Customer Reviews

Oregon in Moscow

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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The new Oregon release, Oregon In Moscow, is as beautiful and profound an album as I have ever heard, and certainly one of Oregon's best. The group (Ralph Towner - guitar and piano, Paul McCandless - woodwinds, Glen Moore - bass, and Mark Walker - drums and percussion) and producer Steve Rodby have created a monumental work of art.

A two CD set recorded by Rich Breen with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, this is a stunning achievement from every standpoint: composition, orchestration, performance, improvisation, production, and recording. Even the packaging is stellar. The two chief composers, Ralph Towner and Paul McCandless, wrote their own orchestrations and the results are sublime, by turns achingly gorgeous and stirring. Programming varies widely, including Oregon with orchestra, alone as a quartet, guitar and woodwind duo, and solo bass. And there's a perfect balance between older familiar material and new compositions.

In a way, this may be the quintessential Oregon album, despite the fact that it's their first album with orchestra, because all the orchestral implications of Oregon's music through the years have now been fully realized here, and brilliantly so.

I strongly urge anyone interested in intelligent, moving, beautiful, and artistic music to get this album and bathe in it.

Oregon has always played music that is nourished by a global range of influences -- from swinging jazz, to free improvisation, to chamber music, to classical Indian ragas -- while remaining intensely personal, reflective, focused and profound. For their 25th album, the quartet teams up with the Moscow Tschaikovsky Symphony for ambitious reworkings of "classic" Oregon tunes (like Icarus), songs that deserved more notice on their original release (Waterwheel, Zephyr, All the Mornings Bring), and some new work (The Templars, Anthem, Round Robin). The result is magnificent -- a fine introduction to the band's music for those who don't know it, and a crowning achievement for longtime fans who always wondered what Towner would sound like given a roomful of musicians to play his unearthly beautiful melodies. The version of Waterwheel (formerly released on the regrettably underappreciated Towner/Gomez/DeJohnette album "Batik") here is astonishing -- listen for the moment when the orchestra's surging voices subside, leaving only Towner and his guitar. McCandless's All the Mornings Bring (originally released on an LP of that title) is breathtaking, as is his moving Spirits of Another Sort (composed for a production of "Midsummer Night's Dream"). Even the oft-played Icarus is given new life here, sounding triumphant and definitive. On the downside, "Firebat," a new Moore tune, sounds overwrought, and Towner should give "Beneath an Evening Sky" a rest. But all in all, this is a superb album.

I applaud Oregon for sustaining its superb artistry even as it undergoes a format change. Most non-classical groups sound like muzak when they position themselves in front of an orchestra; Oregon simply finds a new dimension.

As a professional oboist, I have always found Paul McCandless' work an inspiration. An outside-of-the-box musician with speechlike communicative abilities on all the instruments he plays, he never sacrifices beauty of tone or technical hyper-virtuosity. McCandless is the only jazz star I have heard who would flatten virtually any competition had he chosen the classical field. Best of all, the lucidity and flash of all that technique doesn't stand alone, but infuses the music with a searching expression and beautiful sense of style.

Prior to this album, Oregon had already revealed themselves as disciplined musicians -- virtuoso players of their own, truly original compositions. Their genre is difficult to classify -- some have called it "chamber jazz", or "jazz that (usually) doesn't swing" or simply "new music" -- with 'roots influences' especially prominent in their early releases. Now, these extraordinary musicians have carefully and complexly orchestrated their compositions, creating rich lines for orchestra as fascinating and captivating as their solos. The medium this time is truly different. And the music shines none the less, with no compromise!

Someone listening to this album before knowing Oregon might think of it as a modern concerto or, in parts, as an exceptional film score. But as in their prior work, for me the strongest content is in the original, rock-solid compositions, which stand up to fine orchestration every bit as well -- albeit differently -- as to the small ensemble setting in which these guys usually play.

The reviews here are notable not only for articulate descriptions of this group's music, but also for reminiscences of 1st encountering Oregon. My initial (and favorite) exposure was to "Out of the Woods" in the late 70s (just before the companion album, "Roots in the Sky"), when the late Colin Walcott was still 'out front' with his sitar and tabla. When I saw the album cover painting depicting a deeply colored forest with interspersed wood instruments coming 'out of the woods,' I thought, knowing nothing of Oregon, 'if the music sounds how this cover looks, it will be sublime!' (Usually an unreliable way to choose music, but I was searching...) The music was a perfect match.

Among numerous Oregon concerts attended, my most memorable was at the '79 Telluride Jazz Festival, a grimly sleety, cold weekend in which the sun shone literally only at the outset of Oregon's Sunday morning set. As yet more, threatening new storm clouds moved relentlessly up valley during the set, Oregon began the wailing and timeless incantations of Witchi-Tai-To. The freezing sleet and hail let loose in a fury as they played, and the group missed not a beat as they moved their instruments to shelter. The moment the music finished, we all realized for the 1st time that we were painfully wet and cold -- to which we'd all been oblivious during Oregon's transcendant music. Best demonstration I have ever experienced of the sheer power of great music!

Years later, Paul McCandless recalled that scene with me as vividly and reverently as I.

yes, i agree that this music is wonderful.

now, put it on some really nice speakers, or really nice headphones, and listen to the amazing sound.

Astounding. An orchestra and a jazz group. All live. Coordinating with and inspired by each other. Usually a DISASTER. This, however, is a sonic masterpiece.

KUDOS to Rich Breen, the engineer.

I purchased this album because of Paul McCandless. In my view he substantially enriches the music of Bela Fleck, so I expected that he would do as much for Oregon. I was not disappointed.

Anyone who enjoys both jazz phrasiology and classical music should find this album a great addition to their library. Its more weighty than Claude Bolling's classical-jazz. It's also more lucid and spacious than the orchestral recordings of DiMeola. I plan to purchase more copies of this CD for friends who enjoy the fusion of classical instrumentation and jazz improvization.

I've been a huge Oregon fan since 1972, when the utterly original strains of Distant Hills opened a new window in my prog-rock world. It's been immensely gratifying to see these guys hang in there, growing and continuing to make vital new music. This CD includes arrangements that go all the way back to 1970, but have only now been able to be realized. The wait has been worth it, though -- this album is chock full of great performances of great music. It features three outstanding new Towner tunes and two new McCandless tunes. "Acis and Galatea" is especially impressive. It also reprises older gems, like "Zephyr," in new settings. The band integrates naturally with the orchestra -- none of the syncopation or swing is lost, which may be a unique accomplishment. I hope this recording makes lots of money, so we can see this band in the U.S. again. How can so much talent and accomplishment fail to be appreciated here?

I have been following Oregon's music for the past twenty-six years. Their latest project, "Oregon In Moscow" shows the group once again pushing the boundaries of musical evolution and exemplifies how they continually evolve as individual players, composers, and as a band. It's gratifying to hear Oregon's compositions expand into the symphonic format. The classical setting further enhances the rich harmonies and colorful textures Oregon has displayed in their music for so many years. The orchestrations of their classic pieces along with their new compositions are brilliant, and the band members' virtuosic soloing soars over the orchestral polyphony. This magnificent double CD has both an artistic and emotional depth that inspires countless listenings, and is certainly a testament to the band's longevity and creativity.

Apart from the fact that for a full-price double-CD this is a bit on the short side (a total of 90 minutes of music), there is little to complain about here. I was a bit concerned when I first heard of the release and the fact that Oregon is backed here by a symphony orchestra, but the union turns out to be a seamless one. I expected to hear something like a series of modern-day concerti grossi, but instead the effect of the orchestra is to create an overall dramatic emphasis and ambience, with individual musicians trading off solos or blending into the overall stream. Certainly, the whole production is very much Oregon-, not the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra-, centered. Towner and McCandless especially are in great form, there is a good mix of new and 'classic' material (the renditions of "Waterwheel" and "Icarus" *really* sparkle), and one is constantly conscious of a high level of professionalism at all levels. 'Not the best or most representative single introduction to the music of Oregon, perhaps, but probably destined to become their best known work.

Oregon here returns strongly to their classical roots and training. This is not a jazz-artist-with-strings format but a true orchestration with the lyrical spirit of classical chamber music yet with the ECM jazz sound. In my book, the finest recording by Oregon was their Roots in the Sky opus, and I had the delight of hearing them perform music from this period. Oregon in Moscow is far removed from that ensemble; however, in its own right, as a Third Stream venture, it is splendid indeed and richly rewarding. So, if you are both a classics and jazz enthusiast, this is a worthy addition to your collection. Up the volume to hear the textures fully.