Jan Garbarek – Live At The Beethovenfest (2015)

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)

And this is another brilliant live concerts with Jan Garbarek and his group.

Without any doubts he´s one of the finest jazz musician our time !

Recorded live at Beethovenfest, Rhein Sieg Halle, Siegburg, Germany; October 2, 2015.
Excellent webcast.

Personnel:
Rainer Brüninghaus (keyboards)
Yuri Daniel (bass)
Trilok Gurtu (drums, percussion)
Jan Garbarek (saxophone)

Tracklist:
01. One Goes There Alone (Garbarek) 8.29
02. Life Without Balcony (Garbarek) 5.15
03. Red Dust (Garbarek) 8.37
04. Transformations (Brüninghaus) 6.39
05. Stolt Oli 10:46 (Garbarek) 10.46
06. Maracatu 1:42 (Daniel) 1.42
07. Vignette 5:08 (Garbarek) 5.08
08. Pendant  (Garbarek) 8.52
09. La Pasionaria (Garbarek) 9.21
10. Drum Solo 13:26 (Gurtu) 13.26
11. It’s High Time (Garbarek) 4.38
12. Paper Nut (Shankar) 4.38

 

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Keith Jarrett – Sleeper Tokyo (1999 – 2012)

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)
The double album Sleeper contains a previously unreleased live concert by Keith Jarrett’s European quartet from the ’70s, recorded at Tokyo’s Nakano Sun Plaza on April 16, 1979. Together with saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Palle Danielsson, and drummer Jon Christensen, Jarrett performs seven of his own compositions: “Personal Mountains,” “Innocence,” “So Tender,” “Oasis,” “Chant of the Soil,” “Prism,” and “New Dance” — the latter song being the shortest here at seven minutes, while “Oasis” clocks in at over 28 minutes! As a companion piece to the live albums Nude Ants and Personal Mountains (both recorded the same year, even though the latter album was only released in 1989), Sleeper offers another noteworthy document of the creative interplay between these four musicians. (by Christian Genzel)

Probably the best live recording of the European Quartet. Realy powerfull, one of the best “new” releases of 2015. Sounds modern and far more in the moment, compared to loads of new popular jazz albums. This music screams for listening to it. And right it is.(Erik de Langkruis)

Personnel:
Jon Christensen (drums, percussion)
Palle Danielsson (bass)
Jan Garbarek (saxophone, flute, percussion)
Keith Jarrett (piano, percussion)

Tracklist:

CD 1:
01. Personal Mountains 21.12
02. Innocence 10.47
03. So Tender 13.27

CD 2:
04. Oasis 28.13
05. Chant Of The Soil 14.52
06. Prism 11.15
07. New Dance 7.07

All compositions by Keith Jarrett

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Jan Garbarek – In Praise Of Dreams (2004)

In Praise of Dreams is a jazz album by Jan Garbarek released in 2004 on ECM. In 2005, it was nominated for the Grammy for “Best Contemporary Jazz Album”. It lost out to Unspeakable by Bill Frisell. (by wikipedia)

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, synthesizers)
Manu Katché (drums, percussion, samples)
Kim Kashkashian (viola on 02. – 04 + 06. – 10.)

Tracklist:
01. As Seen From Above 4.42
02. In Praise Of Dreams 5.22
03. One Goes There Alone 5.09
04. Knot Of Place And Time 6.27
05. If You Go Far Enough 0.44
06. Scene From Afar 5.19
07. Cloud Of Unknowing 5.26
08. Without Visible Sign 5.04
09. Iceburn 5.02
10. Conversation With A Stone 4.25
11. A Tale Begun 4.39

All compositions by Jan Garbarek

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