Afric Pepperbird is an album by the Jan Garbarek Quartet, recorded over two days in September 1970 and released on ECM the following year—Garberek's second album overall, and his first released for the label. The quartet features rhythm section Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen.

Afric Pepperbird
Studio album by
the Jan Garbarek Quartet
Released1971 (1971)
RecordedSeptember 22–23, 1970 (1970-09-22 – 1970-09-23)
StudioBendiksen Studio
Oslo, Norway
GenreJazz, post-bop, free jazz, progressive jazz
Length40:51
LabelECM
ECM 1007 ST
ProducerManfred Eicher
Jan Garbarek chronology
Esoteric Circle
(1971)
Afric Pepperbird
(1971)
Sart
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]

Background

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Regarding the album's title, author Jan Omdahl reports that Garbarek told Arild Andersen about a reading about a bird in a book "or something", speculating about which "pepperbird" was the inspiration for the title of the song and album.[4]

Reception

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The AllMusic review by Brian Olewnick states, "Together with Sart, Tryptikon, and Witchi-Tai-To (as well as a prior recording on Flying Dutchman), this album represents the strongest, most aggressive portion of Garbarek's career, before he succumbed to what became known as the ECM aesthetic. Very highly recommended."[5]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Jan Garbarek, except as noted.

Side I
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Skarabée" 6:16
2."Mah-Jong"Andersen1:52
3."Beast of Kommodo" 12:23
Side II
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Blow Away Zone" 8:37
2."MYB"Andersen1:50
3."Concentus"Andersen0:50
4."Afric Pepperbird" 7:58
5."Blupp"Christensen1:05
Total length:40:51

Personnel

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Jan Garbarek Quartet

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Technical personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Allmusic Review
  2. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 174. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 523. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  4. ^ https://klassekampen.no/utgave/2022-12-12/garbareks-startskudd. Klassekampen.no. Retrieved 2022-12-13
  5. ^ Olewnick, B. Allmusic Review accessed 1 November 2009