Customer Reviews

Anthem

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard to fault this album: Towner's playing on this solo guitar recording is exquisite, full of sensitivity, quiet passion, and an "almost Asian sense of balance," as a New York Times critic put it sometime ago. There is no doubt that this is music that will be listened to in 500 years -- after three decades of fine recordings like this, Towner has practically become his own idiom, his own "classical" music.

"Solitary Woman" is a retitling of "Alia's Theme" from Towner's wonderful soundtrack to the Italian film "Un Altra Vita," and this is an excellent, brooding version. The reading of the great Scott LaFaro tune "Gloria's Step" is likewise sublime, even if it doesn't add much to the version Towner recorded on the Oregon album "Moon and Mind." Similarly, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is all well and good, but doesn't add more than Towner's intimitable control and subtlety to the hundreds of covers of this tune. The sound here, of course, is the total top-drawer ECM diamond-cutter treatment, with every harmonic and heart-rending shading glittering and precise. Any lover of solo guitar music should love this record -- and fans of, say, Bach's lute music should give it a listen if they want to expand into contemporary territory.

So, why didn't I give it the five stars it would deserve, if judged against anyone else's recordings? Because it's slightly boring, my friends. Towner's last ECM venture was another solo guitar excursion, "Ana," which I also found a bit enervated. I'm not prejudiced against solo guitar music -- Towner's "Solo Concert" is one of my favorite albums; but compared to "Solo Concert," "Anthem" seems a little tired and precious. Towner shines and swings in response to other instrumental risk-takers, as in the Oregon group, or on that terribly underrated masterpiece, "Batik," playing in the company of Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette. His previous solo work -- such as "Diary" and "Blue Sun" -- used keyboards, percussion, and varying guitar textures to maintain textural interest. The "Un Altra Vita" soundtrack pushed in many directions while retaining a single mood -- as do all of Towner's best recordings.

I feel unfair complaining about music this refined, this lovely, this mature, but I wish Manfred Eicher would push Towner a little, instead of building one crystalline vitrine after another for the Towner Museum.

As they say on the street, Towner needs to get out more.

Perhaps the quintessential Towner solo guitar album - though fans of Ana and Solo Concert may disagree - this features some of the most virtuosic playing and heartfelt music of his career. It has revealed surprises and new delights with repeated listening. More varied in spirit and dynamic than the others, with dazzling finger style runs and unique, heartfelt melodies and voicings, age has been more than kind to this artist - without losing what has been essentially his voice, he has grown and even developed in mastery of the instument. And for those who refer to this as "cerebral" music - I must say this is precisely the opposite - aesthetic, felt to the sublest nuance and requiring thought FROM the LISTENER to hear how he has, in his own words, brought the whole piano trio to the guitar - perhaps the least cerebral, though most inward and inviting, solo instrumental work crossing genres one is likely to find. A gem.

On his fourth solo recording for the ECM label, Ralph Towner demonstrates the power of understatement. Playing only classical or 12-string guitar, he takes advantage of ECM's close-miked recording techniques to make every nuance of his playing count. Even the sound of his fingers sliding along the guitar strings is clearly audible in this extremely intimate performance. Towner masterfully manipulates the dynamics of his playing to create both drama and emotion in his music. Rather than introduce a song with a flourish, the guitarist draws the listener in with a whisper. Likewise, he wastes little time on stating the obvious. On the only two non-original compositions, Scott LaFaro's "Gloria Step" and Charles Mingus' "Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat," Towner begins his improvisations almost immediately without bothering to state much of each tune's familiar melodies. In his own compositions, Towner blurs the distinctions between writing and playing even further. While his interest in both classical and folk music is obvious in his formidable technique and dancing melodies, it is often difficult to say exactly where his composing ends and his improvisations begin or to untangle his overlapping melodies. Towner creates an intricate and compelling universe of sound that carries the listener along with an easy but irresistible momentum. It is a journey that is well worth taking with him.

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Ralph Towner can be a difficult artist to approach - often introverted, highly improvisational and complex - and solo guitar collections are somewhat of a specialty area in any case, so this album is perhaps not for everybody. It is, however, one of Towner's crowning achievements and one of the great solo guitar works of our times.

Compared to guitarists like Pat Metheny, whose music seems firmly rooted in accessible jazz or rock traditions, Towner can be hard to get a handle on. The currents that merge in his strange and beautiful playing range from to Maurice Ravel to Charlie Mingus. Older listeners will recall the ethereal sound of his 1970's group, Solstice, and the recordings he made with Keith Jarrett and Jan Garbarek, as some of the most abstract and exploratory jazz of the period. Reviewers often found themselves puzzled as to what exactly to say about such music, and it is not for every listener.

This solo album showcases Towner's matured compositional talent, and presents a succession of (for Towner) astonishingly rounded and accessible pieces. It opens with two glorious, accomplished anthems which will probably end up in the concert repertoire of many classical guitarists.

"Solitary Woman," for 12-string, is a majestic progression like a stately dance, with a haunting, recurring theme of ascending and descending chords. Hard not to see it as a defining moment in the development of solo guitar music.

"Anthem," for nylon string guitar, harks back to the 19th Century, with Spanish influences (Sor or Tarrega). Towner performs the virtuoso miracle of making six little nylon strings sound like an orchestra, and one wonders whether this piece won't end up being scored and performed by orchestral or jazz groups.

The next fifteen pieces, varying in length from a few moments to five minutes, include tributes to some of Towner's inspirations (Scott LaFaro's "Gloria's Step," and Mingus's "Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat"), two suites (the brooding "Comets" for nylon guitar and some singing "Comments" for 12-string) and some of Towner's best solo pieces (the bouncy "Raffish," an enchanting reverie called "Very Late" and a virtuoso display of guitar fireworks called "The Prowler," where Towner's third and fourth fingers on the bottom strings resolutely stalk his first and second fingers on the top strings.)

Little needs to be said about Towner's virtuosity; he is a dazzlingly creative player.

This is a wonderful recording which will repay many re-listenings and displays a great modern guitarist at the top of his form. If you only buy one Ralph Towner album, I recommend you buy this one.

Playing solo is a daunting task. The soloist has to create and sustain musical interest without overplaying or self-indulgent noodling.

Ralph Towner has risen to this challenge once again on "Anthem," and he's succeeded brilliantly. "Anthem," the title track, is indeed anthemic, while "Solitary Woman," which opens the album, is a magnificently melodic piece in which Towner uses silence, unusual voicings, and an expanded sense of time to add space to the recording.

The recording quality is outstanding. There's none of the sonic artifacts that often appear on nylon-string recordings, and the 12-string pieces are under control -- the instrument does NOT sound at all "jangly."

All in all, well worth the listen.

Ralph Towner is musician of consummate technical skill whose compositions blend classical clarity with engaging melodies and uncommonly modern chord progressions. Anthem presents Towner as a seasoned musician at the peak of his mastery, playing with remarkable richness and ease. Every track is thoughtfully and completely composed, and the recording completely lacks showy pyrotechnics or aimless riffing that plagues so many albums.

All but two of the compositions on Anthem were written by Towner, and range from the jaunty Gloria's Step to the zen-like Four Comets to the classically romantic Haunted. The Lutemaker, my favorite track, is a lush, sweetly melancholic, technically demanding composition that contains the finest improvisation on the album. I think that Anthem is more engaging than Ana or Solo Concert and will be considered Ralph Towner's masterpiece unless, of course, he records something even better the future.

Perhaps the quintessential Towner solo guitar album - though fans of Ana and Solo Concert may disagree - this CD features some of the most virtuosic playing and heartfelt music of his career. More varied in spirit and dynamics than the others, with dazzling finger style runs and unique, heartfelt melodies and voicings, age has been more than kind to this artist - without losing what has been essentially his voice, he has grown and even developed in his mastery of the instument. And for those who refer to this as "cerebral" music - I must say this is precisely the opposite - aesthetic, felt to the sublest nuance and requiring thought FROM the LISTENER to hear how he has, in his own words, brought the whole piano trio to the guitar - perhaps the least cerebral, though most inward and inviting, solo instrumental work crossing genres one is likely to find. A gem.

I've been listening to Ralph Towner (and Oregon) for more than twenty years now. He is a gifted pianist and acoustic guitar player. On this collection of mostly originals he plays only classical and 12-string guitars. Towner's playing style is more about touch and tone than the number of notes per minute he can coax out of his instrument. As such each song is a wonderfully melodic experience of grace and beauty. The two non-originals are "Gloria's Step" and the Charles Mingus standard "Goodbye, Pork-Pie Hat." Now in his sixties, Towner only gets better with age. Total running time: 50:44 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Just to echo much of what the other reviews here have already written: this is easily a 5-star recording.
I've been buying all of Towner's works (solo and with Oregon) since the late 70's and even have many of his old recordings on vinyl and CD both.
Perhaps it's because i'm used to Towner's sometimes "difficult" original works, i'm not sure, but this one seems allot more accessible than some of his other works. No, it's surely not simple Pat Metheny sing along type writing or playing we have here, but this one seems a bit easier than perhaps some others for the outsider to appreaciate, at least in terms of solo (live, no overdubs) guitar music. However, I still think the uninitiated would do better to try a more group oriented project (perhaps Oregon's "Winter Light", or Towners "Solstice").
Anyway, this is excellent, if very intimate. It seems to me to be totally impossible to listen to this unless the listner is alone and preferably in a quiet place (like home in a big comfy reclining chair or in bed-which is where I always listen).
But, I have to say, after several recordings like this I sure do wish Towner next time would take advantage of the studio and the fact that he also is an excellent keyboard player as well as playing french horn and even some hand percussion on occaision, like his solo masterpiece from the early 80's "Blue Sun".
I purchased "Blue Sun" the week it originally came out (I believe around 1982). Even though I already had close to probably 20 Towner recordings at that point, I could tell it would be a favorite of mine. And it still is my very favorite Towner recording. I'm still waiting for him to follow up that one, but it's been a lobg time now. I hope Towner hasn't lost interest in the elctronic keyboards, because he really does possess an incredible mind for mixing his acoustic and classical guitars and various other acoustic instruments in with those electronics and i'm getting tired of waiting for over two decades now for a follow up.. Ralph, Please!!!!

This is probably the best ever , at today , solo album from Raph Towner .
If you like introspective music , chamber like classical and twelwe impro , taste and wonderful sound you can have it HERE . Mr. Towner show all his aces here , playing wonderfully originals and std compositions in a so deep soul touching way that I'm unable to explain better . A shining diamond .