Renowned for his pauses between notes and his long tones, Norwegian jazz
saxophonist and composer Jan Garbarek is regarded as something of a pioneer of
fusion, introducing spirituality, new age ideas and world music into his
emotional interpretations.
The only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, he grew up in Oslo and,
taking to the saxophone, he won a competition in 1962 for amateur jazz
musicians. Alerted to his prodigious talents he was soon being offered gigs and
linked up with bandleader George Russell who was living in Scandinavia at the
time. By the early 1970s ...