Eight Track Publishing

Eight Track Publishing

BOOKS • MUSIC • TRAVEL 

Ralph Towner
Diary 
ECM 1032
Recorded April 4 and 5, 1973; released 1974.
Produced by Manfred Eicher
**** recommended

Ron Wynn said it so well when reviewing Towner's Works LP, "A great, great guitarist whose songs at worst are overly sentimental, at best hypnotic" and it's important that Wynn started that sentence with "Great, great," because even when Towner is being sentimental, he completes his intentions and captures his subject, encapsulating an often fleeting or moving subject like a painter, a memory or a moment, and even in the more forgettable moments on this set, brush strokes mix the memories of music's past with Towner's own experiences and expressions.

For an album that features one artist using only acoustic guitars, piano and gong, this definitely has its moments. As much as this seems to come out of his work with the group Oregon, a close listen reveals some clear differences. It's not only more personal, this reveals different influences. At times, this recalls Weather Report at their most reflective, but here Towner strips the body down to bone and ghost.

-- winch

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Ralph Towner

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Ralph Towner