Someone I work with has recommended that I check out Jan Garbarek. >Have any of you listers come across him and if so what albums are >worth checking out?
You can split Garbarek's work into 2 categories: his work with his group and his collaborations. The latter is where most of his most interesting work has been in recent years, but at the same time very hit-and-miss. His group has become very 'reliable', to put it kindly! My favourite group albums are the 2 with Bill Frisell (Paths, Prints and Wayfarer) and the one after with David Torn (It's Okay to listen to the Gray Voice. On these records Garbarek has got into his now familiar compositional stride, having worked off his early free jazz influences in favour of a much sparser approach, incorporating Norwegian folk melodies. In Garbarek, Eberhard Weber on bass, Jon Christensen (and to a lesser extent Michael Di Pasqua) and Frisell, then Torn you have 4 original voices on their respective instruments, playing with great restraint. As for collaborations, top of my list is Atmos with Miroslav Vitous. He's also made some great records with Ralph Towner (Dis and Solstice) and Deer Wan by Kenny Wheeler is something of a classic, but these probably aren't the best places to start. Perhaps get the recent Rarum compilation, see what you like and take it from there. Luckily for you I'm away from home and doing this from memory, otherwise I could have gone on even longer. Dave. "Results! Why man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work." Thomas Edison. _________________________________________________________________ Broadband? Dial-up? Get reliable MSN Internet Access. http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp