Solo Concert [Live]

Ralph Towner | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 7, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Ecm Records
• ASIN: B0000261KX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,204 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best solo accoustic guitar records ever, November 29, 1999

By 

Colin R. Glassey (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Solo Concert (Audio CD)

Ralph Towner has, in my opinion, created two 'classic' recordings which everyone should hear at least once in their lives. This record is one of the two (the other is 'Blue Sun' recorded some 6 years later).

This record is nothing more or less than a solo guitar performance, recorded live in Munich in the late 1970s. Playing both 12 string and 6 string guitars (not at the same time of course) Ralph accomplishes the remarkable feat of making all 40 minutes of music wonderfully interesting. The opening track 'Spirit Lake' is such a beautiful piece of music, it is uplifting in the best sense of the word.

For years Ralph was just a member of the jazz group 'Oregon' but in the mid-70s he started recording solo records for the ECM label. Some of these recordings feel more like jazz than others, others less like jazz and more like classical music. This record is very unlike jazz. In a very real sense this record could have been released by Windham Hill and it would have fit right in.

Bottom line: technical mastery combined with some lovely tunes in an inspired performance. A must-have for any lover of the accoustic guitar.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American Masterpiece, September 24, 2004

By 

William Lenihan (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Solo Concert (Audio CD)

Ralph Towner's Solo Concert, recorded in 1979 at the height of a period when Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett were concertizing and recording solo performances, marks an ultimate high in the history of jazz guitar playing. Towner's technical approach to the instrument, incredibly originally-voiced compositions and deeply emotionally-charged performances make this recording a landmark. Solo Concert may be the finest hour for serious solo guitar jazz and improvisational music performances. Other great guitarists have recorded solo jazz standards and modern music but this recording is very different than those, largely because of Towner's artistic originality and musical weight. These qualities cannot be overstated. It is rare in all music to find an artist this deep and true - one who has developed a musical technique so great and yet maintains the ability to express himself without getting caught in the web of technique. Towner's now historic recording of 'Nardis' is perhaps one of the great performances of this tune. He captures both the spirit of Miles Davis' intentions and develops the improvisation in an idiomatic manner which sings on the guitar. One can also readily hear the influence of Scott LoFaro in his approach, though without derivation. Towner has long stated that he never wanted to play bop-related music on the classical guitar - he plays in a more straight-ahead style on the piano. Thankfully though, hearing Nardis, we can be happy that he records a standard or two with each of his newer recordings. Yet, Towner as one of the great improvising composers has developed his own compositions as his vehicle for expression.
His 'Anna' and 'Anthem' are also truly remarkable, and in some ways mark another evolutionary step for him - he seems to improve with age - but there is some quality to this recording which seems never again to be captured. Listen to his expressions on the 12-string in 'Spirit Lake' for example. This recording is for those who are willing to be captured in a sound world totally unusual -even for those experienced in the complexties of music. This music is at times simple, and complex yet easy to listen to. Mostly though, Towner's performances are simply captivating. Here he offers what a real new age of music could be - a vernacular american masterpiece.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solitary majesty, November 21, 1999

By 

Stephen Silberman "writer, Wired Magazine" (SF, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Solo Concert (Audio CD)

Ralph Towner's Solo Concert sparkles with virtuosity -- his classically-precise fingerpicking is dazzling -- but it's the emotional depth of the "Chelsea Courtyard"/"Nardis""Timeless" sequence that makes this one of the most haunting recordings for solo guitar. Towner is all over the strings, combining dazzling harmonics with resonant muted bass passages, shading chords into silence, letting overtones hang in the air. Of the couple of hundred recordings of Miles Davis' sublime "Nardis," Towner's version here ranks up with the original Bill Evans Trio version as the very best. After the solo symphony of "Spirit Lake" and the atonal busyness of "Train of Thought," the record takes a profound turn inward. It's a trip worth taking.