PLACES

Another great addition to Progressive Archives ranks is the much respected, sometimes maligned saxophonist Jan Garbarek from the ECM label. This is the first album by Garbarek that really struck a chord with the reviewer. Make no mistake, unless you are an appreciator of classical jazz, minimalistic soundscapes with Scandinavian influences you will find garbarek's music to be a labor of love ( or the opposite). Garbarek has collaborated with many greats musicians like Keith Jarrett, bassist Eberhard Weber and ralph Towner to name a few.

Places is a bleak album, great for driving through the fjords or wandering through some ancient Scandinavian forest and is made up of four tracks. The opener " reflections" quickley introduces you to Garbarek's trademark sax sound. The closing track "Going Places" is a truly beautiful work, but the album overall is excellent and the mood just perfect. One of his best instrumental releases

Well I must admit this was a disappointment for me after his amazing "Afric Pepperbird" album. I was expecting something similar I guess, and when you see that Jack DeJohnette and Bill Connors are on board my expectations were even higher. This album is laid back with atmosphere which is good, but there's no electric guitar (all acoustic guitar) and the sax comes off as being very smooth. It's a light album and I think in part because of the sax it's not dark or melancholic in the least.Terje Rypdal albums while atmospheric have a whole different dynamic with the electric guitar, melancholia and darkness.

"Reflections" is by far the best track and one I enjoy a lot.The sax is more aggressive here and I like the way the organ floats in the background creating atmosphere. I also like how it gets louder from a quiet beginning. Piano in this one as well. As usual the drumming is light and intricate and we get some acoustic guitar.

"Entering" opens with sax. Acoustic guitar and organ 1 1/2 minutes in. Sax leads again fairly quickly. It picks up before 4 minutes with light drums, sax and acoustic guitar.The song stops 6 minutes in before ending with atmosphere, sax and acoustic guitar. "Going Places" is a little more uptempo with drums, acoustic guitar and sax. Organ floats in around a minute.The acoustic guitar leads before 6 minutes then the drums and organ come to the fore 7 1/2 minutes in. Sax is back a minute later. Piano before 11 minutes. "Passing" is laid back with more of the same really.

3.5 stars. I do like this album but it's missing a lot of the things that I love about ECM releases.