The Bebop Shop Ralph Towner

The Bebop Shop : Changes: Post-Bop Modernists : Ralph Towner


	Ralph Towner & Glen Moore: Trios/ Solos (CD: ECM) Price: £14.99


Ralph Towner: Diary (CD: ECM Touchstones) As the title implies, Diary, the first entirely solo recording from Ralph Towner, is an intimate album. Its quiet reflections get to the heart of some outstanding Towner compositions including ”Icarus” and ”The Silence of a Candle” which receive definitive interpretations here, conveying the impression of ”an acoustic wonderworld” as Die Zeit wrote. The magic includes subtle overdubbing, allowing Towner to accompany his guitar with piano. In these diary entries the convergence of influences from jazz (Bill Evans above all), classical music and Brazilian music is fully realized in a very natural synthesis. Recorded 1973. (ECM Records) Price: £11.99


	Ralph Towner: Solstice (CD: ECM Touchstones) Deutscher Schallplattenpreis winner 1976. A pooling of talent characteristic of ECM’s first decade, with Garbarek, Eberhard Weber and Jon Christensen all responding creatively to the demands of Towner’s compositions. This album is part of the ECM TOUCHSTONES series: Great music and full-dimensional sound at download price, in cardboard covers with original artwork. (ECM Records) Price: £11.99


Ralph Towner: Solstice (ECM: Vinyl LP) Solstice, recorded 1974, belongs to the great early production projects of ECM, with a new band formed in the studio. It's the first of Towner's recorded encounters with the European players, and this US-Norwegian-German quartet has a character all its own. A free download is included with this 180g vinyl re-issue. (Proper Music) Price: £28.99


	Ralph Towner & Gary Burton: Matchbook (CD: ECM Touchstones) An album-of-the-year in US magazine High Fidelity and recipient of a 5-star review in Down Beat, Towner and Burton’s Matchbook stands up today as a timeless instance of the art of the duo, its vibrant spontaneity still alluring. The wide-ranging repertoire includes Ralph Towner’s classic tune ”Icarus”, Charles Mingus’s farewell to Lester Young, “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”, and Leonard Bernstein’s “Some Other Time” (“a meticulously plotted melody that spurs some of the record’s loveliest interaction” – Down Beat). (ECM Records) Price: £11.99


Ralph Towner: Batik (CD: ECM Touchstones) Unique production project bringing together Towner’s acoustic guitars with the fleet, elastic bass of Eddie Gomez and the detailed drumming of Jack DeJohnette. This album is part of the ECM TOUCHSTONES series: Great music and full-dimensional sound at download price, in cardboard covers with original artwork. (ECM Records) Price: £11.99


	Ralph Towner & John Abercrombie: Five Years Later (CD: ECM) Sargasso Sea in 1976 was the debut duo disc of great American guitarists Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie. On their follow-up recording Five Years Later - and it did come in 1981 - their improvisations draw on a wider sonic palette, to telling effect. That recording is now being re-issued for the first time on CD, simultaneously with a 180g vinyl version. "Something special happens when they play together" observed Robert Palmer in the New York Times, and the participants concurred. "Playing with John is one of my favourite things to do," said Ralph Towner. "I can play as much as when playing solo, and still get to ply my skills as accompanist. John is such an amazing person to play with that, even when he's playing intensely or aggressively, we somehow fit together and there's really no way that we could collide." (Proper Note) Price: £13.99


Ralph Towner & John Abercrombie: Five Years Later (Vinyl LP: ECM) Price: £28.99
180g vinyl pressing

Ralph Towner: Ana (CD: ECM) Price: £14.99


	Ralph Towner: Time Line (CD: ECM) Price: £14.99


Ralph Towner & Paolo Fresu: Chiaroscuro (CD: ECM) Launch of a new duo with a most uncommon instrumentation, acoustic guitar and trumpet- but it’s a highly attractive combination. Ralph Towner, guitarist extraordinaire, an ECM artist since 1972, is joined by Italian trumpet star Paolo Fresu, making his label debut for ECM. Price: £14.99


	Ralph Towner, Wolfgang Muthspiel & Slava Grigoryan: Travel Guide (CD: ECM) An international summit meeting, Travel Guide features US guitarist Ralph Towner, Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, and Kazakhstan-born and Australia-raised guitarist Slava Grigoryan. The three musicians first came together in 2005, initially for concerts in Australia, and have since toured widely. A 2009 recording on Muthspiel’s Material Records label documented the group’s early progress. Ralph Towner subsequently brought the project to ECM and the trio recorded this album in Lugano in August 2012, with Manfred Eicher as producer. Towner has been a key ECM recording artist for more than 40 years, while Muthspiel and Grigoryan make label debuts here. Grigoryan is well known as the preeminent Australian classical guitarist of his generation, and Muthspiel’s been an important figure on the transatlantic jazz scene for two decades, with his own bands and as a contributor to groups of Gary Burton, Paul Motian and many others. What all three guitarists share is a strong feeling for structure, a sense for lyrical improvisation and a feeling for space, harnessing instrumental technique to very graceful musical ends. Repertoire features five compositions by Towner, and five by Muthspiel. (ECM Records) Price: £14.99


Ralph Towner: My Foolish Heart (CD: ECM) After critically-lauded projects with trumpeter Paolo Fresu (Chiaroscuro) and with fellow guitarists Wolfgang Muthspiel and Slava Grigoryan (Travel Guide), Ralph Towner returns to solo guitar for My Foolish Heart. Whether on classical guitar or 12-string guitar Towner's touch is immediately identifiable. Solo music is an important thread through his rich discography and this new album - recorded at Lugano's Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in February 2016 and produced by Manfred Eicher - follows in the great tradition of Diary, Solo Concert, Ana, Anthem, and Time Line. It features finely-honed new compositions as well as a pair of tunes ("Shard" and "Rewind") from the songbook of Oregon, a dedication to the late Paul Bley ("Blue As In Bley") and a single standard - Victor Young's "My Foolish Heart" which Towner first came to love in Bill Evans's interpretation. (Proper Music) Price: £14.99


	Ralph Towner: At First Light (CD: ECM) An ECM artist for his entire musical career, US guitarist Ralph Towner has built up a unique body of work in his recordings for the label. Central to his oeuvre are his solo albums, the first of which, Diary, was issued 50 years ago. At First Light extends this great tradition, drawing inspiration from a broad palette of music. “My solo recordings have always included my own compositions in which there are trace elements of the many composers and musicians that have attracted me,” writes Towner in a liner note, citing the influence of, among others, George Gershwin, John Coltrane, John Dowland and Bill Evans: “I feel that At First Light is a good example of shaping this expanse of influences into my personal music.” In addition to his own pieces, Towner also plays Hoagy Carmichael’s “Little Old Lady”, Jule Styne’s “Make Someone Happy” and the traditional tune “Danny Boy.” Recorded at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, in February 2022, At First Light was produced by Manfred Eicher. (ECM Records) Price: £14.99

The Bebop Shop : Changes: Post-Bop Modernists : Ralph Towner

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