percussion and wood flute), "The Move", and "Arc" are all Garbarek classics. This album introduced guitarist Bill Frisell to a wider ECM audience (he had previously appeared on a very obscure Eberhard Weber album, Fluid Rustle, in 1979), and was also the first of three album appearances by Weber as Garbarek's sideman after breaking up his Colours band.

From the soprano showpiece "Kite Dance", to the wistful "To B.E." (Bill Evans, perhaps?), to the moody "Considering the Snail", to the (seemingly) improvised "Still", Paths, Prints can definitely be classified among the upper echelon of Jan Garbarek albums. Some will no doubt complain this album is too "slow", or that drummer Jon Christensen is given too little to do. Yet for those who enjoy Garbarek's sax lines that threaten to extend indefinitely, or are long-time listeners to the hypnotic timbres of Frisell or Weber, this album is highly recommended. Not an introductory work for the uninitiated, but yes, a great Sunday afternoon album.

snobb I believe you have never heard saxophonist Jan Garbarek sounding like this! Nothing strange there, most jazz fans have no idea this album exists!

The twenty-year old future Norwegian saxophone superstar is playing in a student club on "Til Vigdis". The album consists of three very free compositions with enough kicking and swinging to be recognized as post-65 Coltrane music influenced. The rhythm section (bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Jon Christensen) are both future Nordic jazz leading figures as well.

Not particularly memorable or musically exciting, this album is unique as probably one of the earlier European free jazz albums(the only earlier European free jazz album I know is Manfred Schoof debut), and it also shows Garbarek's early influences as well. He will show much higher class on his next release, "African Pepperbird", but for those who only know Garbarek as a new-agey contemporary Nordic jazz star, this album could open their eyes (and may be ears). This original limited edition is really an expensive rarity though, with i-net prices up to 1500 euro.