Jan Garbarek had studied with the great American composer
George Russell, and had previously appeared on
Russell's venture into jazz-rock, Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved By Nature. Whereas his teacher's usage of rock rhythms in an avant jazz context often came off as rather clunky, for
Garbarek and his guitarist,
Terje Rypdal, formerly a member of the popular Norwegian band the Vanguards, such a melding was more second nature.
The Esoteric Circle, the first album by their band of the same name (hey, this was still the '60s after all), is a highly successful and enjoyable effort, one that can stand comfortably with work being done at that time by
Tony Williams or
John McLaughlin.
Garbarek's compositions range from deeply felt homages to
Coltrane ("Traneflight" and "Nefertite") to rocking jams like "Rabalder," where
Rypdal gets to showcase his considerable chops. In fact, some of these themes were used by
Russell in his aforementioned work.
Garbarek's own playing, here entirely on tenor, come largely out of
Albert Ayler as well as
Coltrane, and his general attack is much more raw and aggressive than the style for which he would eventually become more widely known through his recordings for ECM. Listeners who enjoy his first several albums for that label (from
Afric Pepperbird to
Witchi-Tai-To) will find much to savor here. ~ Brian Olewnick