Album: Marilyn Mazur and Jan Garbarek

Elixir, ECM

You don't have to be a percussionist to listen to this record, but it helps. Over 21 shortish pieces, Danish banger and scraper Mazur (she worked with Miles Davis for four years, and in Garbarek's band for 14) creates a series of intimate yet curiously epic soundscapes, often evoking Nordic concerns with shamanistic myth and nature symbolism. Garbarek joins her on about half the tracks, playing tenor and soprano saxes as well as flute. It's slow stuff, and in truth there's not a lot of musical material here, but if you stick with it there are beautiful moments, and a Cageian feeling for sound as sound.

Download this: 'Spirit of Air', with Garbarek playing ritualistic flute