Jan Garbarek
mvs...@vms.cis.pitt.edu
In article <4vfcjj$m...@news.bu.edu>, len...@bu.edu (Marc Lensink) writes:
> I was wondering, what's the general opinion here about
> the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek?
> Do people consider him a jazz musician, or closer to
> a new age type of thing?
> For me, some of his compositions are simply genius, but
> they don't seem to give much room for improvisations
> and yet the last concert of his that I visited he
> managed to extend Gula, Gula from the 6-min album version
> to an almost 30-min live version with plenty of improvisation.
> His band, btw, consisted of Rainer Bruninghausen, Eberhard
> Weber and Marilyn Mazur.
>
> Marc
His playing on the few albums that I heard seemed to me to fit well
into a generic ECM style. Some would call it jazz, some fusion.
I know he studied and played with George Russell in the 60s, so
his earlier playing may be more jazz-oriented (I haven't heard it).
His _Photo with [lots of stuff]_ was one of the first jazz records
I got into and I still enjoy the compositions and band interplay
on it (BTW, who plays on that?), but his solos often don't venture
too far away from the theme. I also liked his _Paths, Prints [?]_ with
Frisell and Jarrett's _Nude Ants_ on which Garbarek plays, but it's
been awhile since I've listened to them - it'll be a good idea to dig
them up again. I've heard a few of his albums that didn't really
interest me and I did think they were more out of the new agey bag.
Michael
Marc Lensink
Fathom
> I was wondering, what's the general opinion here about
> the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek?
> Do people consider him a jazz musician, or closer to
> a new age type of thing?
> For me, some of his compositions are simply genius, but
> they don't seem to give much room for improvisations
I was a Garbarek fan before the term "New Age Music" even hit the stores.
His approach was unique at the time, with much reference to Indian raga
forms (much more explicit on his recent albums like "Ragas and Sagas", but
obvious even 20+ years ago). Ragas are designed for open-ended
improvisation, so the idea that his "compositions" are complete is just an
illusion created by his artistry.
I have heard that some of his recent stuff is more like fluffy-newage (as
in, rhymes with sewage, as in Kenny G), so now I'm afraid to buy anything
new. I love _Dis_ and _Places_ from the 70's; maybe someone can
recapitulate for me his good, bad, and ugly.
--
Fathom >8-)>
*********************************
Custom-designed reality is a labor-intensive product.
*****************************************************
C E Pical
In article <4vfcjj$m...@news.bu.edu>, len...@bu.edu says...
>
>I was wondering, what's the general opinion here about
>the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek?
>Do people consider him a jazz musician, or closer to
>a new age type of thing?
new age? what is that? just teasing. I can't imagine how anyone can
consider Garbarek's music new age, even if you find it cold, not "jazz"
as defined by (I forgot his name) a few days ago. As Garbarek says
himself he took on saxophone after hearing/listening to Coltrane. No
doubt he is very aware of traditional jazz. The Norwegian traditional
tunes are very beautiful, and I find (myself, personaly) that he has
always used traditional music very well. Does it really matter whether
people (be they musically educated, musicians or not) consider his
music jazz? Obviously, his music is not traditional jazz, but he has
studied and played straight jazz in his early days. I very much like
what he is doing (Visible World is not his best though), but I also
very much like Coltrane, Rollins, Parker, and others.
>For me, some of his compositions are simply genius, but
>they don't seem to give much room for improvisations
>and yet the last concert of his that I visited he
>managed to extend Gula, Gula from the 6-min album version
>to an almost 30-min live version with plenty of improvisation.
>His band, btw, consisted of Rainer Bruninghausen, Eberhard
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bruninghaus
>Weber and Marilyn Mazur.
Marilyn Mazur surely deserves more attention. She has a couple of
excellent CDs.
>
>Marc
>
Christophe
Boerge Soleng
>I was wondering, what's the general opinion here about
>the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek?
>Do people consider him a jazz musician, or closer to
>a new age type of thing?
I think Garbarek on his more recent albums is walking a fine line between
great musical art and banalities. A lot of his music is extremely simple,
almost naive, but in certain context it's extremely effective.
My personal experience is that Garbareks music is extremely depending on the
situation. Hearing him in a concert situation is very often a fantastic
event, but hearing the same music in the car, could be pretty close to
nonsense. It's something with the atmosphere he's managing to create live,
that's not so easy to give the listener through a record.
Boerge Soleng, bor...@fiskforsk.norut.no
__________________________________________________________________
"Nice touch!" (Miles Davis about Herbie Hancock)
C E Pical
In article <4vg14p$q...@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu>,
mvs...@vms.cis.pitt.edu says...
>
>...His _Photo with [lots of stuff]_ was one of the first jazz records
>I got into and I still enjoy the compositions and band interplay
>on it (BTW, who plays on that?)...
>Michael
Photo With... features:
Bill Connors
John Taylor
Eberhard Weber
Jon Christensen
I like "Places", also with Connors and Taylor, but with De Johnette and
no bass, better than "Photo With..."
Bill Connors' "Of Mist and Melting" also has Garbarek, with Weber,
Taylor and a drummer.
Alex Bunardzic
len...@bu.edu (Marc Lensink) wrote:
>I was wondering, what's the general opinion here about
>the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek?
>Do people consider him a jazz musician, or closer to
>a new age type of thing?
>Marc
Garbarek is very intense artist. The only trouble is, there are too
many damn perfect sax players in this world (regretfully, I couldn't
say this about guitar players), so I cannot indulge in praising him as
much as I would wish to. His opus with Jarrett and 70s and early 80s
ECM producion is superb.
'Ragas and Sagas'? I don't know.
Alex
Richard Koch
>
> His playing on the few albums that I heard seemed to me to fit well
> into a generic ECM style. Some would call it jazz, some fusion.
> I know he studied and played with George Russell in the 60s, so
> his earlier playing may be more jazz-oriented (I haven't heard it).
> His _Photo with [lots of stuff]_ was one of the first jazz records
> I got into and I still enjoy the compositions and band interplay
> on it (BTW, who plays on that?), but his solos often don't venture
> too far away from the theme. I also liked his _Paths, Prints [?]_ with
> Frisell and Jarrett's _Nude Ants_ on which Garbarek plays, but it's
> been awhile since I've listened to them - it'll be a good idea to dig
> them up again. I've heard a few of his albums that didn't really
> interest me and I did think they were more out of the new agey bag.
>
> Michael
>
Truly there are some really nice recordings like Nude Ants or My Song,... .
But I was really disappointed when I heard his newest CD, "Visible Worlds",
which really lacks of musical quality and is obviously comercial.
Also, I always had problems with his sound. I prefer a Joe Henderson-like
sound.
Marc Lensink
Fathom (fat...@sonic.net) wrote:
: I have heard that some of his recent stuff is more like fluffy-newage (as
: in, rhymes with sewage, as in Kenny G), so now I'm afraid to buy anything
: new. I love _Dis_ and _Places_ from the 70's; maybe someone can
: recapitulate for me his good, bad, and ugly.
Try 'I took up the runes'.
Marc
Squeech
>I was wondering, what's the general opinion here about
>the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek?
Some of his own stuff, like IT'S OK TO LISTEN TO THE GREY VOICE
is, for me, closer to the new age than I like to get. I enjoy
most of the "chamber jazz" stuff of the late '70s, eg., Oregon,
Gary Burton, Eberhard Weber's stuff--where Garbarek plays...lots
of ECM come to think of it--Doesn't he also play on some of Ralph
Towner's recs?
Anyway, I do like his playing on El Shankar's SONG FOR EVERYONE.
This is a real hot record. It has some sticky sweet melody lines
but swings pretty hard--kinda like some of the other ECM artists
listed above.
my two cents,
shawn
Squeech
tomb...@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
Don't know about the later stuff, but the nectar can be found in four albums:
"Magico" and "Folk Songs", both trio albums with Egberto Gismonti and Charlie
Haden (probably found in the Haden bin), and the two quartet albums--"Solstice"
and "Sound and Shadows"--with Ralph Towner, Eberhard Weber, and Jon
Christensen (which could be either in the JG or the Towner bins). All
four albums are on ECM, of course.
Giri Iyengar
Take a listen to Zakir Hussain's "Making Music." Hussain, Garbarek, McLaughlin
and Chaurasia on the bamboo (Indian( flute. Excellent music. Not jazz, which
may rule it out for some, but some damn good stuff nonetheless. My only
complaint with that album is that Garbarek is too up front in the mix.
I thought "12 moons" from a while ago was decent, as well. A bit ECMish, but
it has some strong melodies.
..Giri
Brian Ritchie
>In article <4vfcjj$m...@news.bu.edu>, len...@bu.edu (Marc Lensink) writes:
>> I was wondering, what's the general opinion here about
>> the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek?
>> a new age type of thing?
mvs...@vms.cis.pitt.edu writes:
>His playing on the few albums that I heard seemed to me to fit well
>into a generic ECM style. Some would call it jazz, some fusion.
>I know he studied and played with George Russell in the 60s, so
>his earlier playing may be more jazz-oriented (I haven't heard it).
His original sound was more raw (and raucous), at least based on
Esoteric Circle and Afric Pepperbird.
>His _Photo with [lots of stuff]_ was one of the first jazz records
>I got into and I still enjoy the compositions and band interplay
>on it (BTW, who plays on that?),
John Taylor piano; Bill Connors guitar; Eberhard Weber bass; Jon Christensen
drums.
>I also liked his _Paths, Prints [?]_ with
>Frisell and Jarrett's _Nude Ants_ on which Garbarek plays
The first Garbarek I heard was Eventyr (with Abercrombie and
Vasconcelos); it was a while before I risked another one! (Though
Eventyr has grown on me, eventually.)
I always think of Paths,Prints, Wayfarer and ...Gray Voice as his
"guitar trilogy" (though he's used other guitarists before), and I've
not enjoyed his stuff so much since. Bruninghaus is a fine pianist
(though I've never heard him play as well on album as the stunning
solo he played in one Garbarek gig in London), but I miss the edge
injected by Frisell and Torn.
He does seem to be getting less adventurous, at least when recording
under the "Garbarek Group" banner...
>I've heard a few of his albums that didn't really
>interest me and I did think they were more out of the new agey bag.
... but I'd never dream of calling even his fluffiest stuff
(e.g. Visible World) "new age". What an insult! :-)
(And there are things (admittedly a very few, and some wrongly) filed
under newage that I *like*...)
---
Dr. Brian Ritchie, Systems Engineering Division,
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxon, UK
WWW URL: http://www.cis.rl.ac.uk/people/br/contact.html
Boerge Soleng
>>In article <4vfcjj$m...@news.bu.edu>, len...@bu.edu (Marc Lensink) writes:
>>> I was wondering, what's the general opinion here about
>>> the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek?
>>> Do people consider him a jazz musician, or closer to
>>> a new age type of thing?
Do you people know that garbarek has a daughter, Anja Garbarek, who has pretty
recently released two albums? Her second, "Balloon moods" is a very special
record in a rather unique style. I think her father has contributed to that
one, at least in a more indirect way, and though it's got nothing to do with
jazz, it's well worth checking out.
C E Pical
In article <borges.26...@fiskforsk.norut.no>,
bor...@fiskforsk.norut.no says...
>
>
>Do you people know that garbarek has a daughter, Anja Garbarek, who
has pretty
>recently released two albums? Her second, "Balloon moods" is a very
special
>record in a rather unique style. I think her father has contributed to
that
>one, at least in a more indirect way, and though it's got nothing to
do with
>jazz, it's well worth checking out.
>
>
>Boerge Soleng, bor...@fiskforsk.norut.no
>__________________________________________________________________
>"Nice touch!" (Miles Davis about Herbie Hancock)
Could you provide some more info about this "Balloon Moods"?
And also, which company and CD number?
Christophe