Jan Garbarek

“I've been trying to find a way to make the saxophone sound like a human voice.”

“The sound has to come from within. It’s not something you can learn from a book.”

“I never think about the audience. If someone is going to like it, they're going to like it for what it is.”

“The Nordic sound... it’s a space, a feeling of melancholy, but also a certain kind of light.”

“I am not a jazz musician in the American sense. I am a European musician who is influenced by jazz.”

“Melody is the most important thing for me. It's the song.”

“I'm always searching for a sound that I haven't heard before.”

“I want to create a mood, an atmosphere, not just play notes.”

“The landscape, the light, the long winters… it all finds its way into the music.”

“I listen to the silence and then I try to improve on it.”

“It's not about playing a lot of notes. It's about finding the right ones.”

“Improvisation is a conversation with yourself and with the other musicians.”