Jan Garbarek

Jan Garbarek
Jan Garbarek live in Athens, 2007
Background information
Born	(1947-03-04) March 4, 1947 Mysen, Norway
Origin	Oslo, Norway
Occupations	saxophonist, composer, producer
Instruments	soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
Years active	1966–present
Labels	ECM, Flying Dutchman
Associated acts	George Russell, Terje Rypdal, Bobo Stenson, Keith Jarrett, Ralph Towner, Eberhard Weber, Bill Frisell, David Torn, Gary Peacock, Hilliard Ensemble
Website	www.garbarek.com
Notable instruments
bass saxophone, clarinet, flute

Jan Garbarek (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian tenor and soprano saxophonist, active in the jazz, classical, and world music genres. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war Czesław Garbarek and a Norwegian farmer's daughter. Effectively stateless until the age of seven (there was no automatic grant of citizenship in Norway at that time) Garbarek grew up in Oslo. At 21, he married Vigdis. His daughter Anja Garbarek is also a musician.

Biography

Garbarek's sound is one of the hallmarks of the ECM Records label, which has released virtually all of his recordings. His style incorporates a sharp-edged tone, long, keening, sustained notes, and generous use of silence. He began his recording career in the late 1960s, notably featuring on recordings by the American jazz composer George Russell (such as Othello Ballet Suite and Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature). If he had initially appeared as a devotee of Albert Ayler and Peter Brötzmann, by 1973 he had turned his back on the harsh dissonances of avant-garde jazz, retaining only his tone from his previous approach. Garbarek gained wider recognition through his work with pianist Keith Jarrett's European Quartet which released the albums Belonging (1974), My Song (1977) and the live recordings Personal Mountains (1979), and Nude Ants (1979). He was also a featured soloist on Jarrett's orchestral works Luminessence (1974) and Arbour Zena (1975)

As a composer, Garbarek tends to draw heavily from Scandinavian folk melodies, a legacy of his Ayler influence. He is also a pioneer of ambient jazz composition, most notably on his 1976 album Dis a collaboration with guitarist Ralph Towner that featured the distinctive sound of a wind harp on several tracks. This textural approach, which rejects traditional notions of thematic improvisation (best exemplified by Sonny Rollins) in favour of a style described by critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton as "sculptural in its impact", has been critically divisive. Garbarek's more meandering recordings are often labeled as New Age music, a style generally scorned by more orthodox jazz musicians and listeners, or spiritual ancestors thereof. Other experiments have included setting a collection of poems of Olav H. Hauge to music, with a single saxophone complementing a full mixed choir; this has led to notable performances with Grex Vocalis, but not yet to recordings. In the 1980s, Garbarek's music began to incorporate synthesizers and elements of world music. He has collaborated with Indian and Pakistani musicians such as Trilok Gurtu, Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. Garbarek is credited for composing original music for the 2000 film Kippur.

In 1994, during heightened popularity of Gregorian chant, his album Officium, a collaboration with early music vocal performers the Hilliard Ensemble, became one of ECM's biggest-selling albums of all time, reaching the pop charts in several European countries and was followed by a sequel, Mnemosyne, in 1999. In 2005, his album In Praise of Dreams was nominated for a Grammy. Garbarek's first live album Dresden was released in 2009.

Awards & honors

In 1999, Garbarek was appointed a Knight 1st Class of the Order of St. Olav and in 2004 he was awarded the Norwegian Arts Council award.

Discography

Jan Garbarek live

As leader

• Esoteric Circle (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
• Afric Pepperbird (ECM, 1970)
• Sart (ECM, 1971) with Terje Rypdal
• Triptykon (ECM, 1972)
• Witchi-Tai-To (ECM, 1973) with Bobo Stenson
• Dansere (ECM, 1975) with Bobo Stenson
• Dis (ECM, 1976) with Ralph Towner
• Places (ECM, 1977)
• Photo with Blue Sky, White Cloud, Wires, Windows and a Red Roof (ECM, 1978) with Bill Connors
• Aftenland (ECM, 1979) with Kjell Johnsen
• Eventyr (ECM, 1980) with John Abercrombie and Naná Vasconcelos
• Paths, Prints (ECM, 1981) with Bill Frisell
• Wayfarer (ECM, 1983) with Bill Frisell and Eberhard Weber
• It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice (ECM, 1985) with David Torn
• All Those Born With Wings (ECM, 1987)
• Legend of the Seven Dreams (ECM, 1988) with Rainer Brüninghaus
• Rosensfole (1989) with Agnes Buen Garnås
• I Took Up the Runes (ECM, 1990)
• Ragas and Sagas (ECM, 1990 [1992]) with Fateh Ali Khan
• StAR (ECM, 1991) with Miroslav Vitous
• Atmos (ECM, 1992) with Miroslav Vitous
• Madar (ECM, 1992) with Anouar Brahem and Shaukat Hussain
• Twelve Moons (ECM, 1992)
• Officium (ECM, 1994) with the Hilliard Ensemble
• Visible World (ECM, 1995)
• Rites (ECM, 1998)
• Mnemosyne (ECM, 1999) with the Hilliard Ensemble
• In Praise of Dreams (ECM, 2003)
• Dresden (ECM, 2009) live album
• Officium Novum (ECM, 2010) with the Hilliard Ensemble

As sideman

With Bill Connors

• Of Mist and Melting (ECM, 1977)

With David Darling

• Cycles (ECM, 1981)

With Paul Giger

• Alpstein (ECM, 1991)

With Egberto Gismonti

• Sol Do Meio Dia (ECM, 1977)
• Magico (ECM, 1979) with Charlie Haden
• Folk Songs (ECM, 1979) with Charlie Haden

With Trilok Gurtu

• Living Magic (1990)

With Zakir Hussain

• Making Music (ECM, 1986) with John McLaughlin and Hariprasad Chaurasia

With Keith Jarrett

• Belonging (ECM, 1974)
• Luminessence (ECM, 1974)
• Arbour Zena (ECM, 1975)
• My Song (ECM, 1977)
• Personal Mountains (ECM, 1979)
• Nude Ants (ECM, 1979)

With Manu Katché

• Neighbourhood (ECM, 2006)

With Eleni Karaindrou

• Music For Films (1991)

With Kim Kashkashian

• Monodia (2002)

With Karin Krog

• Jazz Moments (1966)
• Til Vigdis (1967)
• Joy (1968)

With Art Lande

• Red Lanta (ECM, 1973)

With Marilyn Mazur

• Elixir (2007)

With Gary Peacock

• December Poems (ECM, 1977)
• Voice from the Past - Paradigm (ECM, 1981)
• Guamba (ECM, 1987)

With George Russell

• Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
• Trip to Prillarguri (Soul Note, 1970)
• Listen to the Silence (Soul Note, 1971)

With Terje Rypdal

• Terje Rypdal (ECM, 1971)
• Hav (1971) with Jan Erik Vold

With L. Shankar

• Vision (1983)
• Song for Everyone (1985)

With the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra

• Caris Mere (1995)

With Ralph Towner

• Solstice (ECM, 1975)
• Solstice/Sound and Shadows (ECM, 1977)

With Miroslav Vitous

• Universal Syncopations (ECM, 2003)

With Eberhard Weber

• Chorus (ECM, 1984)
• Stages of a Long Journey (2007)

With Kenny Wheeler

• Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)

External links

• Jan Garbarek on ECM Records
• Jan Garbarek at the Internet Movie Database
• Jan Garbarek Group
• Jan Garbarek's daughter, singer Anja Garbarek
• Jan Garbarek Group @ Theatre Lycabettus concert review, Greece

Awards
Preceded by Jon Fosse	Recipient of the Norsk kulturråds ærespris 2004	Succeeded by Agnes Buen Garnås