Jan Garbarek

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. He is the father of musician, (vocals) and composer Anja Garbarek.

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.

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 With David Darling With Paul Giger With Egberto Gismonti With Trilok Gurtu With Zakir Hussain With Keith Jarrett With Manu Katché With Eleni Karaindrou
 * Of Mist and Melting (ECM, 1977)
 * Cycles (ECM, 1981)
 * Alpstein (ECM, 1991)
 * Sol Do Meio Dia (ECM, 1977)
 * Magico (ECM, 1979) with Charlie Haden
 * Folk Songs (ECM, 1979) with Charlie Haden
 * Magico: Carta de Amor (ECM. 2012) with Haden
 * Living Magic (1990)
 * Making Music (ECM, 1986) with John McLaughlin and Hariprasad Chaurasia
 * Belonging (ECM, 1974)
 * Luminessence (ECM, 1974)
 * Arbour Zena (ECM, 1975)
 * My Song (ECM, 1977)
 * Personal Mountains (ECM, 1979)
 * Nude Ants (ECM, 1979)
 * Sleeper (ECM, 2012)
 * Neighbourhood (ECM, 2006)
 * Music For Films (1991)

With Kim Kashkashian With Karin Krog With Art Lande With Marilyn Mazur With Gary Peacock With George Russell With Terje Rypdal With L. Shankar With Giya Kancheli With Ralph Towner With Miroslav Vitous With Eberhard Weber With Kenny Wheeler
 * Monodia (2002)
 * Jazz Moments (1966)
 * Til Vigdis (1967)
 * Joy (1968)
 * Red Lanta (ECM, 1973)
 * Elixir (2007)
 * December Poems (ECM, 1977)
 * Voice from the Past - Paradigm (ECM, 1981)
 * Guamba (ECM, 1987)
 * Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
 * Trip to Prillarguri (Soul Note, 1970)
 * Listen to the Silence (Soul Note, 1971)
 * Bleak House (Polydor, 1968)
 * Terje Rypdal (ECM, 1971)
 * Hav (1971) with Jan Erik Vold
 * Vision (1983)
 * Song for Everyone (1985)
 * Caris Mere (1995)
 * Solstice (ECM, 1975)
 * Solstice/Sound and Shadows (ECM, 1977)
 * Universal Syncopations (ECM, 2003)
 * Chorus (ECM, 1984)
 * Stages of a Long Journey (2007)
 * Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)