Review Summary: Just listen to 'Desireless.'
Jazz, to most, seemingly begins and ends with Miles Davis and John Coltrane. While there is a certain attraction to the idea of four guys jamming away and breaking boundaries in a smoke-filled room with spirits being drank like water, this cultural cliché is well worn and does a disservice to the genre of jazz as to put it simply there is so much more culturally to it than that. Case in point
Witchi-Tai-To
This album is a Euro-centric approach to jazz tunes from across different cultures. From the Don Cherry inspired 'Desireless' to the Cuban 'Hasta Siempre' this album covers a wide variety of cultural bases, all reinterpreted through the lens of European jazz. What makes this album a bona fide classic though is how Jan Garbarek and co. manage to reinterpret these pieces. From the more subtle flair of 'Witchi-Tai-To' to the Cuban extravagance of 'Hasta Siempre' the quartet interprets many of these songs in a faithful yet boundary pushing light that sound like a harmonious blending of cultural sounds and cliches with subtle twists. The standout track though is 'Desireless' where the band take a two minute Don Cherry interlude and transform it into a pulsating, peerless exercise in Spiritual Jazz reminiscent of Pharoah Sanders at his absolute peak.
'Desireless' like many of the other songs on this album shows the band members restraining themselves to solo around a specific theme but this gradually loosens and uncoils until everyone is freewheeling without losing sight of the goal. Special credit goes to Bobo Stenson's piano playing which, while being incredibly dynamic throughout the record, achieves a beautiful, emotional resonance on this song through the fountain of melodic ideas that he produces.
There has been criticisms levelled at the production or Jan Garbarek's saxophone tone but they are a matter of taste more than anything else. What cannot be disputed is that this is one of the best cultural exports from the European jazz scene ever. Highly recommended.
