Customer Reviews

I Took Up the Runes

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Actually, it really doesn't matter. If I give the nod to Seven Dreams, it's because it first assayed his shift to elegiac folk-jazz and because of "He Came from the North." Yes, "Molde Canticle" is entirely remarkable, perhaps even trumping anything on the former disc from the standpoint of sheer virtuosity. But maybe, just, not quite matching the wide-eyed clarity of ur-folk/jazz vision so amply on display on Seven Dreams.

On the other hand, this disc bountifully expands the sound palette, even as it retains the minimalist approach, including, for the first time, long-time collaborator Manu Katche on drums, and an early taste of electronic pioneer, Bugge Wesseltoft, on synth. Plus, it contains perhaps Eberhard Weber's finest recorded bass playing on "Molde Canticle, Part 3." Also, I absolute love how Garbarek so subtly deploys Wesseltoft's synth stylings: They're never obtrusive, always absolutely geared to their proper accompanying role. And his tenor playing on "Molde Canticle, Part 3" seems to me to be his strongest on disc. Another highlight: Vasconcelos's percussion on "Molde Canticle, Part 4," brilliantly integrated into the adventurous soundscape laid down by Garbarek's muscular tenor sax, Katche's extroverted drums, and Weber's declamatory bass.

Have I talked myself into this as Garbarek's finest outing?

Maybe.

But not quite. For one thing, there's too much tenor playing for my taste--a sax I actually prefer, under most circumstances, but falling short of the great concept Garbarek has on soprano. Second, despite the obvious aptness to the proceedings of Ingor Antte Ailu Gaup's voice, it somehow subtly adds an alien element that can't quite be fully integrated into the folk-jazz vibe. (Others may, certainly, disagree, and conclude that this is the crowning achievement of Garbarek's folk-jazz conception.) Third, I think this disc may be a little too long. The title cut, oddly, isn't one of the highpoints, delving, as it seems to me, in faux rather than real mystery, and the last two numbers, "Bueno Hora, Buenos Vientos" and "Rhakki Sruvvis," seem to evoke a vibe already adequately explored.

But these are quibbles. This is certainly one of the absolutely finest, if not the very finest, of the many discs in Jan Garbarek's vast canon, one you'll certainly want to avail yourself of, if you haven't already.

Just like any other Garbarek enthusiast would tell you, this is a deliciously lucid album. But in the Garbarek Canon this ranks as the most translucent experience from any of his work, rising even higher than Legend of the Seven Dreams, Visible World and what Rites could have been; another three albums that I consider my favourite Garbarek, apart from his avant-gardist jazz from of the early days.

"Molde Canticle" is an astonishing piece of music, a testament of solitary introspection, something that ECM does all the way starting from their album art up to their style of production, just as well as this is a testament to the economy of improvisation. I cannot think of any other moment with more fondness than playing the first part in front of an audience; there is such clarity of expression, of dynamics and of mood that it sends shivers down the spine. This is not the ordinary, drairy stuff, this remains unconsumed to the last moment being uplifting, as does the best of Garbarek in every occasion.

Now, the Molde Canticle piece is the epicentre of the album, which would have made it astonishing on its own right already. I am thankful, however, that there is something else and that this something else does not go down the usual Garbarek route, either as strikingly different in mood and timbre to shake the sweetness of the rest of the album, or as numbingly filling the rest of the air space. That is, the epicentre itself is such a collocation, such a unity, so integral that it feels impossible to think of anything external forming a larger existing unity to fill the rest of the album. But these songs flow from the heart and into the soul, and Garbarek's approach to the archetype through folkloristic improvisation prevails: the whole album folds into itself time and again, either as a lone voice calling from the top of the mountain or a jazz/rock piece played in a music hall. To listen to this album again is each time a new experience, deeper than before because your soul has changed, and deeper because of the things you still find, and things you remember from it. This is not a mirror, but it does reflect ourselves just as the greatest art does - we can loose ourselves in and build our lives upon it because we know that the foundation holds. Music is one of the things that helps us identify with not only our personality, but our voice of expression. And this is one of those transcendental experiences to cherish.

Just as someone else already said: disparately sublime.

This is one of my favorite Garbarek albums; not only is it the final of the late-1980s works that solidified his reputation as one of the most creative folk-jazz fusion artists, but it features easily accessible and memorable individual cuts and wonderful supporting performances by the likes of Eberhard Weber, Nana Vasconcelos, Manu Katche, and others. The five-part 'Molde Canticle' is the album's major work, featuring variations on a very simple but beautiful and wistful melody by Garbarek himself. Actually, very little of the material here is traditional in origin; it just sounds that way. A must purchase for those who are Garbarek enthusiasts, and a good bet for those who like to relax around a fireplace on a wintry Sunday afternoon.

It`s a very difficult and ungrateful job to choose the best of Garbarek`s works. This one deserves four stars, to my opinion, "Twelve moons" sounds fresher and more diverse.

I am 40 and listen to jazz since I was a child, as my father was a jazz fan. I play and teach guitar, and have a musical education background. I still do not know why, but since the beginning of the year (2004) I got much more deeply in love with music and specifically jazz - I work listening music, I listen music driving, at home etc. and I have probably purchased about 150 jazz CDs this year. This is certainly the one I like the most. I have listened to the whole CD about 4 or 5 times, and all of them were among the greatest aesthetic experiences I had. This CD is fantastic. I've been learning to enjoy Garbarek, and actually like all his CDs I have purchased until today, but this one is the great of the greatest. It is a journey. It is incredible a group of people could have composed and played such music. You feel transported to another dimension of reality, you feel hypnotized, you feel totally involved with the players and the music. A unique experience, from those that make living worth.

The central piece of this album, the five-part Molde Canticle is the outstanding highlight here. This long section is the most exhilirating and lively Garbarek has been in a long time, and this is clearly due to the rhythm section of Katche, Vasconcelos and Weber, who create some incredibly dynamic and addictive rhythms, against which Garbarek and Bruninghaus scatter some gorgeous, rippling arcs of melody. Stunningly engaging music which simply bursts with joy and beauty, and quite unlike much of Garbarek's more restrained, even austere music (which I also love).
The album also has some other instrumental pieces, which attain Garbarek's usual high standard, but there are also two Lapp songs (clearly an acquired taste) which I'm afraid not only left me cold, but sat uneasily with the mood and tone of the rest of the album. Having said that, this remains an essential purchase on the strength of the joyfully upbeat, irresisitible magic of the Molde Canticle: you won't regret it.

Late triumph in a distinguished sax career, Runes is a carefully calibrated work that provides the best of Garbarek's unique tone, exotic rhythms, and spacious pacing without loosing a backbone of compositional content.

There appear to be fewer and fewer musicians (Asian, European, American, Latin American) with whom Garbarek hasn't collaborated at some time. Where no collaboration is possible, he will happily doodle on top of already highly-polished works, as in the million-selling disks he has made with the Hilliard Ensemble. The facility with which he has created dozens of beautiful and intensely enjoyable recordings has led some critics to accuse him of shallowness.

I think the truth is that he is a great musician with much genius, who consistently performs at a level which only looks facile to observers incapable of even approaching his level. But he is also a restless spirit who uses his tecnhical brilliance to conceal himself as consistently as other musicians -- David Darling, for example -- reveal themselves.

Even on this disk, which is a deliberate exploration of his own Scandinavian-Slavic roots (taking up the runes) there is frequently the sense that he is very self-consciously "collaborating" with yet another tradition, even if it is that of his own nation.

The difference is that the tension so often evident in his work with others has here given way to a serene unfolding of something as close to the real Garbarek as we are likely to see. And as so often when that happens, it the Scandinavian Baroque that is the guiding spirit, with stately measures and rather grand tunes giving way to sprightly dances and fanfares, a smell of the stableyard and the crackle of log fires.

Some listeners are irritated by the unadventurousness of this album, the absence of the complex beats and jagged melodies of his exotic works, or the angst which signals that he is operating at a higher level. But this is a Garbarek who is contented, at ease, very much at home, and the result is deservedly one of his most popular recordings. This is a deeply pleasing work and a Garbarek must-have. Highly recommended.

Jazz can take many forms, and when it comes to transforming European folksongs, there is no finer exponent than Jan Garbarek. Along with Terje Rypdal, he has spearheaded the invasion of Norwegian jazz, and kept the faith with Manfred Eicher's ECM label throughout his career. (Along with Keith Jarrett, Garbarek is now ECM's biggest-selling artist.)

When Norway hosted the Eurovision Song Contest some years back, Garbarek and Rypdal were the unsung stars of the classiest interlude video (the five minute period for the judges to decide on their votes for the best song). It was confirmation, if such was needed, that they had hit the mainstream.

But this was the album, released several years earlier, which really did it for Garbarek. The Molde Canticle is pure rock idiom, apart from the bizarre Weber piece in the middle. His drummer, Manu Katche, had only recently left Simple Minds.

For me, the problem with Garbarek is that on every album he presents two or three outstanding tracks, and a number of so-so tracks. Until ECM get around to releasing a Garbarek 'Greatest Hits' album, you'll have to do with making your own excellent compilations.

But this is Garbarek's most consistent, if not also his finest. Production values are to ECM's usual exceptional standards. The drum sound is particularly well recorded. Weber, so often the lead artist in his own right, takes a modest back seat, and his long-term sidekick Rainer Bruninghaus does a great job on piano.

Garbarek's music isn't like anyone else's. Like Vaughan Williams, he takes as his starting point a folk melody and then develops it -- here in the jazz/rock idiom. For ageing rock fans who don't yet know his work, I might dare to suggest that you'll appreciate this album if you like much of say, Bill Bruford's or Camel's records.

Again, what to say? This is my absolutely preferred CD, my top one, the one i love more and more. Somebody says this is not best Garbarek around, somebody says this is not best jazz or world music or whatever. For me it's just excellence, a complete travel in music developing through the entire disc and especially Molde Canticle. Take the time to hear at Part 3, once and once more, and you'll feel it.