Jazz Articles about Jan Garbarek

Jan Garbarek: In Praise of Dreams

by Mark F. Turner
October 22, 2004

The late night radio escapades of the '80s introduced the instrumental music style dubbed New Age, which demonstrated a different path from the over-commercialized contemporary scene, yet also appealed to audiences who desired more creative, meditative, and structured music. Groups such as Tangerine Dream and pianist George Winston filled the airwaves with an assorted mix of electronic/acoustic and urban/rural sounds, putting out highly composed recordings that are still popular today. The new release In Praise of Dreams by Norwegian saxophonist ...

Jan Garbarek: In Praise of Dreams

by John Kelman
September 21, 2004

Following a six-year break from recording, with only a guest appearance on bassist Miroslav Vitous' Universal Syncopations ('03) and a :Rarum compilation ('02), Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek returns with his first album of new material since Rites ('98). In Praise of Dreams continues along the path established by such recordings as Legend of the Seven Dreams , I Took Up The Runes , and Visible World. But while Garbarek demonstrates the same penchant for deceptively simple pieces with almost anthem-like ...

A Peep Into European Jazz

by AAJ Staff
March 12, 2003

This is an interesting departure from the various avenues of jazz I have looked at so far, and at the outset I must than my good friend Diane Parekh and her husband George Patyrka –both of Ann Arbor, MI. She was kind enough to act upon my casual request to look for stuff by Czeslaw Niemen –the keyboard wizard and Michal Urbaniak –the violin virtuoso, during their recent trip to Poland. I was surprised to find four CD’s : three ...

Jan Garbarek: Rarum: Selected Recordings of Jan Garbarek

by AAJ Staff
July 1, 2002

Jan Garbarek's music can be summed up in one simple word: meditation. Sure, the term is loaded with overtones, both good and bad. But do not confuse meditation with mindlessness: they are polar opposites. Garbarek's thirty years with ECM (as a leader and collaborator) have yielded hundreds of melodies which lead to an infinitely light state of inner peace. It's hard to imagine a more positive statement for a saxophone player who long ago decided to forsake flash-and-bang for “simpler" ...

Jan Garbarek: Rites

by Robert Spencer
May 1, 1999

This sprawling new double CD by Jan Garbarek is an apotheosis of the vision and approach he has pursued more or less single-mindedly for almost thirty years now. Virtually all the roads he has visited in the past are revisited, in one way or another, here, and in as crisply competent and subtly virtuosic a fashion as ever.

As usual, Garbarek's masterful playing is the central element that commands attention. His soprano playing on the cheerful, upbeat, jazzy “Her Wild ...

Jan Garbarek: Rites

by Glenn Astarita
February 1, 1999

It’s hard to disagree with the companion press release, which suggests that “Rites” is a World Music effort. Jan Garbarek explores his “rites of passages” and takes us on a journey that shadows Garbarek’s personal observations and life experiences. Here, Garbarek expands upon his 1996 ECM release “Visible World” with clearer output and perhaps a more refined production. Upon its release, “Visible World” was criticized by some for being too commercial or perhaps leaning toward an “Adult Contemporary” (New Age) ...