''Luminessence'' is an album composed by American pianist

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a ...

featuring saxophonist

Jan Garbarek Jan Garbarek () (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Østfold, southeastern Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław ...

and the Südfunk-Sinfonieorchester conducted by Mladen Gutesha recorded in April 1974. It was released on the

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label in 1975. Jarrett does not perform on this album. Gutesha had conducted the Stuttgart strings on "Metamorphosis," from Jarrett's 1974 album '' In the Light'', and would appear as conductor on ''

Arbour Zena ''Arbour Zena'' is an orchestral work composed by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett featuring saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Charlie Haden and members of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by which was recorded in October 1975 ...

'' (1976). While the music for string orchestra was notated, the saxophone part was improvised. Producer Manfred Eicher recalled: "''Luminessence'' shows Keith's affinity for Jan Garbarek's playing. He studied Jan's music and the scales he used, and he also got the concept of the harmonic structures – the framework of the piece – with Jan in mind... Jan was indeed honoured that Keith wanted to write this for him." Similarly, Jarrett biographers Ian Carr and Wolfgang Sandner both praised Jarrett's ability to compose a score suited to Garbarek's style and abilities. Carr wrote: "the few melodies Jarrett writes sound like Garbarek improvisations, so great is the rapport between the two men," while Sandner commented that Jarrett "knew which kind of musical background was needed to ignite Jan Garbarek's melancholic saxophone into excursions through the jazz cosmos."

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 4 stars and states, "The concept is not unlike that of

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

's '' Focus'', but this music is far more static, downcast, and free of the pulse of jazz. As was characteristic of his writing then, Jarrett's string parts are mostly turgid and thick-set, indulging in weird, sliding microtones on "Windsong", weighted down by some kind of emotional burden. Particularly when delivering piercing sustained notes on soprano, Garbarek often sounds like a native of the Middle East".Ginell, R. S.

Allmusic Review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

accessed April 22, 2010 Writing for

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, Stephen Davis stated that ''Luminessence'' "recalls both Gabriel Faure and Pierre Dubois," and, pairing it with '' In the Light'', commented: "These albums belong neither to jazz or 'modern' music and they do not make easy listening. Both titles imply that Jarrett 'sees' his music as a colorful physical energy as did Scriabin almost a century ago."

Track listing

:''All compositions by Keith Jarrett'' # "Numinor" - 13:49 # "Windsong" - 6:32 # "Luminessence" - 15:23

Personnel

- tenor and soprano saxophones * Südfunk-Sinfonieorchester conducted by Mladen Gutesha Production * Manfred Eicher - producer * Kurt Rapp, Martin Wieland - recording engineers * Barbara and Burkhart Wojirsch / Sascha Kleis - cover design * Terje Mosnes / Kira Tolkmitt - photography

References

{{Authority control Keith Jarrett albums Jan Garbarek albums 1975 albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher ECM Records albums