Behind the tenor and soprano saxophonist is the Jan Garbarek Group, and behind the band is German PA company RWS-Konzerttechnik which has designed and supplied the touring production audio, a Nexo Geo S tangent-array PA powered by Camco Vortex Series amplifiers.
RWS-Konzerttechnik's Gert Rickmann-Wunderlich was heavily influenced in his choice of touring system by the compact size of the Geo S. "It's not what you could call big, which is a particular advantage, as it can be flown on rigging in theatres without any additional work. Motor-driven winches are just not necessary."
The wisdom of Rickmann-Wunderlich's specification was endorsed when Jan Garbarek arrived in Venice for the Jazz Festival to play his concert at the famous La Fenice opera house, and found that all equipment for the show had to be delivered to the theatre by canal boat. Closed for eight years after a terrible fire, La Fenice has been restored to its former glory.
"The combination of Camco's Vortex 6 and Nexo's Geo S is still my favourite for this kind of sound reinforcement task," says Rickmann-Wunderlich. "As one of the first companies in Germany to use this system on tours, and after over 250 concerts at different venues, we are still amazed at how brilliantly it works and how reliable the the software forecasts are."
(Jim Evans)
