The Independent (Free subscription) | 15/11/2009
Spare and mournful, Sunday-morning coffee and croissants music from the duo of veteran guitarist and Oregon founder Towner and the superb Sardinian trumpeter Fresu, who also plays a mean flugelhorn.
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 12/11/2009
Since moving to Italy over a decade ago, guitarist/pianist Ralph Towner's output as a leader has been woefully infrequent, with only two discs released this decade--2001's Anthem and 2006's Time Line, both on the label that's been his home for over 35 years, ECM. It's not that he hasn't been busy; he continues to work and record regularly with Oregon, the group that he co-founded nearly 40 years ago,...
Indybay newswire (Free subscription) | 02/10/2009
Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble - Aug. 25, Yoshi's Oakland You Tube Video - The video of Milo's Moment is now available for those of you interested in seeing part of the live performance by Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble at Yoshi's on August 25, 2009. Check it out!
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 21/09/2009
A pianist of rare compositional lyricism, it's remarkable how one event in Fred Simon's life has led, almost inescapably, to the present. Touring with woodwind multi-instrumentalist {{Paul McCandless = 9215}} in support of the Oregon co-founder's Premonition (Windham Hill, 1992), the keyboardist found himself onstage with Pat Metheny Group bassist Steve Rodby and soon-to-be-Oregon drummer, {{Mark Walker...
andrewjshields (Free subscription) | 27/08/2009
So my concert list was just about pop-rock-folk-reggae-country-bluegrass bands. Here's a list of jazz artists I have heard: 1. Ralph Towner 2. John Abercrombie (those two as a duo: my first jazz concert; JA also in various other formats) 3. Oregon (1984 was a Towner-intensive year!) 4. Miles Davis (twice, once with Scofield) 5. World Saxophone Quartet (several times) 6. David Murray (with WSQ, with...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
Ian Dogole is a percussionist of considerable skill, character, invention and individuality. This ensemble that he has put together--Hemispheres--might otherwise be passed over as just another world fusion group. It is also graced by multi-reed artist {{Paul McCandless = 9215}}, who just happens to be co-founder of the legendary band, Oregon. The uniqueness of Crossroads is further evidence that Dogole...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
Meet Guitares Cinematiques: Studied physics, classical guitar, and foreign languages in college. I was always a huge fan of the group {{Oregon = 10001}}. Instrument(s): Classical guitar. Teachers and/or influences? My early guitar teachers were Gene Watson and Mario Abril. I attended the FSU School of Music and studied with Bruce Holzman. Later, I studied privately with {{Ralph Towner = 10866}} in...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 06/03/2009
For over a decade now--at least on record--guitarist/pianist {{Ralph Towner = 10866}} has worked exclusively in two contexts: solo guitar albums under his own name for ECM, including Time Line (2006), and collaboratively with his longstanding group Oregon, last heard on 1000 Kilometers (Cam Jazz, 2007). Though never less than satisfied, many of his fans have hoped he'd participate in other contexts,...
The Agonist (Free subscription) | 21/12/2008
Below are four links to some pretty decent guitarists, mostly acoustic, that I thought might be worth a listen. Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed Jerry’s Breakdown Ralph Towner, the guitarist for the group, “Oregon” Jamaica Stopover
Washington Post (Free subscription) | 21/11/2008
Singers who have climbed the rock charts rarely make the transition to a jazz-tinted, vintage-pop repertoire as smoothly -- or as subtly -- as Boz Scaggs did at Blues Alley on Wednesday night. It was strictly a soft-sell performance, soulful and relaxed, free of self-consciously hip flourishes and...
Denver Post (Free subscription) | 06/11/2008
Review: Curious Theatre's entertaining regional debut of Stephen Karam's youthful teen-angst comedy "Speech & Debate" loses many of its arguments, but turns out to be a winning evening nonetheless on the strength of its energy and originality. Rating: ***
Denver Post (Free subscription) | 31/10/2008
There's a high-school musical opening at a theater near you this weekend, and it has something not even that ubiquitous Disney megamovie franchise has to offer: Nerds. Bona fide dorks. Geeks. Misfits. The kind who try out for the high-school musical . . . and can't even get in.
Seattle Times (Free subscription) | 30/10/2008
Boz Scaggs plays at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley in Seattle Oct. 30-Nov. 2.
Seattle Times (Free subscription) | 18/04/2008
Of the many legendary jazz-fusion supergroups spawned by the '60s rock explosion — Weather Report, Return to Forever, Headhunters...
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show (Free subscription) | 07/02/2008
The way I listened to music changed dramatically my sophomore year in college. Not only was punk approaching its zenith, but I was being exposed to a tremendous variety of music via roommates and friends’ record collections. Two years prior, I had purchased Peter Frampton's I’m In You with some pride. Now I was deep into Graham Parker, Santana, The Clash, X, Talking Heads – and getting...
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