Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble
Officium

LA RECENSIONE

A few steps from Paradise...

This Work is tangible proof that other worlds exist, and only a few possess the keys to access them, to open them and let in a select few in strict silence.
Jan Garbarek, in my opinion, is one of these. Jan Garbarek, the ethereal Norwegian saxophonist, with this ECM-labelled album (from 1993!) has demonstrated his boundless talent by managing to fuse jazz, sacred music, ambient, and ethnic music into a single record, delivering to history a milestone of music and art in general from the old millennium, at the close of one of the darkest centuries of humanity.

Big words out of place? I don't think so, judging by the numerous awards and recognitions that specialized press and worldwide critics have showered on this masterpiece. In these scarce 80 minutes, our "priest," assisted by the always excellent Hilliard Ensemble, finds a very personal way to harmoniously and surprisingly interact the seductive song of his sax, always measured and evocative, with the group's sacred vocal polyphony, gently leading us into ancestral territories and spiritual worlds bordering on the divine.
An enchanting and delicate album, which succeeds in blending the measured presence of the sax with the classically styled vocal blends, never overpowering one another, but creating a unique whole of rare intensity and beauty, which was not replicated in the following album "Mnemosyne" of 1999, again with the same lineup.

In 1994 I had the honor of seeing the group in a memorable performance in a deconsecrated church in Milan, and I swear, it was the most thrilling concert of my entire life, so much so that halfway through, I cried like a baby from the emotion, convinced I was just a few meters from the gates of Paradise. Since then, I have never cried like that again.

Dedicated to those who seek beyond (in every sense).