Red Lanta

One of the earliest recordings to embody what would come to be known as the ECM sound, Red Lanta is a series of piano/reed duets that have a Scandinavian starkness offset, somewhat unfortunately, by a soft sentimentality that verges on kitsch. At the time, Garbarek was vacillating between the strident and thrilling explorations of his Triptykon and Witchi-Tai-To and his increased involvement with the fuzzier work of Keith Jarrett, and this collaboration moved him decidedly toward the latter. Art Lande composed all the pieces here and brings a Jarrett-esque sense of pastel prettiness and pastoral, folk-influenced serenity. Sometimes this works in isolation, the melody being simple and attractive enough to stand on its own; when offered back to back, a cloying quality sets in and an aural palate cleanser becomes a necessity. Still, this general approach proved extremely popular in the ensuing years, and devotees of ECM's later years will want to hear one of its points of germination. But the fire and passion of Garbarek's early work on albums such as Afric Pepperbird has been all but extinguished by this time. ~ Brian Olewnick