In a message dated 10/18/02 9:05:57 AM, brianh@emagine-media.com writes: << 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?
The problem with Jan Garbarek is that he can put all his eggs in the basket of his tone. That intense, knife-sharp, overtone-laden, metal-mouthpiece kind of thing that really started as a response to Coltrane and late-sixties rock guitar heroics. It can be a little precious, though: Garbarek can be like Bette Midler: too much fucking afterglow. I respectfully disagree with NUDE ANTS as a starting point, because Garbarek didn't even like that recording when it came out. The recording quality is a little dodgy and his tenor and soprano sound tinny and kind of empty. I too like the records with Bill Frisell, but the one that gets me every time, is also Garbarek's first (I think), and one of the very first couple records ECM ever put out: AFRIC PEPPERBIRD, from 1969 IIRC. The band is all-star, featuring the same drummer from NUDE ANTS, doing his bad-ass fusion skittery-rhythm thang under some intense beautiful guitar playing by Terje Rypdal. I can't recommend this record highly enough; Jan sounds incredibly muscular and leaves us wondering futilely: what could Coltrane have done if he'd lived a few more years and gotten into rock music, funk, and fusion? I know, I know, I'm wasting energy... -----s np: Giancinto Scelsi __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Y! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your web site http://webhosting.yahoo.com/