{"id":141935,"date":"2023-10-08T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=141935"},"modified":"2023-10-09T13:01:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T20:01:12","slug":"ralph-towner-is-still-defying-categorization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/ralph-towner-is-still-defying-categorization\/","title":{"rendered":"The Perennially Eclectic Guitarist Ralph Towner Is Still Defying Categorization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s been 50 years since Ralph Towner\u2019s first album solely under his name, Diary<\/a><\/em>, came out on producer Manfred Eicher\u2019s groundbreaking ECM Records label. Towner had already been recognized as a great up-and-coming player for his work in the Paul Winter Consort and the remarkably eclectic quartet Oregon, both of whom could be labeled chamber jazz groups that also played \u201cworld music\u201d before that label existed. Diary<\/em>, however, was all Towner, playing 12-string acoustic and nylon-string classical guitar, piano, and gong(!) on a wide-ranging set of pieces that found him sometimes performing solo, other times layering in another instrumental voice, effectively duetting with himself. The music was moody, exploratory, often lyrical, occasionally dissonant\u2014and always interesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towner is usually classified as a jazz player and composer, but to me that feels limiting (even as \u201cjazz\u201d has become so all-encompassing). Yes, he cites John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and many other jazz greats as seminal influences. Yes, he has played and recorded with Charlie Haden, Larry Coryell, Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett, John Abercrombie, Paul McCandless, Gary Peacock, Wayne Shorter, and so many other jazz masters. And yes, he has always been devoted to improvisation and using harmonies often found in jazz. But that label disregards such myriad inspirations as Brazilian, Indian, modern classical, folk, and popular tunes from the Great American Songbook, as well as the fact that his guitar style has been hugely informed by classical-guitar technique. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 83, the hugely prolific Towner\u201425 or so albums as a leader, another 30 with Oregon, and many more where he has appeared as a guest player\u2014is still writing and recording vital, involving pieces that draw on his lifetime of musical passions and influences. His latest ECM release, his first since the excellent My Foolish Heart<\/a><\/em> in 2017, is called At First Light<\/a>,<\/em> and it was recorded using only solo classical guitar\u2014no 12-string this time out (nor keyboards or trumpet or any other instruments on which he is fluent). The album has achingly beautiful melodic moments, intriguing rhythmic turns, passages that seem to float into the ether, pieces that feel like they tell a wordless story, and others that maybe ask a question: in other words, typical Ralph Towner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towner has lived in Rome, Italy, for many years, and in an email interview, he shared thoughts on his latest project and his process of composing and arranging for guitar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ralph
Towner with John Abercrombie. Photo: Roberto Masotti<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Searching for Songs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most of the tracks on At First Light<\/em> are original compositions, including a stripped-down version of the spirited early-\u201990s Oregon tune \u201cGuitarra Picante\u201d (see transcription in this issue<\/a>) and an extended extrapolation on \u201cUbi Sunt\u201d from My Foolish Heart<\/em>. As has often been the case on his solo records, there are also a couple of imaginative interpretations of standards\u2014Hoagy Carmichael\u2019s \u201cLittle Old Lady\u201d and Jule Styne\u2019s \u201cMake Someone Happy\u201d\u2014plus the traditional Irish tune \u201cDanny Boy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach standard attracted me at some time,\u201d he said when I asked about his approach to the songs he pulled apart and reworked. \u201cI try to make them sound comfortable on the classical guitar, along with reharmonizations that set the melodies in relief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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