Steps Ahead

In recent days, and I 'happened again in our hands an old CD of Steps Ahead, hearing it I realized what they were innovators and how they have been important in the development of Modern Jazz.

The birth of steps ahead is the end of the 70 in particular, from the CD liner notes Steps Ahead:
"Steps Began as a part-time venture in 1979 at Seventh Avenue South, New York City nightclub", a nightclub history of those years that saw habitually playing Michael Brecker, Mike Stern, Jaco Pastorius, Bob Berg, in short, the whole ' avant-garde jazz of the time.
The first official formation of Steps Ahead, included Don Grolnick, Eddie Gomez, Peter Erskine, Mike Manieri, and Michael Brecker, sad to note that Grolnick, and Brecker are prematurely disappeared, listening to the records of this group you can 'understand how important it was the vein of composition and arrangement of Grolnick and the driving force and innovative sax of Brecker.

The band's recording history began precisely with this lineup in 1979

Smokin 'In The Pit Recorded Live in Tokyo on 15 and 16 December 1979 after a few days after the first studio debut with the disc Step by Step.

Smokin in the Pit and 'vibrant, tells of a magical, magical how the new body meetings where something, a vital spark, the enthusiasm of discovery of, in this case enhanced by the live recording. There are wonderful original alternating incursions of industry standards, as lover, introduced dall'onirico Manieri vibes that slowly let out the other musicians for a bluesy version, and consisting simply of sound and interplay, and then the explosive swing by Uncle Bob with Brecker's sax at its best. The impression of freshness and innovation and 'confirmed and crystallized from the disc recorded in the studio, that does nothing but stare in an "institutional" state of grace of these musicians.
The adventure continues in the group in 1981 with the hard Paradox recorded again from the same formation in 1980, training more 'beautiful of the steps, hear the hard paradox and Patch of Blue' experience in jazz history, and in the atmospheres shorteriane davisiane in modal herbie hancock, all jazz played up to that point and 'beautifully summarized and stored on the disc.

Something began to change in 1983 with the disc Steps Ahead, where Eliane Elias takes the place of Don Grolnick on piano, the sound of the group changes, in a sense you are entering a phase of fusion evolves, away from the fusion that feels coarse around the early 80's, something parallel to the experience of Weather Report, in a direction not ethnic but more 'rock, but always with great refinement that characterizes the band's sound, to signal the song written by Don Grolnick pools and present in this record that manages to express bassismo Gomez at very high levels.

The disc that probably marks the most 'high steps of the parable of the experience and' Modern Times in 1984 with Warren Bernhardt on piano, which replaces Eliane Elias, leaving unchanged the historical part of the group. The sound 'amazing, unrivaled in those years, and the hypnotic Ooops' something that remains in the history of music, such as Birdland Weather Report, Steps Ahead of the testimony of the musical through the 80, only the Brecker 'one of those who remain in the history of jazz, just one of those who manage to define the poetic music of a great musician like Brecker.
The steps followed the career of the group sees the gradual abandonment by the other historical components, the disk of 1986 also saw the abandonment of Erskine with the energy of musicians such as Kirkland on piano, Victor Bailey on bass and Dianne Reeves, result is' still great but in a way you can perceive that energy and creativity of the first records' out and everything is much more 'mediated and thoughtful and less emotional, on this record I want to point out the Said Something that seems a clear A remark you made tribute to Weather Report, the same rarefied and introverted.

In 1986, still a live, Live in Tokyo a disk crash, without piano, with guitar and a rhythm section explosive Stern, Darryl Jones and Steve Smith, surely the most hard 'atmosphere near rock fusion, the final act in the group of Michael Brecker , a record that marks the definitive end of the group.

The records that follow see Manieri looking for sounds 'special, 1989 NYC, 1992 Yin Yang, but now the sound without Brecker Steps Ahead, without Erskine, without Gomez and' distant and unrecognizable, only the name remains. In 1999 he released a record that brings to life the magnificent sound of the band and the joy of living, one of the concerts that followed this rebirth I was lucky enough to see him in Viareggio, with Bob Berg in one of his last appearances before the damn crash The training saw Bob Berg on sax he could not regret Brecker, Elian Elias on piano, Marc Johnson on bass, Peter Erskine on drums, Manieri on vibes, so most of the original members of the collective or rather steps. A disk that reports current events' the magical sound of steps ahead, the last act of a group that has spanned the history of jazz in the last 30 years.

On Air: Oops Steps Ahead Modern Times from 1984

Jan Garbarek - Silence

Jan Garbarek - "The idea of north"

Table of Contents

1 Prelude
2 Education "Sentimental"
3 Don Cherry
4 Nothern Lights
5 Bobo Stenson & KeithJarrett
6 Experiences
7 Places
8 One World
Jan Garbarek Discography A1

1 Prelude

In contemporary society, the music has lost much of its power "social" and "ritual". Our days are filled with rumors of every kind and every space is filled with useful background.
¬ What happen to eat at a restaurant with background music often of poor quality and being immersed in a jelly sound throughout the day. This trivialization of musical culture, combined with the fact that music is more 'considered as a factor of cultural enrichment, has led and continues to bring quality music and a decay of the leakage of a large part of the instinctual and social capital that music can be.

In this scenario troubling is therefore essential etnomusicali recover the roots of our history, without prejudice of any kind, trying to riappropiarsi of power "shamanic" healing ritual and musical experience.

More than many other artists, Jan Garbarek and the general musical movement Scandinavian tried to return to the shamanic roots and popular music, especially roots Saami, finding the connections with the tradition pbalcanica and Asia, a long process which began in the
sixty from contact with the true prophet of the "World Music" in the sense of more far-reaching as possible, Don Cherry.

I started listening to Jan Garbarek starting randomly from his album of 1987 Legend of Seven Dreams, particularly attracted by the cover, which reported the Nordic colors, northern wastelands. A chance encounter and how often 'success in my approach to music, a meeting that started me along a path of plays linked to northern Europe, in the sense of desolation and powerful nature that the north can express.

A music intimately tied to the concept of World Music understood as more 'positive word is, in fact the conception of Don Cherry.

In this respect they are clarifying their own words of Jan Garbarek on the identification of some particular elements of this definition and how to be able to filter out noise in the sea of ​​information we live in the concepts of early music:

For anyone living in Europe today, or anywhere else in the world where you have access to media, there is a World Music made of everything 'that we hear. It 's all in the ether, air, all the waves. And 'folk music from around the world, classical, rock, pop, everything. There is no more the pure musical mind that has known only one source and e 'remained faithful.
It 's rare to find a person ¬ thing in our world revolutionized by the media. ¬ What we do whatever it becomes a transformation of the music media, music for elevators as for concert halls. It 'a very very wide range. You have to take into account many
Information. Even if you try to remain uncontaminated by anything, it is not possible. It may be that what you do not have done it if I had not heard that song in an elevator in 1987! You can not 'make theory about these things, but everything is at our disposal. You can walk into a store .... I did and before me there was an album of Moroccan music. Music for large ensemble. Do not even know he rises there existed an orchestra
of this type. Well I bought it without hearing it, and it was very interesting. I bought it on impulse at a shop in Tokyo!
Often it is so I choose the music I listen to, almost at random. Within somewhere and I hear or see something. "Now I take it." It might be worth it or not. Still remain inside me "
Jan Garbarek Solothurnmann from page 5

And it 'This is the concept of World Music that drives the search for Garbarek, present in all his forty years' record production.
An array of sound deeply tied to the departure of John Coltrane tenor sax, initiated by a listen random Giant Steps in Norway for 60 years and the chance meeting with Jon Christensen.

A beginning that denying or forgetting the deep voice of the North, to dive into a perhaps inevitable exploration of the roots of Afro Bop saxophone.

The militant youth group in the orchestra of George Russell, a true patron and discoverer of young talent and prophet of experimental musicians and sound.

And 'own with George Russell's first appearance record of a young Garbarek:

"1966 - The Essence of George Russell - Soul Note 121044-2"

The militant groups of Russell and 'very important in training for Garbarek, and not only at the level of formation. The orchestra Russell represents a real laboratory, un'incrocio musicians, experiences and alternative approaches to jazz.

And 'possible to identify various phases in the definition of the poetic music of Garbarek, of course not intended phases in pure chronological order and with constant references to earlier and later stages in each of these:

1. African American Stage 1966-1970, made the search of popular American jazz tradition, language acquisition and improvisational sound of the jazz tradition, especially that related to Coltrane

2. 1970-1980 Phase Impressionist, an adaptation phase of the syntax of language learned in the previous phase to paint soundscapes characterized by northern wastelands, fruit of the ideas of George Russell and Don Cherry

3. Phase PanCulturale 1980-1985, a period of exploration of the connections, traditional Saami, a journey into the culture "out" of saamiland, to get through the Balkans to the musical concept of India, already the muse of Coltrane.

4. 1985-1994 Phase Shamanic in this period Garbarek's music is enriched by the typical colors of folklore, and the unmistakable melodic simplicity and serial repetition that bring in the spiritual and ritual

Witchi to tai

A strange personality 'to Jim Pepper, the strange mingling of his being Indian and jazz saxophonist. Truly a rarity 'this, that fact is reflected in his music, a reality' almost visionary and mystic as the only Native American culture can be. His compositions are so 'tied to the earth, the spirit, hard to explain this thing, it sounded perfect, spirituality' Nordic way 'especially since the early 70 Garbarek has explored the composition probably more' famous and meaningful Pepper, from evocative title Witchi to tai. Musician near the design world of Don Cherry and Nana Vasconcelos, who unfortunately died prematurely in 1992 at only 51 years. That flavor all of Indian melodies, mixed with jazz, open spaces, harmonies without barriers, the true meaning of the term world music, unencumbered by purely commercial meanings acquired in recent years.

Noticed That You have everything as Indian does is in a circle, and That Is Because The Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round ..... The Sky is round, and I Have Heard That the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars.

The wind, In Its greatest power, whirls. Their Birds make nest in circles, for Theirs Is The Same religion as ours ....
Even the seasons form a great circle in Their changing, and always come back again to where They Were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and I know it is in everything where power moves.

Ogala Sioux Black Elk Speaks

Listen to this song perfectly round circles, which is reconstructed at each step, the therapeutic power of music and 'all in these few notes of Jim Pepper performed by the hands of Bobo Stenson and wind saxophonist Jan Garbarek in an original performance of the January 1974 in Oslo

On Air: Jan Garbarek Bobo Stenson Witchi tai to Oslo 11.01.74

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