1969 · Album
Esoteric Circle
Flying Dutchman (original release); Freedom (reissue) · Produced by Bob Thiele
Raw Tenor in the Shadows
A highly successful effort that stands with the best avant-garde work of its era, raw and aggressive where Garbarek would later become lyrical.
Esoteric Circle arrived quietly, initially released under a band name on Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label, the kind of move that suggests uncertain commercial prospects. It built its reputation slowly, the sort of record that found its audience through word-of-mouth rather than chart presence or immediate critical fanfare. AllMusic reviewer Brian Olewnick later awarded it four stars, placing it alongside the most adventurous work Tony Williams and John McLaughlin were pursuing at the time. The Penguin Guide to Jazz also recognized its worth. This was a cult record that eventually proved itself.
What makes the music worth hearing is how directly it shows Jan Garbarek before he became the ECM artist people know now—playing entirely on tenor saxophone, drawing from Albert Ayler and Coltrane, with an attack far rawer and more aggressive than his later work. Terje Rypdal on guitar, Arild Andersen on bass, and Jon Christensen on membranophone create a muscular, exploratory sound that feels genuinely free without sacrificing coherence. The interplay between saxophone and guitar drives the session, neither instrument deferring to the other.
This is Garbarek early in his career, before he found the sound that would define his reputation. For anyone curious about where he came from before the ECM years, or simply interested in challenging tenor work from that period, Esoteric Circle remains a powerful listen.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Terje Rypdal
All 37 albums →
The musicians on this record
I Took Up The Runes 1968
Jan Garbarek
plays saxophone here
plays saxophone here
A Molde Concert 1982
Arild Andersen
plays bass here
plays bass here
♫
Personal Mountains 1989
Jon Christensen
plays membranophone here
plays membranophone here
