Jazz Articles about Ralph Towner

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Ralph Towner: Time Line and Siroko

by Celeste Sunderland
June 10, 2006

Ralph Towner Time Line ECM 2006 Olivier Ker Ourio Siroko Nocturne 2005

As the nylon strings of Ralph Townerâ????s classical guitar or the steel of his 12-string react to the intrepid actions of his fingers, soothing intricacies flow toward the walls and settle among the shadows. Sharp harmonics shoot up into ...

like 327

Ralph Towner: Time Line

by John Kelman
April 28, 2006

Few artists have made the art of solo performance a significant part of their body of work. If a pianist is around long enough, you can expect the occasional solo recording. But except for Keith Jarrett, few pianists have made solo performance a fundamental part of their discography. The same applies to the guitar, where Ralph Towner is another obvious exception. While Towner's 35-year affiliation with Oregon gives him an outstanding ensemble with which to explore group interaction, the majority ...

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Ralph Towner: Time Line

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
April 25, 2006

In an essay about Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges asserted that great writers create their precursors. Guitarist Ralph Towner makes no secret about the influence of pianist Bill Evans on his musical style. He places “My Man's Gone Now at the end of this new solo recital, raising expectations of an Evans-like record. (Evans didn't compose the song but will be forever linked to it, thanks to his classic trio's recording from the Village Vanguard in June 1961.)

Evans' music is ...

like 235

Ralph Towner: Anthem

by David Adler
May 1, 2001

Ralph Towner recently turned 60, and his age has only made him more eloquent, more imaginative, more able to cast a spell. Anthem, his new solo guitar record and his 20th title for ECM, is the follow-up to 1997's solo recital, Ana. It also coincides with ECM's reissue of Diary, Towner's 1974 effort, on which he plays both guitar and his first instrument, piano. (He didn't begin playing guitar until age 23.) These solo albums are precious few in number--be ...

like 135

Ralph Towner: Anthem

by C. Andrew Hovan
May 1, 2001

Now in his 61st year, guitarist and composer Ralph Towner can look back on the great tapestry that has made up his musical life over the preceding decades. For the past 30 years he's been associated with ECM Records, a distinction that has allowed him to express his own muse in a way that many artists would simply find enviable. He's been a vital member of the group Oregon and has worked with a large stable of singular artists including ...

like 207

Ralph Towner: Anthem

by C. Andrew Hovan
May 1, 2001

Now in his 61st year, guitarist and composer Ralph Towner can look back on the great tapestry that has made up his musical life over the preceding decades. For the past 30 years he's been associated with ECM Records, a distinction that has allowed him to express his own muse in a way that many artists would simply find enviable. He's been a vital member of the group Oregon and has worked with a large stable of singular artists including ...

like 186

Ralph Towner: Anthem

by David Adler
May 1, 2001

Ralph Towner recently turned 60, and his age has only made him more eloquent, more imaginative, more able to cast a spell. Anthem, his new solo guitar record and his 20th title for ECM, is the follow-up to 1997's solo recital, Ana. It also coincides with ECM's reissue of Diary, Towner's 1974 effort, on which he plays both guitar and his first instrument, piano. (He didn't begin playing guitar until age 23.) These solo albums are precious few in number--be ...