Jan Garbarek

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Jan Garbarek live in Athens (2007)

Jan Garbarek (born March 4, 1947 in Mysen , Norway ) is a Norwegian jazz musician ( saxophones , synthesizers , flutes ). He is one of the most important contemporary jazz musicians in Europe and, with his clear, ascetic saxophone tone, is an outstanding representative of the Scandinavian jazz scene.

Life

Garbarek, the son of the former Polish prisoner of war Czesław Garbarek and the Norwegian farmer's daughter Kari Nilsdotter, was stateless until the age of seven . He grew up in Oslo . As a musician, Garbarek was self-taught . He learned the saxophone under the influence of John Coltrane , whom he heard on the radio in 1961. In 1962 he won an amateur competition. Soon afterwards he had his own band with Terje Rypdal , Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen .

Garbarek also mentions the encounter with George Russell , who spontaneously stepped in on the stage for Garbarek's performance at the Molde Jazz Festival in the mid-1960s, and the influence of Don Cherry, who lived in Sweden in the late 1960s, as defining influences . At the request of the early world musician Cherry, he also sought contact with Scandinavian folklore. With Russell he played on his big band albums The Essence of George Russell (1966), Othello Ballet Suite (1967) and Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature (1968); Russell called him the most original European voice since Django Reinhardt . In 1968 he was the Norwegian representative at the festival of the European Broadcasting Union (he played there, among others, Naima from Coltrane); in the same year he received the Buddy Prize . He also recorded with Karin Krog , Georg Riedel and Egil Kapstad .

He recorded his first album under his own name in 1967 ( Til Vigdis ). From 1970 he toured in Central Europe. He achieved his artistic breakthrough at the latest with the album Witchi-Tai-To (ECM, 1974), the title track of which was written by Jim Pepper and entered his repertoire through Don Cherry, as well as Carla Bley's A.IR and Don Cherry's Desireless . From 1974 to 1979 Garbarek also performed as the Jarrett's European Quartet with pianist Keith Jarrett , bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen . He also set texts by Jan Erik Vold ( HAV , 1971, Ingentings Bjeller , 1977) to music with the other musicians of his Scandinavian quartet and played with other musicians from the ECM label such as Bill Connors , Ralph Towner ( Solstice , 1974), Kenny Wheeler and David Darling .

Jan Garbarek live (2007)

Later Garbarek increasingly appeared as a musician in projects with a world music background, but also as the Jan Garbarek Group with Rainer Brüninghaus and Eberhard Weber , as well as Manu Katché / Trilok Gurtu / Naná Vasconcelos / Marilyn Mazur . In 1982 he received the Norwegian Gammleng Prize in the jazz category.

In 1986 Jan Garbarek played the main musical theme in Eleni Karaindrou's film music for Theo Angelopoulos' film The Beekeeper (O Melissokomos) .

Garbarek composed and played the music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer , Norway, which took place in February 1994. The musical themes were partly taken from the CD "I Took Up The Runes" (1990), especially the Molde Canticle , also interpreted by Sissel .

In 1994 Garbarek released the widely acclaimed bestseller album Officium . On the recording, he accompanied the Hilliard Ensemble with his saxophone as the “fifth voice” in works from the time Gregorian chant was created up to the Renaissance .

In addition to the classic American jazz greats, traditional Norwegian folklore and the focus on singing, which gives Garbarek's playing a completely unique, unmistakable sound, are considered to be an important influence on Garbarek's playing. "The utopia of infinite breath and natural harmony drives Garbarek's music," says Ulrich Greiner . Garbarek himself sees his music only distantly related to jazz. Almost all of Garbarek's albums appear on the German label ECM - his involvement in albums by other artists is almost entirely limited to the label. He has been with ECM since 1970 and is one of the stars of the label today. His influence had a formative effect on the entire Scandinavian jazz music scene. Due to his Norwegian-German relationship and European importance in jazz, he was awarded the Willy Brandt Prize in October 2014 .

Garbarek has been married to the author Vigdis Garbarek since 1968 and has had a daughter, Anja , who is also a musician , since 1970 .

Jan Garbarek mainly plays soprano saxophone, but also tenor and bass saxophone.

Discography (selection)

Jan Garbarek (2005)
  • Jan Garbarek / Kjell Johnsen Aftenland (1979)
  • Jan Garbarek / John Abercrombie / Naná Vasconcelos Eventyr (1981)
  • Paths, Prints (with Bill Frisell / Eberhard Weber / Jon Christensen, 1982)
  • Wayfarer (with Bill Frisell / Eberhard Weber / Michael Di Pasqua , 1983)
  • It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice (Jan Garbarek / David Torn / Eberhard Weber / Michael Di Pasqua, 1984)
  • Jan Garbarek / Gary Peacock Guamba (1987)
  • Legend of the Seven Dreams (with Rainer Brüninghaus / Naná Vasconcelos / Eberhard Weber, 1988)
  • Agnes Buen Garnås / Jan Garbarek Rosensfole (1989)
  • 1990: Star (Jan Garbarek / Miroslav Vitouš / Peter Erskine )
  • I Took Up the Runes (with Rainer Brüninghaus / Eberhard Weber / Naná Vasconcelos / Manu Katché / Bugge Wesseltoft / Ingor Ántte Áilu Gaup, 1990)
  • Paul Giger / Pierre Favre / Jan Garbarek Alpstein (1991)
  • Twelve Moons (Jan Garbarek / Rainer Brüninghaus / Eberhard Weber / Manu Katché / Marilyn Mazur , 1992)
  • Jan Garbarek / Anouar Brahem / Ustad Shaukat Hussain Madar (1992)
  • Jan Garbarek / Ustad Fateh Ali Khan Ragas and Sagas (1992)
  • Miroslav Vitous / Jan Garbarek Atmos (1993)
  • Jan Garbarek, The Hilliard Ensemble : Officium (Recording: September 1993 Release: September 1994 Songs: 15) (DE / CH / UK: goldgold)
  • Visible World (with quintet and Mari Boine , 1995)
  • Rites (Recording: March 1998 Release: October 1998 Songs: 16 on two CDs)
  • Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble Mnemosyne (double CD, 1999)
  • Miroslav Vitous / Jan Garbarek / Chick Corea / John McLaughlin / Jack DeJohnette Universal Syncopations (2003)
  • In Praise of Dreams (with Kim Kashkashian , Manu Katché, 2004)
  • Marilyn Mazur / Jan Garbarek Elixir (2008)
  • Dresden - In Concert (with Rainer Brüninghaus, Yuri Daniel , Manu Katché, 2009)

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

Commons : Jan Garbarek  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Broecking on Garbarek in the TAZ 2001
  2. ↑ Not until 2012 was a fifth album by this quartet released with Sleeper , another live recording from 1979.
  3. ↑ Hymns to the Night Die Zeit , June 3, 1994
  4. ↑ See Christian Broecking Saxophone for the Crown Prince , the daily newspaper , November 22, 2001
  5. ↑ willy-brandt-stiftung.de , October 28, 2014
  6. ↑ Awards for music sales: DE CH UK
personal data
SURNAME Garbarek, Jan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian saxophonist, jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Mysen , Norway