ECM music, particularly Garbarek’s, is sometimes dismissed as a one-mood affair, but the many musicians and fans who caught the great Norwegian’s only British performance of 1984 were shown the absurdity of that particular critical canard. Together with the other distinctive personalities of bassist Eberhard Weber, guitarist David Torn and drummer Michael DiPasqua, Garbarek delivered two warmly received sets of music as rhythmically adventurous as they were melodically appealing.
The compositional logic, haunting melodic grace and spacious, reflective invention one associates with both Garbarek and Weber were particularly evident in Weber’s poignant The Last Stage Of A Long Journey, where Garbarek’s subtle sense of dynamics and psychological development made his keening soprano solo especially memorable. Subtlety was also very much part of DiPasqua’s fresh-toned contributions to the range of ostensibly simple, intricately realised themes. Particularly impressive were the obliquely shaded cymbal accents which brought both his solo feature and Going Places itself to a pianissimo conclusion, the variety of samba-inflected percussion which caressed the liquid lines of Gesture, and the sitar-like effects offered in polyrhythmic dialogue with Garbarek’s flute in a major, as yet untitled new composition, the latter stages of which revealed the aggressive side of the leader’s full throated tenor work.
An aggressive edge was also evident in Weber’s solo feature, and in the latter stages of Garbarek’s Wayfarer suite, which gave David Torn ample opportunity to display his personal transmutation of aspects of Hendrix, Bailey, Rypdal and straight jazz guitar. For many, his sophisticated, occasionally abrasive textural sense and uncanny polyphonic emphathy with Garbarek supplied the highlights of an outstanding evening’s music.