Elixir (Ocrd)

Marilyn Mazur, Jan Garbarek | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 15, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: ECM
• ASIN: B000ZN9MG0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,015 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excuse me, Mr. Rich?, June 2, 2008

By 

Firestarter "Best regards from Firestarter" (NY State, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elixir (Ocrd) (Audio CD)

Clearly, some "reviewers" would do better if they did not write at all...

This is an _European_ jazz which doesn't have much in common with an American jazz. So advising to go and listen instead to Monk, Davis or Evans doesn't make any sense (all three are some of the greatest jazz musicians, but of a completely different sub-genre).

Now, not only European jazz has its base in quite different sensibilities, but this is a special kind of European jazz. First of all, this record is most and foremost about subtleties and minimalism of the sound of percussion. Second of all, the percussionist is a woman - that fact influences music on this album even farther. Silence can be as much a part of any kind of music as a full-blown sound of a trumpet or electric guitar can be, Mr. Rich... If you listen to Stanko or Davis and pay attention, you should know that.

And saying that Garbarek should go ahead and retire, or, that the ECM and Manfred Eicher are a lost cause - that just shows complete ignorance and lack of taste (musical and/or otherwise).

I give this record solid three stars. On some days, I would be willing to give it even four stars.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much Better Than 3 Stars!, April 18, 2010

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[e-mail] (WI, United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Elixir (Ocrd) (Audio CD)

I almost gave this CD 5 stars. There is some very very nice stuff here. "Winter Wish" is a fantastic piece. "Orientales" is very very nice. These are great compositions and there are many more.

The overall mood on this CD is laid back and slightly surreal. The Jan Gabarek peices are worth the price of this CD alone.

Marilyn Mazur is quite an accomplished percussionist. Some of her solo tracks are a fascinating listen. There are couple of tracks where the purpose may have been to show off Marilyn's skill as a musician. That is the only area where I think this CD lags a little bit.

However I still highly recommend "Elixir". This genre of easy European jazz is very hard to find these days, especially new and original compositions. Buy this CD now before it (sadly) goes out of print.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Please excuse mr. j. rich, May 15, 2008

By 

Thano J. Lomiento (poughkeepsie, ny United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elixir (Ocrd) (Audio CD)

Marilyn Mazur presents solo and duo performances on this release. Some of which are more interesting than others to be sure. To say this is not music is simply ignorant. I would hate to hear what the previous reviewer would write about a work by J. Cage or M. Feldman.

Onto the music itself which is of course produced in superb ECM fashion. Elixir offers statements that are fairly short ( mostly between 2 - 3 minutes ) and if there is any fault with the performances, this in my opinion is it. One is reminded of some of the more open ended work that Keith Jarrett produced ( an obvious is Spirits ) with both the European Quartet ( of which Jan Garbarek was part ) and the American Quartet.

As far as the comment that Jan Garberek should retire....and that his contributions here are "downright pathetic and juvenile" Well perhaps this is not Garbareks definitive statement, but it certainly merits no comment such as that. Anyone familiar with Garberek will be reminded of the Madar or Eventyr albums.

A nice effort in all.