It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice

It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice
Studio album by Jan Garbarek
Released	1985
Recorded	December 1984
Genre	Jazz
Length	42:36
Label	ECM
Producer	Manfred Eicher
Jan Garbarek chronology
Wayfarer (1983) It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice (1985) All Those Born With Wings (1986)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice is an album by the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek released on the ECM label and performed by Garbarek, David Torn, Eberhard Weber and Michael Di Pasqua.^[2]

Here Garbarek is approaching the extremes of his style, appearing once again with the Jan Garbarek Group. All pieces on this record are titled after quotes from poems by Tomas Tranströmer, and though the actual connection to these poems remains tenuous at best, they do add a provocative element to the pieces themselves, which beg for at least some programmatic interpretation.
Multi-instrumentalist David Torn is primarily responsible for the more aggressive edge this record takes. His guitar lines explode with energy and tension, giving Garbarek a more off-center field to play in — and considering his penchant for excessive restraint, this is a welcome environment to hear him in".^[1]

— The Allmusic review by Mark W. B. Allender, giving the album four stars

Track listing

All compositions by Jan Garbarek

1. "White Noise of Forgetfulness - 8:22
2. "The Crossing Place" - 9:10
3. "One Day in March I Go Down to the Sea and Listen" - 5:32
4. "Mission: To Be Where I Am" - 8:08
5. "It's OK to Phone the Island That Is a Mirage" - 5:49
6. "It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice" - 4:41
7. "I'm the Knife-Thrower's Partner" - 0:54

• Recorded December 1984

Personnel

• Jan Garbarek - tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
• David Torn - guitar, guitar synthesizer, DX7
• Eberhard Weber - bass
• Michael Di Pasqua - drums, percussion

References