Search - Jan Garbarek :: Afric Pepperbird

Afric pepperbird

mickjames@s054.aone.net.au | sydney australia | 01/27/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is Garbarek's first release. for anyone who is just starting out on garbarek's music and is either only familiar with recent works ie last ten years titles such as officium twelve moons i took up the runes etc may find this a difficult cd to listen to. Firstly you must remember that this recording is from around 1969 (30 yrs ago) the european jazz scene was very much into note jazz not so much into rythms and melodies and esoteric or atmospherics. Basically Garbarek attacks the music with the sax growling out brilliant pieces backed by Terje Arild and jon After purchasing Officium after hearing one track i leapt in at the deep end and bought Afird pepperbird and at first was shocked, mainly by the difference. I was soon sitting totally engrossed..."

Don't ignore this!

Marius Cipolla | 07/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This fabulous album is often underrated because savvy modern listeners expect it to be "of its time," i.e. dated. In fact, it is one of Garbarek's most stimulating and exciting albums, bursting with humour and technical brilliance. It will have your head popping along with your fingers. About the only dated moment on the album is the fade-out-fade-back-in at the end of Track 3 "Beast of Komodo," which by the way is a terrific, bluesy romp driven by an irresistible bassline.



Nearly every track is a charmer; "Blow Away Zone" is a squawking delight and the title track, "Afric Pepperbird" is a swinging, smooth, very impressive outing for all four musicians.



The "African" content of the album is, as the title suggests, a quirky fantasy, rather than a deliberate incorporation of real African music; the continuous interpolation of marimbas and other primitive instruments, animal sounds, bird calls, insects chirping and what have you evoke a magical landscape of jungles & savannahs.



Great tunes, sophisticated arrangements and the confidence to improvise to the max make this a collection which hits all the right notes.



Even the absurd final track, "Blupp" always makes me smile.



Highly recommended to new & old Garbarek fans.

"

Hot and spacious as the desert

qwff | italy | 04/29/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jan Garbarek (tenor and bass saxophones, clarinet, flutes, percussion)

Terje Rypdal (guitar, bugle)

Arild Andersen (bass, african thumb piano, xylophone)

Jon Christensen (percussion)



A record which is hot and spacious as the desert.



Rhythms with unusual colours, complex and obsessive, refusing to slip into the background. A saxophone that yells, buzzes and stings as a crazy insect; that now and then decides to behave and starts playing with a recognizable line or a jazz phrase, only to get bored with it and spew it out a few seconds later. The bass that, as to introduce itself, plays a long sequence made up exclusively of "wrong" notes, but with such conviction and precision that it makes you think it must be a defined musical system learned on some unknown planet. Everything lit by the soft, almost spiritual light of what is, incidentally, one of the most intelligent and original uses of guitar I've ever heard, a rare sound that at moments rides the feeling of being out of place, drawing strange tensions out of it.



Such a particular combination requires a little acclimatization to be fully enjoyed. At times one may find himself wondering if it is normal that percussion and bass line seem to be supported by few sparse guitar chords rather than the opposite, or be surprised that the different instruments are still going in the same direction after all.



So at first listening, for a while, you look desperately for the usual relations, a structure to grab; then you give up and simply surrender to the music. After a while it seems like a new sense for sound is coming to light, a new ear made for another kind of order - and you realize that this is one of those records that teach you a new language. At that point, if you are lucky, the title track starts and you find yourself surrounded by the mistery of an eastern night, in pure ecstasy."