A more eclectic release than his preceding releases, Jan Garbarek's I Took Up the Runes satisfies listeners who had been more or less impatient for something with some meat and some muscle.
Opening with a jazzy cover of Mari Persen's "Gula Gula," made fuller with bass guitar accompaniment that modifies the chord structure of the whole tune, the album next features the five-part "Molde Canticle," which spans from a dreamy esoteric sound to African folk music.
Garbarek really wails in places, and it is a welcome surprise -- he should wail more than he does.
Synthesizer sounds are starting to become less prominent as well.
There is excellent piano work by Rainer Brüninghaus and excellent vocalizing by guest artist Ingor Ántte Áilu Gaup.
A sign of good things to come.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gula GulaMari Boine Persen | Jan Garbarek | Play | 05:59 | 13 MB | 23 MB |
| 2 | His Eyes Were SunsJan Garbarek, Traditional | Jan Garbarek | Play | 06:09 | 14 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | I Took up the RunesJan Garbarek | Jan Garbarek | Play | 05:28 | 12 MB | 31 MB |
| 4 | Buena Hora, Buenos VientosJan Garbarek | Jan Garbarek | Play | 09:04 | 20 MB | 40 MB |
| 5 | Rahkki SruvvisIngor Antte Ailu Gaup | Jan Garbarek | Play | 02:26 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 6 | Molde Canticle, Part 1 | Jan Garbarek | Play | 05:16 | 12 MB | 22 MB |
| 7 | Molde Canticle, Part 2 | Jan Garbarek | Play | 05:47 | 13 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | Molde Canticle, Part 3 | Jan Garbarek | Play | 09:58 | 22 MB | 36 MB |
| 9 | Molde Canticle, Part 4 | Jan Garbarek | Play | 05:14 | 12 MB | 29 MB |
| 10 | Molde Canticle, Part 5 | Jan Garbarek | Play | 06:11 | 14 MB | 25 MB |
| 61 mins | 141 MB | |||||
| 61 mins | 280 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rainer Bruninghaus | Guest Artist, Piano |
| 2 | Jan Garbarek | Composer, Primary Artist, Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor) |
| 3 | Ingor Antte Ailu Gaup | Composer, Vocals, Voices |
| 4 | Manu Katché | Drums, Guest Artist |
| 5 | Mari Boine Persen | Composer |
| 6 | Traditional | Composer |
| 7 | Naná Vasconcelos | Guest Artist, Percussion |
| 8 | Eberhard Weber | Bass, Guest Artist |
| 9 | Bugge Wesseltoft | Synthesizer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |