It has been six years since saxophonist/composer Jan Garbarek issued a new recording under his own name. For In Praise of Dreams Garbarek enlisted violist Kim Kashkashian and frequent collaborator Manu Katché on drums. Garbarek, who composed the album’s 11 selections, plays saxophones as well as a host of keyboards and percussion, while Katché plays acoustic and electronic drums along with Kashkashian’s viola. In many ways this is the most radical recording that Garbarek has ever issued, but not because it’s outside — quite the opposite. This is easily the warmest, most accessible outing Garbarek has ever issued because though there are no vocals, Garbarek has clearly written “songs” on this set, with identifiable structures that are followed almost throughout. Though he is no stranger to the form, having employed it almost continually for the last 20 years, he has never engaged it so thoroughly and completely. Previously, he has engaged improvisation to get song to the breaking point and move it somewhere else. Here it is always present; surprise happens inside the formal frameworks of these compositions. Beautiful, soulful lines underscore and recontextualize the saxophonist’s trademark Nordic iciness of tone on the opener, “As Seen from Above,” with its spiraling soprano, lush keyboards, and hypnotic loops.
In its warmth, it comes very close to a distinctly European kind of groove/soul-jazz. The interplay between Kashkashian and Garbarek on the title track offers rounded, multidimensional sonorities winding through the intro before spilling into a call-and-response melody. The repetitive keyboard line and Katché’s mantra-like drumming under the loops draw the listener inside the song’s heart and extend the edge for the front line. The restrained romanticism shown by Kashkashian on her nocturnal solo intro to “One Goes There Alone” is nearly breathtaking. As it gives way to the tune itself, it’s slow, reflective, and rooted deeply in the tension created between percussion and Garbarek’s minimal backing response lines. When he solos later in the tune, he’s clearly blowing blues into her elegiac line. The blues notion continues in his phrasing on “Knot of Place and Time,” slipping through the landscape of Kashkashian’s elegant, near heartbreakingly poetic soundscape. And so it goes. Things get more speculative on “Scene from Afar” and “Cloud of Unknowing,” but it hardly matters since these song forms are nonetheless immediately recognizable, presenting the nether side of the equation. It emerges again with “Conversation With a Stone” and whispers to a close with “A Tale Begun,” a mantra-like duet that closes this strong set that will undoubtedly, if it gets the opportunity to be heard, garner Jan Garbarek some new fans. Poetic, moving, and marvelous, In Praise of Dreams is a welcome return. (by Thom Jurek)
Personnel:
Jan Garbarek (saxophone, synthesizer, percussion)
Kim Kashkashian (viola)
Manu Katché (drums)
Tracklist:
01. As Seen From Above 4:4
02. In Praise Of Dreams 5:21
03. One Goes There Alone 5:0
04. Knot Of Place And Time 6:22
05. If You Go Far Enough 0:39
06. Scene From Afar 5:14
07. Cloud Of Unknowing 5:22
08. Without Visible Sign 4:59
09. Iceburn 4:59
10. Conversation With A Stone 4:18
11. A Tale Begun 4:39
All compositions written by Jan Garbarek
Jan Garbarek
Jan Garbarek had studied with the great American composer George Russell, and had previously appeared on Russell’s venture into jazz-rock, Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved By Nature. Whereas his teacher’s usage of rock rhythms in an avant jazz context often came off as rather clunky, for Garbarek and his guitarist, Terje Rypdal, formerly a member of the popular Norwegian band the Vanguards, such a melding was more second nature. The Esoteric Circle, the first album by their band of the same name (hey, this was still the ’60s after all), is a highly successful and enjoyable effort, one that can stand comfortably with work being done at that time by Tony Williams or John McLaughlin. Garbarek’s compositions range from deeply felt homages to Coltrane (“Traneflight” and “Nefertite”) to rocking jams like “Rabalder,” where Rypdal gets to showcase his considerable chops. In fact, some of these themes were used by Russell in his aforementioned work. Garbarek’s own playing, here entirely on tenor, come largely out of Albert Ayler as well as Coltrane, and his general attack is much more raw and aggressive than the style for which he would eventually become more widely known through his recordings for ECM. Listeners who enjoy his first several albums for that label (from Afric Pepperbird to Witchi-Tai-To) will find much to savor here. (by Brian Olewnick)
Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek’s icy tone and liberal use of space and long tones has long been perfect for the ECM sound and, as a result, he is on many recordings for that label, both as a leader and as a sideman. He had won a competition for amateur jazz players back in 1962, leading to his first gigs. Garbarek worked steadily in Norway throughout the remainder of the ’60s, usually as a leader but also for four years with George Russell (who was in Scandinavia for a long stretch). Garbarek began recording for ECM in the early ’70s and, although he had opportunities to play with Chick Corea and Don Cherry, his association with Keith Jarrett’s European quartet in the mid-’70s made him famous, resulting in the classic recordings My Song and Belonging. In the ’80s, Garbarek’s groups included bassist Eberhard Weber and at various times, guitarists Bill Frisell and David Torn. Garbarek, whose sound has remained virtually unchanged since the ’70s, collaborated with the Hilliard Ensemble in 1993 (a vocal quartet singing Renaissance music) and the result was a surprisingly popular recording. Visible World followed in 1995, and four years later he resurfaced with Rites. In April of 1999, Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble returned with Mnemosyne. He issued In Praise of Dreams in 2004, and finally released his first live album as a leader, Dresden, in 2009. In 2012, ECM released the live archival recording Magico: Carta de Amor, by the Magico trio that also included guitarist Egberto Gismonti and bassist Charlie Haden. ( by Scott Yanow)
A previously unreleased live recording from the 1970s by a short-lived outfit that nonetheless managed to be one of the lastingly influential jazz groups of the era – the “European quartet” of Keith Jarrett (above), with the young Jan Garbarek on sax. Loose, exuberant, tender and edgy, it’s timeless. (The Guardian)
