Dresden: In Concert

Recorded at Dresden's Alte Schlachthof in October 2007, this 2 CD set is the first live album to be issued under Jan Garbarek's name and the quartet's first recording of any sort since 1999's Rites (EC M1685). Dresden, a fiery, powerful performance and a fine document of the Norwegian saxophonist's exceptional improvising capacities, captures his group in a period when it was reformulating it's approach. Earlier in the year bassist Yuri Daniel had been drafted into the band to help Garbarek fulfil commitments when Eberhard Weber, a unique component of the Garbarek ensemble's core sound for three decades, had been sidelined by illness. The new group tackles it's repertoire head-on, with the interaction between Garbarek and drummer Manu Katch at the centre of the music. Brazilian bassist Daniel, helps to anchor the pulses and rhythm patterns, while piano & keys man Rainer Brninghaus, a Garbarek Group member since 1988, maintains his established role as colorist-in-action.