JAN GARBAREK — Places (review)

Album · 1978 · Fusion

5/5 · 2025-01-18
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!