JAN GARBAREK - I Took Up the Runes (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

A more eclectic release than his preceding releases, Jan Garbarek's I Took Up the Runes satisfies listeners who had been more or less impatient for something with some meat and some muscle. Opening with a jazzy cover of Mari Persen's "Gula Gula," made fuller with bass guitar accompaniment that modifies the chord structure of the whole tune, the album next features the five-part "Molde Canticle," which spans from a dreamy esoteric sound to African folk music. Garbarek really wails in places, and it is a welcome surprise -- he should wail more than he does. Synthesizer sounds are starting to become less prominent as well. There is excellent piano work by Rainer Brüninghaus and excellent vocalizing by guest artist Ingor Ántte Áilu Gaup. A sign of good things to come. by Mark Allender
Tracklist:
1 Gula Gula 5:55
Arranged By – Jan Garbarek
Composed By – Mari Boine Persen
Molde Canticle
Composed By – Jan Garbarek
2 Part 1 5:13
3 Part 2 5:43
4 Part 3 9:54
5 Part 4 5:10
6 Part 5 6:06
7 His Eyes Were Suns 6:04
Composed By – Jan Garbarek
Composed By [Áilu Gaup Joiking "Biera, Biera"] – Traditional
8 I Took Up The Runes 5:24
Composed By – Jan Garbarek
9 Buena Hora, Buenos Vientos 8:51
Composed By – Jan Garbarek
10 Rahkki Sruvvis 2:26
Arranged By – Jan Garbarek
Composed By – Ingor Ántte Áilu Gaup
Credits:
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Design [Cover Design] – Barbara Wojirsch
Drums – Manu Katché
Percussion – Naná Vasconcelos
Piano – Rainer Brüninghaus
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
Synthesizer – Bugge Wesseltoft
Voice – Ingor Ántte Áilu Gaup

JAN GARBAREK GROUP - Twelve Moons (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Recorded in 1992, this album emphasizes production value and slick performances. Largely a feature for Jan Garbarek's soprano sax (he only plays tenor on three tracks), each song is dreamy and quite mystical. Compositionally, TWELVE MOONS is a curious blend of light jazz and Norwegian folk melodies. This is especially apparent on "Psalm" and "Darvanan," both of which feature female vocalists, while "Huhai" borrows from a traditional folk tune.
Fans of Garbarek's penetrating, English horn-like soprano sax sound are treated to some inspired playing throughout, and drummer Manu Katche, best known for his work with Peter Gabriel and Sting, shines on every track. Additionally, there is nice interplay between Garbarek and the band on "Witchi-Tai-To," a remake of a tune first recorded by the saxophonist on a '74 album of the same name. AllMusic
Tracklist:
Twelve Moons (7:35)
Composed By – Jan Garbarek
Drums – Manu Katché
Percussion – Marilyn Mazur
Soprano Saxophone, Synthesizer [Synthesizers] – Jan Garbarek
1.1 Part One: Winter-Summer
1.2 Part Two: Summer-Winter
2 Psalm 6:32
Arranged By – Jan Garbarek
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Composed By – Traditional.
Lyrics By – Elling Hansen
Percussion – Marilyn Mazur
Soprano Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
Vocals [Vocal] – Agnes Buen Garnås
3 Brother Wind March 10:17
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Composed By – Jan Garbarek
Drums – Manu Katché
Piano, Synthesizer [Synthesizers] – Rainer Brüninghaus
Soprano Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
4 There Were Swallows ... 8:36
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Composed By – Jan Garbarek
Drums – Manu Katché
Percussion – Marilyn Mazur
Piano – Rainer Brüninghaus
Soprano Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
5 The Tall Tear Trees 5:45
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Composed By – Jan Garbarek
Drums – Manu Katché
Piano, Synthesizer [Synthesizers] – Rainer Brüninghaus
Tenor Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
6 Arietta 6:21
Arranged By – Jan Garbarek
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Composed By – Edvard Grieg
Percussion – Marilyn Mazur
Piano – Rainer Brüninghaus
Soprano Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
7 Gautes-Margjit 11:53
Arranged By – Jan Garbarek
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Composed By – Traditional.
Drums – Manu Katché
Percussion – Marilyn Mazur
Piano – Rainer Brüninghaus
Tenor Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
8 Darvánan 4:54
Composed By – Mari Boine
Tenor Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
Vocals [Vocal] – Mari Boine
9 Huhai 7:29
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Composed By – Jan Garbarek
Drums – Manu Katché
Percussion – Marilyn Mazur
Piano – Rainer Brüninghaus
Soprano Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
10 Witchi-Tai-To 5:43
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Composed By – Jim Pepper
Drums – Manu Katché
Piano – Rainer Brüninghaus
Soprano Saxophone – Jan Garbarek
Credits:
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Design [Cover Design] – Barbara Wojirsch
Drums – Manu Katché
Keyboards – Rainer Brüninghaus
Percussion – Marilyn Mazur
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Saxophone [Saxophones] – Jan Garbarek
Vocals [Vocal] – Agnes Buen Garnås, Mari Boine

JAN GARBAREK - Visible World (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Apart from David Sanborn, probably no living saxophonist has a more instantly recognizable voice than Jan Garbarek; actually, given the fact that Sanborn's sound is so widely copied, Garbarek's may be easier to identify in a blindfold test. This album in particular puts that sound front and center. Garbarek's the show; he composed all of the music, and is essentially the only soloist. The music (much of which was composed as soundtrack material for film or video) is quintessential Garbarek, full of the world music influences that have characterized his work since the 1970s. Garbarek's resonant, carefully articulated tenor and soprano tone suits the spacious, minor/modal themes. He's as much a singer as instrumentalist. Garbarek also plays digital synthesizers, mostly as string or flute pads underneath the folkish melodies. The record's most notable secondary player is Garbarek's ECM labelmate, the bassist Eberhard Weber, whose lyric sensibility is a virtual mirror of Garbarek's. This is quiet, contemplative music for the most part -- attractive, but not superficially pretty. Its grooves are less celebratory than melancholic. There's an intensity here borne of deep concentration and commitment to beauty. Garbarek has come a long way since his early days as a quasi-free jazz experimentalist. This music is not jazz, nor is it experimental. But it is compelling in its way, representative of a first-rate creative musician, beyond category. by Chris Kelsey 
Tracklist:
1    Red Wind 3:53
Jan Garbarek
Shaker – Marilyn Mazur
2    The Creek    4:33
Jan Garbarek
3    The Survivor    4:46
Jan Garbarek
4    The Healing Smoke    7:16
Jan Garbarek
5    Visible World, Chiaro -    4:09
Jan Garbarek
6    Desolate Mountains I    6:47
Jan Garbarek
7    Desolate Mountains II    6:02
Jan Garbarek
8    Visible World, - Scuro    4:34
Jan Garbarek
9    Giulietta    3:46
Jan Garbarek
10    Desolate Mountains III    1:33
Jan Garbarek
11    Pygmy Lullaby 6:14
Arranged By – Jan Garbarek
Music By [Melody] – African traditional
12    The Quest 3:00
Jan Garbarek
Synthesizer – Rainer Brüninghaus
13    The Arrow 4:23
Jan Garbarek
Tabla, Performer [Spiral] – Trilok Gurtu 
14    The Scythe    1:50
Jan Garbarek
15    Evening Land 12:29
Jan Garbarek
Vocals, Composed By – Mari Boine
Credits:
Bass – Eberhard Weber (tracks: 2, 3, 7, 8, 11, 12)
Composed By – Jan Garbarek (tracks: 1 to 10, 12 to 15)
Design [Cover] – Barbara Wojirsch
Drums – Manu Katché (tracks: 2, 3, 11, 13), Marilyn Mazur (tracks: 6, 7, 9)
Percussion – Marilyn Mazur (tracks: 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 to 13, 15)
Piano – Rainer Brüninghaus (tracks: 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11)
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Keyboards [Electronic], Percussion [Additional], Clarinet [Meraaker] – Jan Garbarek
Note:
Tracks 1, 2, 4, 12 and 13 are parts of a "Mangas Coloradas Suite" involving descendants of the Chiricahua Apache Chief Mangas Coloradas.
Tracks 3 and 4 were made for the feature film "Trollsyn".
Tracks 5 and 8 were made for the TV ballet "Bønn".
Track 15 was done for a music-video production entitled "Aftenlandet". 

JAN GARBAREK - In Praise of Dreams (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

It has been six years since saxophonist/composer Jan Garbarek issued a new recording under his own name. For In Praise of Dreams Garbarek enlisted violist Kim Kashkashian and frequent collaborator Manu Katché on drums. Garbarek, who composed the album's 11 selections, plays saxophones as well as a host of keyboards and percussion, while Katché plays acoustic and electronic drums along with Kashkashian's viola. In many ways this is the most radical recording that Garbarek has ever issued, but not because it's outside -- quite the opposite. This is easily the warmest, most accessible outing Garbarek has ever issued because though there are no vocals, Garbarek has clearly written "songs" on this set, with identifiable structures that are followed almost throughout. Though he is no stranger to the form, having employed it almost continually for the last 20 years, he has never engaged it so thoroughly and completely. Previously, he has engaged improvisation to get song to the breaking point and move it somewhere else. Here it is always present; surprise happens inside the formal frameworks of these compositions. Beautiful, soulful lines underscore and recontextualize the saxophonist's trademark Nordic iciness of tone on the opener, "As Seen from Above," with its spiraling soprano, lush keyboards, and hypnotic loops. In its warmth, it comes very close to a distinctly European kind of groove/soul-jazz. The interplay between Kashkashian and Garbarek on the title track offers rounded, multidimensional sonorities winding through the intro before spilling into a call-and-response melody. The repetitive keyboard line and Katché's mantra-like drumming under the loops draw the listener inside the song's heart and extend the edge for the front line. The restrained romanticism shown by Kashkashian on her nocturnal solo intro to "One Goes There Alone" is nearly breathtaking. As it gives way to the tune itself, it's slow, reflective, and rooted deeply in the tension created between percussion and Garbarek's minimal backing response lines. When he solos later in the tune, he's clearly blowing blues into her elegiac line. The blues notion continues in his phrasing on "Knot of Place and Time," slipping through the landscape of Kashkashian's elegant, near heartbreakingly poetic soundscape. And so it goes. Things get more speculative on "Scene from Afar" and "Cloud of Unknowing," but it hardly matters since these song forms are nonetheless immediately recognizable, presenting the nether side of the equation. It emerges again with "Conversation With a Stone" and whispers to a close with "A Tale Begun," a mantra-like duet that closes this strong set that will undoubtedly, if it gets the opportunity to be heard, garner Jan Garbarek some new fans. Poetic, moving, and marvelous, In Praise of Dreams is a welcome return. by Thom Jurek
Tracklist:
1    As Seen From Above    4:42
2    In Praise Of Dreams    5:21
3    One Goes There Alone    5:06
4    Knot Of Place And Time    6:22
5    If You Go Far Enough    0:39
6    Scene From Afar    5:14
7    Cloud Of Unknowing    5:22
8    Without Visible Sign    4:59
9    Iceburn    4:59
10    Conversation With A Stone    4:18
11    A Tale Begun    4:39
Credits:
Drums, Electronic Drums [Sampled Or Looped Electronic Drums] – Manu Katché (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10)
Producer – Jan Garbarek, Manfred Eicher
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Synthesizer [Synthesizers], Sampler [Samplers], Percussion, Composed By – Jan Garbarek
Viola – Kim Kashkashian (tracks: 2 to 4, 6 to 10)   

JAN GARBAREK / USTAD FATEH ALI KHAN - Ragas and Sagas (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The saxophone is not an instrument usually associated with Pakistani music. And Pakistanis are not especially famous for collaborating with Norwegians. But that is what listeners have on this incredible recording. The music is predominantly Pakistani in sound, tonality, and structure; voice, sarangi, and tabla improvise along with Garbarek's saxophone on every track. For aficionados of Indian or Pakistani music, this is a great recording; Garbarek's lines are right in step with the traditional styles of improvisation. Listeners unacquainted with these traditions will find this recording a mesmerizingly exotic disc. Those familiar with Garbarek's work will be very surprised. This is a completely unique recording for him; one can only hope that he makes further explorations in this vein. by Mark Allender

Tracklist:

1 Raga I 8:45

Ustad Fateh Ali Khan

2 Saga 5:25

Jan Garbarek 

3 Raga II 13:05

Ustad Fateh Ali Khan

4 Raga III 11:53

Ustad Fateh Ali Khan

5 Raga IV 12:56

Ustad Fateh Ali Khan

Credits:

Jan Garbarek - Composer, Flute, Performer, Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor)

Shaukat Hussain - Tabla

Manu Katché - Drums

Nazim Ali Khan - Sarangui

Ustad Fateh Ali Khan -  Vocals, Voices

Deepika Thathaal - Vocals, Voices