Jan Garbarek

Jan Garbarek is a Norwegian saxophonist, born in Mysen in 1947 and raised in Oslo. His playing, with its hard-edged tone, long sustained notes and use of silence, moves between jazz, classical and world music. Most of his work has been released by ECM, and his 1994 album Officium with the Hilliard Ensemble became one of the label's best-selling records. Garbarek began recording in the late 1960s, notably with George Russell on Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature. His first ECM album as leader was Afric Pepperbird.