Cassandra Jenkins "My Light, My Massage Parlor" (2025)

My Light, My Massage Parlor

udgivet: 25. aug. 2025

format: digital (8 x File, FLAC)

[vurdering: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]

producer: Cassandra Jenkins

selskab: Dead Oceans - nationalitet: USA

Udvalgte numre: 1. "Still Rambling" - 2. "Only Relaxation" - 3. "Omakase of Time" - 4. Delphinium Bliss" - 5. "Wormhold Music" - 6. "Betelgeuse Masseuse" - 7. "Haley"

4. album fra Cassandra Jenkins følger blot 1 år efter det flotte My Light, My Destroyer, og det er både en samling spritnye numre, men også noget, der mere end blot trækker tråde til hendes 2024-album. Albummet eksisterer tilsyneladende i en anden version på vinyl, hvor ikke bare coveret er anderledes, men også numrene har andre titler, men det har jeg ikke hørt. Måske er der en stor trang, et behov for at lade musikken vokse videre for Jenkins. I hvert fald er det ikke første gang hun henter inspiration fra et netop udgivet album og bruger det som musikalsk fundament for noget nyt. Albummet An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (feb. 2021) resulterede i efterfølgeren (An Overview On) An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (nov. 2021), som indeholdt både demoer, alternative versioner og et par andre numre end det musikalske forlæg, men det var tydeligt musik med et ganske andet udtryk, som hun her viste frem. På lignende vis er det med dette album - på engelsk er det kaldt en 'companion', altså en 'ledsager' eller et slags tillæg - også tydeligt afspejlet gennem en ny meddigtende titel. De fleste af numrene er akustiske og instrumentale versioner af 2024-albummet, og så igen: det er meget mere end det, for stemningen er langt fra den samme. Nogle numre har som albumtitlen tydelige referencer, fx den oprindelige "Omakase" hedder her "Omakase of Time" og Delphinium Blue" kommer her som "Delphinium Bliss". Og så er der nummeret "Haley", som åbenbart bare skal være på et Cassandra Jenkins-album. På debut-albummet var der et "Halley" med reference til Halley's Comet, på 2021-albummet var "Hailey" med i en første version. På (An Overview On) An Overview on Phenomenal Nature hed nummeret nu "Hailey (Premix)", på 2023-albummet var nummeret med i to ulige versioner: "Hayley" og: "Hailey / Hayley (Only One)", men var her igen originale (nye) numre, hver især, og på dette album er så "Haley" med (igen), uden at ligne andre tidligere versioner, men altså også uden en ekstra tilføjelse til titlen, men med alternativ stavning (!). Så kan man allerede gætte på, at næste album har et "Heyley" eller "Heyli" eller "Hayli" med... Jenkins har et eller andet med en optagethed af betydninger - lidt ligesom Laurie Anderson.

Musikalsk er det så laid-back og tæt på new age ambient uden decideret kun at være det, alene. Stemningsfuldt er det til overflod, og så har Jenkins tilføjet sine field recordings som små sløjfer, der løber eller svæver svagt i baggrunden. De første par gennemlytninger gav mig ikke samme positive oplevelse, som jeg har fået hen ad vejen. Umiddelbart gav det indtryk af noget unødvendigt, men det er et album, der bare vokser og som måske kræver tilvænning. Måske fordi det er så markant anderledes, end det, jeg troede, Jenkins havde gang i, men hun er tydeligvis noget mere sammensat end som så. Og så er det bare dejligt, at hun tør. Jazz'en har hun heldigvis med sig overalt på dette album. Det er ikke et album med flere ørehængere, men mere en helhed, der fungerer rigtig godt fra ende til anden.

Absolut anbefalet.

[ PopMatters 3,5 / 5 stjerner ]

Jan Garbarek Group "Twelve Moons" (1993)

Twelve Moons
release date: 1993
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlight: 1. "Twelve Moons - Pt.1: Winter - Summer; Pt.2: Summer - Winter" - 3. "Brother Wind March" - 10. "Witchi-Tai-To"

Released as 'Jan Garbarek Group' (Jan Garbarek - saxophones, Rainer Brüninghaus - keyboards, Eberhard Weber - bass, Manu Katché - drums, Marilyn Mazur - percussion, Agnes Buen Garnås - vocal, Mari Boine - vocal). This album is from his best period, from early 1980s to late 1990s, I think. It's beautiful modern jazz, jazz fusion and free jazz. Often, I don't find jazz fusion that great but that's mostly really when jazz has been fusioned with rock. On this album there's absolutely no rock styles present but it's really difficult to place in a genre because of the stylistic inputs from normally far apart genres like jazz and traditional folk in an ambient universe that sometimes almost becomes new age. On other Garbarek albums this style is too much present but here it only emphasizes the ambient feel.

Jan Garbarek "Star" (1991)

Star
release date: Jan. 1991
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Star" (5 / 5) - 2. "Jumper" - 3. "Lamenting" - 4. "Anthem" (4 / 5) - 5. "Roses for You" (4 / 5) - 6. "Clouds in the Mountain" (4 / 5) - 7. "Snowman" (3 / 5) - 8. "The Music of My People" (3 / 5)

Released as 'Jan Garbarek - Miroslav Vitous - Peter Erskine' (Vitous: bass, Erskine: drums). The album is unmistakably Jan Garbarek BUT although I'm quite fond of this release, it's also very different from his most recent releases before, and after this one. The style is still jazz fusion but it's a much more traditional jazz album than his other releases and it has a touch of jazz bop and in that, a stroke of Mingus. Of course this has to do with the fact that the majority of the album's tracks has the signature of the bass player Miroslav Vitous in composer credits. Garbarek "only" takes credit for the title track and the co-writing of "Snowman", and collaborator, and drummer, Erskine takes the credits for "Anthem", "The Music of My People", and co-writer of "Snowman". The style is narrowed down to the more "pure" jazz styles and the usual element of traditional folk is completely absent here. The release also shows how Garbarek is an excellent band player and interpreter.

Jan Garbarek "I Took Up the Runes" (1990)

I Took Up the Runes
release date: Aug. 1990
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

Track highlight: 1. "Gula Gula" (4 / 5) - 2. "Molde Canticle Part 1" (5 / 5) - 3. "Molde Canticle Part 2" - 4. "Molde Canticle Part 3" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "Molde Canticle Part 4" (2,5 / 5) - 6. "Molde Canticle Part 5" (3 / 5) - 7. "His Eyes Were Suns" (4 / 5) - 8. "I Took Up the Runes" (4 / 5) - 9. "Bueno Hora, Buenos Vientos" (3,5 / 5) - 10. "Rahkki Sruvvis"

Studio album by Jan Garbarek, which is stylistically close to Legend of the Seven Dreams (1988) with a little less focus on ambient but still it's modern free jazz with traditional folk elements, also on this what could be Indian sounding fragments. Overall, I like this a bit better.

Jan Garbarek "Legend of the Seven Dreams" (1988)

Legend of the Seven Dreams
release date: Jul. 1988
format: cd (ECM 1381)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Manfred Eicher
label: ECM Records - nationality: Norway

Track highlight: 1. "He Comes From the North" (5 / 5) (live) - 4. "Brother Wind" - 7. "Voy Cantando" (4 / 5) ( live )

Studio release by Jan Garbarek is an album with focus on ambient and contemporary / modern free jazz with traditional folk elements, sometimes Indian sounding fragments. All compositions are credited Garbarek but the album is made together with three of his 'usual' working partners: German pianist Rainer Brüninghaus, Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos (aka Juvenal De Holanda Vasconcelos, who is also credited for his vocal performance), and German bassist Eberhard Weber. Aside from playing soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, Garbarek is also credited for playing flute and percussion.
The album is a nice blend with latin folk its, thanks to Vasconcelos and Nordic folk, which here works quite nicely.

Jan Garbarek "All Those Born With Wings" (1987)

All Those Born With Wings
release date: Feb. 1, 1987
format: cd (ECM 1324)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Manfred Eicher
label: ECM Records - nationality: Norway

Tracklist: 1. "1st Piece" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "2nd Piece" (4 / 5) - *3. "3rd Piece" (4 / 5) - 4. "4th Piece" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "5th Piece" (4 / 5) - 6. "6th Piece" (3 / 5)
* In Memory of Andrej Tarkowskij

Studio album by Jan Garbarek, as always, produced by Manfred Eicher. The album is quite original in that Garbarek is only musician on the album, which is to say he plays (uncredited) all instruments including saxophones, keyboards, guitar, percussion, voice and other.
The album was the very first full album I ever listen to with Garbarek, and perhaps therefore it's still among my favourite Garbarek albums. As said, it's also one of his more experimental studio releases. Some tracks could be labelled modern classical, others as ambient or new age but the overall style is one of contemporary jazz fusion or free jazz, which sometimes drifts too far into what sounds as mere improvisations, but here the compositions predominantly stay on a fixed course.

Jan Garbarek "Paths, Prints" (1982)

Paths, Prints
release date: Sep. 6, 1982
format: cd (ECM 1223)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Manfred Eicher
label: ECM Records - nationality: Norway

Track highlights: 1. "The Path" (4 / 5) - 2. "Footprints" (4 / 5) - 3. "Kite Dance" (5 / 5) - 4. "To B.E." (4 / 5) - 5. "The Move" (4 / 5) - 8. "Still"

Studio album by Jan Garbarek with Bill Frisell on guitar, Eberhard Weber on bass, and with Jon Christensen on drums and percussion.
Working together with the jazz fusion and modern classical guitar icon, Bill Frisell, could easily have led the music astray but Garbarek is ever-present in a dominating part with drums, percussion, bass and guitar as the subtle backbone. Of course it helps that Garbarek is credited as composer of all tracks, but the album is really one of my favourite Garbarek albums. He's famous for his incorporation of folklore and / or (old) traditional Norwegian folk spliced with modern jazz fusion. His instruments are the soprano and alto sax (he also plays tenor and other instruments as clarinet and percussion); however the instrument, his playing style is original and far from traditional jazz instrumentalists, and in that sense he has much in common with Danish trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg and his Nordic and ambient jazz sound. Frisell together with Weber, Christensen and especially Frisell is a wonderful cocktail.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3 / 5, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings 3 / 4 stars ]