The O’Zone | Beneath the Evening Sky: The Twilight World of Ralph Towner (1940-2026)
I was auditioning for a band in 1973 when, during a break, they put on a new album by Weather Report. The band was enthusiastically extolling the guitarist opening a song by Wayne Shorter called The Moors. I had never heard anything like it. Co-founder Joe Zawinul describes the circumstances of the recording. It was captured unexpectedly. Ralph Towner was warming up in a practice room with a borrowed 12 string guitar when engineers began rolling tape, capturing the unique performance that would become the introduction for the track.
I mean, who bends strings on a 12 string guitar? Ralph Towner, that’s who. He’s a true original guitarist who fused different styles into a hybrid all his own. Ralph had that rare gift of making his music feel like breathing, like water flowing, like clouds rolling across an evening sky.
Music of Another Present Era:
Why Ralph Towner’s Music Still Sounds Like the Future
Ralph Towner’s first instrument was the piano. His play style was influenced by the lyricism of Bill Evans, so it stands to reason that his approach on guitar was also pianistic. Unlike traditional guitarists who arpeggiate (play notes in sequence), Towner approached the guitar with a piano player's mind and hands. Take, for example, his execution of vertical harmony, playing chords where all the voices are struck in a simultaneous fashion. His technique allowed for independant moving lines and complex chord voicings that were previously thought to be impossible on an acoustic guitar.
Then there was his radical approach to the twelve string guitar. He had a singularly unique ability to isolate individual strings within each pair, choosing to either strike the octave or the natural string. His technique generated a wash of harmonics that created a shimmering "orchestral" style similar to a piano’s sustain pedal, making the guitar sound far larger and more modern than a standard guitar. Here he is using that style on his composition “Icarus” while overdubbing himself on the piano.
Old Friends, New Friends: Collaborations
John Abercrombie: There were two pairings of Abercrombie and Towner: Sargasso Sea and Five Years Later. These albums primarily featured Ralph on his various acoustic instruments and Abercrombie on electric guitars. Evocative and thoughtful, these albums are landmarks in jazz guitar collaborations.
Gary Burton: The first collaboration by the pair was a 1975 release on the ECM label Matchbook, a series of acoustic jazz duets featuring Ralph Towner on classical and 12-string guitars and Gary Burton on vibraharp. It was critically acclaimed with a 5-star review in Down Beat and “Album of the Year” recognition in High Fidelity magazine. Slide Show was released in 1986 continuing with their intimate chamber jazz vibe filled with the subtle interplay and delicate beauty of the first album.
Solstice: A legendary all-star quartet featuring Jan Garbarek on flute and saxophones, Eberhard Weber on his hybrid electric upright bass, and Jon Christensen on drums. Their first eponymous album Solstice (1975) and its (1977) follow-up Sound and Shadows are widely regarded as a crowning achievement in Towner’s career and the definitive recordings of the “ECM sound” with their atmospheric minimalist chamber jazz and nordic noir.
MGT: An International acoustic guitar trio composed of Wolfgang Muthspiel, an Austrian guitarist and composer known for his lyric melodic approach, Slava Grigoryan, a classical guitarist regarded as a leading figure of his generation that was born in Kazakhstan and raised in Australia, and Ralph Towner.
The group formed in 2005 and is known for their mixing of classical and jazz disciplines into a unique intimate sound. They use a vast array of guitars, nylon-string, 12-string, baritone, and electric guitars. Most of the songs are written by Towner or Muthspiel but operate in a democratic fashion.
Other Notable Collabs
Keith Jarrett: In the Light 1974
Larry Coryell: The Restful Mind 1975
Eddie Gomez & Jack DeJohnette: Batik 1978
David Freisen: Waterfall Rainbow 1977
Oregon and The Paul Winter Consort: Starting Point
In 1968, Ralph moved from his home in the Pacific northwest to New York City, where he worked as a jazz pianist then eventually joined saxophonist Paul Winter’s group, the Paul Winter Consort. It was Paul Winter who first asked Towner to pick up a 12-string guitar, an instrument Ralph had not previously played but quickly mastered incorporating it into his sound. In the Consort, Towner became a focal member writing some of the bands biggest hits.
The album Icarus was recorded in 1970 and released in 1972. It was produced by The Beatles’ esteemed producer, George Martin, who called it “the finest album I’ve ever made.” In 1971, due to a difference in musical vision and the need for musical autonomy, Towner, Paul McCandles, Glen Moore and Colin Walcott left Winter to form Oregon.
In Oregon they found more freedom and realized the unique chemistry that had started in the Consort bloomed into a groundbreaking new sound combining jazz, chamber music and world music…Oregon. The first album by the band was Music of Another Present Era. The final album was made in 2017 and called Lanthern. The group recorded 30 albums and changed music with their philosophy of collective improvisation, global synthesis, and originality. Ralph continued to record after Oregon until his death.
Ralph Towner was a completely unique artist and composer.
Although strongly influenced by Bill Evans, Ralph was always about his own concepts, and we are richer for it. I will miss what seemed like an endless creative flow, At least I have everything he ever recorded. It helps a little, but his like will not be seen his again.
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