Ra Ra Ra For Gar

A few years ago, the ECM label began a series of eleases which it called :rarum. I'm not sure what that term means precisely but the idea was that artists who had a long running relationship with the label were invited to compile a "best of" selection for release in the series. This is a double cd release in that series titled Jan Garbarek Selected Recordings. If there is one artist that epitomises ECM for many, then it would be Garbarek, with all that implies good and bad. Some would argue with the labelling of Garbarek as a jazz artist too. Certainly some of the tracks roam far from a standard combo but others, especially when he is featured as a sideman on other people's recordings, are definitely jazz sessions. The featured tracks cover over twenty years but the trademark ECM recorded sound means a uniformity over that period. Garbarek's work falls into three broad categories which are all in evidence here; the work previously mentioned as a sideman to such as Keith Jarrett, collaborations with more of a world music feel in latin and Indian modes and solo work where he is a multi instrumentalist producing ambient sounds with what is now thought of as a distinctly Nordic feel. One final track also represents the collaboration with the Hilliard Ensemble on sacred choral works. Far more than some kind of superior smooth jazz, he remains an interesting musician for all that a certain blandness can creep in.