‘Brother Wind’ is one of the most wonderful tunes ever composed. It’s my favorite Jan Garbarek composition, and it’s haunting me since the first time I’ve heard it. Garbarek managed to dive deep into his Norwegian roots and come back up in the contemporary world with a song as enchanting as the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis.) It is a timeless tune!
The first time ‘Brother Wind’ appeared on a Garbarek album was in 1988, on ‘Legend of the Seven Dreams’, which he recorded together with Rainer Brüninghaus on keyboards, Eberhard Weber on bass, and Naná Vasconcelos on percussion and released for the groundbreaking German label ECM. This is a more abstract and ethereal version than the later. The second time he recorded the song was for his 1992 album ‘Twelve Moons’, for which he changed the name to ‘Brother Wind March’ in order to emphasize a more dramatic arrangement of the song. His soprano saxophone feels like a sword cutting through the fabric of time and space, sharp and precise, but still carrying passion and fire from under the iceberg. This version was recorded with the same group, except for Vasconcelos, who was replaced by Manu Katche. Since the song’s release on Twelve Moons, Garbarek included ‘Brother Wind March’ in his regular live repertoire. Here are two great live versions, the first with Manu Katche on drums, and the second featuring Marilyn Mazur on percussion:
I told you that Brother Wind is my favorite Jan Garbarek song. But it’s also the favorite song of everyone in the band I play with, called ‘Next to Silence’ and dedicated to performing songs from the ECM catalog. It’s the most demanded and appreciated song by the audience back here, and I’ve played it hundreds of times. It always inspires me to explore its simple but contagious melody and try to add something new each time. Here is a 25-minute version of the song performed by ‘Next to Silence’ (yes, that’s me playing the bass with a bottle.) Enjoy!
