Monday 19 November 2007

Sax for the Soul

Went to hear the Jan Garbarek quartet at the Royal Northern College of Music. Wow! Lyrical, plaintive, hard swinging, Norwegian folk-jazz with liberal doses of latin colour.

If you like music, any kind of music and if you are prepared to listen, check out the clips on YouTube here and here If you want more don't start with his best known Officium try Twelve Moons.

Now what would it take for worship to move people like this?

[For those who read the last post and who have also spotted the strap line under the photo of Garbarek, this is not ironic. This an entirely appropriate use of the word!]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I envy you greatly through trying hard not to break the last commandment!! Jan is one of my sources of musical inspiration. His music with the Hillier Ensemble is a great aid to worship and 'In Praise of Dreams' with Manu Katche and Kim Kashkashian is a palette of beautiful and colourful sounds... I rejoice that you had a passionate evening :-)

Glen Marshall said...

Manu Katche was playing on Saturday. Normally rhythm sections don't do it for me but he was amazing - inventive, subtle, sensitive, powerful and with wrists that must be made of some kind of occult combination of steel and rubber!

Anonymous said...

Envious that you got to hear Garbarek recently. I heard him in Leicester a few years ago and he was stunning. Wanted to hear him at Warwick Arts but couldn't make it. And doubly envious that you heard Manu Katche, whose Playground I've recently acquired. I'm taken with much of the ECM label. The only consolation was hearing Andy Sheppard with Italian pianist Rita Marcotulli last Monday at Warwick. This was the fifth time I've heard him in different incarnations and he was spectacular. I find most contemporary worship doesn't begin to engage my emotions in the same way. There are some interesting themes to explore with the jazz thing in relation to theology which you might like to chat about when we meet up again sometime.

Glen Marshall said...

Geoff

Bit of a Jazz novice in many ways if I'm honest - enthusiastic beginner stage. Having said that I've already done some playing around with the Jazz metaphor in relation to extempore prayer, both in viz a viz praying as worship leader and in relation extempore corporate prayer. I cld go on at some length - ignorance of a subject has never stopped me talking about it ! - but as you suggest, let's save it up till we meet.

Glen