Jazz Articles about Ralph Towner

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Ralph Towner e Javier Girotto all'Auditorium di Roma

by Mario Calvitti
April 12, 2010

Auditorium -Roma -25.01.2010C'era molta curiosità verso l'inedito duo Towner/Girotto presentato in un concerto esclusivo presso l'Auditorium romano per la rassegna Dialogo. La diversa provenienza artistica dei due musicisti (prettamente latino l'argentino Girotto, jazzista intriso di cultura classica europea Towner) poteva rappresentare sia uno stimolo che un ostacolo; fortunatamente ha prevalso di gran lunga il primo aspetto, e i due hanno dato vita a un concerto ricco di pathos, in cui l'energia e l'esuberanza di Girotto si sono dimostrate ...

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Ralph Towner / Paolo Fresu: Chiaroscuro

by John Kelman
March 11, 2010

Since moving to Italy over a decade ago, guitarist/pianist Ralph Towner's output as a leader has been woefully infrequent, with only two discs released this decade--2001's Anthem and 2006's Time Line, both on the label that's been his home for over 35 years, ECM. It's not that he hasn't been busy; he continues to work and record regularly with Oregon, the group that he co-founded nearly 40 years ago, heard most recently on the Grammy Award-nominated 1000 Kilometers (Cam Jazz, ...

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Ralph Towner / Paolo Fresu: Chiaroscuro

by Thomas Conrad
March 10, 2010

After Enrico Rava, the most important trumpet player in Italy is Paolo Fresu. The fact that he is not well known in the United States may be about to change, because he is now an ECM recording artist. The label has placed him with major people: Carla Bley on The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu in 2007 and now guitarist Ralph Towner on Chiaroscuro. A pairing of trumpet and acoustic guitar is unusual. Towner and Fresu have ...

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Ralph Towner / Paolo Fresu: Chiaroscuro

by David McLean
December 27, 2009

Continuing his long and fruitful relationship with Manfred Eicher's ECM Records--yielding a slew of successful solo records and concerts, acclaimed group work with Oregon and Solstice (also featuring Jan Garbarek), and duo work with John Abercrombie, Gary Peacock and Gary Burton--guitarist/pianist Ralph Towner has become something of an icon for the German label. Chiaroscuro marks another chapter in Towner's longstanding interest in duo work, this time pairing himself with Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu. This largely restrained and meditative duo explores, ...

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Ralph Towner - Paolo Fresu: Chiaroscuro

by AAJ Italy Staff
November 5, 2009

Il primo contatto tra i due protagonisti di questo lavoro è avvenuto nell'ormai lontano 1992, in occasione del festival jazz di Sant'Anna Arresi. Successivamente - ed in particolare negli ultimi anni - non sono mancate le occasioni di incontro che hanno dato origine anche ad alcuni concerti, ma solo ora emerge il frutto discografico di quella collaborazione. L'estetica musicale di Fresu, continuamente volto alla ricerca di una musica 'totale' senza confini geografici o di genere, ben si sposa con quella, ...

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Ralph Towner: Timeline

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 16, 2006

I dischi di Ralph Towner per sola chitarra si sono fatti più frequenti nel tempo, come se la dimensione intima ad essi collegata fosse diventata quella privilegiata, e la presenza di altri musicisti con cui confrontarsi non più necessaria. Successivo ad Ana e ad Anthem, questo Time Line ne prosegue la linea, con composizioni originali eseguite alla chitarra classica (o alla 12 corde) mescolate ad alcuni standard. Ogni disco di Towner è una dimostrazione di stile che non ha eguali, ...

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An Evening with Ralph Towner

by Erik R. Quick
July 20, 2006

Ralph Towner An Die Musik Baltimore, MD June 23, 2006

There is often a predisposition, for whatever reason, to categorize and compartmentalize both the manner of existence and the means of expression. Our food, friends, neighborhoods, automobiles and clothes are all neatly isolated and segregated into predisposed sections meant to conform to our already limited experiences and expectations. Of course, music is a frequent victim of such oft brutal and dismissive exercises and, ...