Jan Garbarek & Ustad Fateh Ali Khan
Ragas And Sagas

It's really strange how certain albums transcend space and time barriers to slowly but inevitably seep into your DNA, influencing even your character or life choices.

Like this "Ragas and Sagas" by Jan Garbarek from 1992 (obviously on ECM!). Yet another Jan Garbarek album and perhaps one of those to which I am deeply attached (apart from "Officium"). Here the Norwegian saxophonist, after years spent in numerous prestigious collaborations with Keith Jarrett, Ralph Towner, Hilliard Ensemble blending vastly different styles and influences, masterfully encounters the Arab/Pakistani culture, merging the sacred musicality ("raga" indeed) with the profane ("saga"), collaborating with a great sacred monster of vocality, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, who passed away not many years ago.

Perhaps for the first time, instruments from Indian/Pakistani traditions such as the tablas, sitar, and sarangi (sacred in Eastern tradition) mixed with a traditionally Western instrument (and thus profane). In this album, the two opposites meet in a delicate yet sharp integration where the sax becomes "sacred" in certain passages, giving ample space to Ustad's ecstatic singing, to return "profane" in more exquisitely jazz moments (even though the word is decidedly out of place here).
A continuous back and forth between these two poles which, for better or worse, uphold the fate and the sacred part of all humanity. Let it be clear: this remains a "meditative" and profoundly spiritual album (starting with "raga I" slow and indolent like a prayer of thanksgiving to God). Already in "Saga" (the only saga) the tempo becomes syncopated and "Western," still creating an appreciable fusion backdrop for a more modernized and "light" song (a definition always to be taken with a pinch of salt). Here the intertwining of the Norwegian's sax with the traditional Indian singing becomes sublime in certain passages and truly touching and intense as few can be.

In "Raga II", it returns to the Eastern/Pakistani tradition where Garbarek becomes subtle and respectful, barely coloring the track with soft notes, and so in "Raga III", where the multifaceted and mystical vocality of Alikan, a true undisputed master of Indian-derived vocal technique, undoubtedly takes center stage. The album closes with "Raga IV", also traditionally oriented (all compositions are by U.F. Ali Khan except for the only "saga" by Garbarek) where the ecstatic and virtuosic singing of the leader emerges powerfully in all its sacred strength, at the expense of a sax always gentle and never intrusive, respectful of a distant, profound, and very different culture from ours.

A great album of "meditative" and sacred nature, which hardly reconciles with Western sounds and has nothing to do with rock, jazz, fusion, or sounds much more familiar to us. Highly recommended for those who want to approach new sounds and for those who are already versed in meditation, the Orient, and mysticism and seek scraps of "divine" communication with the Higher Self. Bau bye.