Diary

One of the founders of Oregon, Ralph Towner is one of the few modern jazz musicians to specialize on acoustic guitar. His playing often stretches beyond the boundaries of conventional jazz into world music and is quite distinctive. He started playing piano when he was three and trumpet at five, performing in a dance band when he was 13. Towner studied classical guitar in Vienna and played with classical chamber groups in the mid-'60s. After moving to New York in 1969, Towner worked with Jimmy Garrison, Jeremy Steig, and Paul Winter's Winter Consort (1970-1971). In the latter group, Towner first met up with Collin Walcott, Glen Moore, and Paul McCandless, and in 1971 they broke away to form Oregon, a highly versatile group that ranges from jazz and free improvisations to folk music. Towner (who guested with Weather Report in 1971 and played with Gary Burton a bit during 1974-1975) has performed and recorded with Oregon extensively since its formation, in addition to recording as a leader and with many other artists on the ECM label.

This 1974 album was given a well-deserved boost when ECM reissued it in 2001. It's a solo performance with a twist: Towner plays not only 12-string and classical guitars, but also very competent piano. Only "Entry in a Diary" and "Mon Enfant" are unaccompanied guitar solos; the latter, a traditional melody, is also the sole non-original. On four of the remaining six tracks, Towner accompanies himself via overdubs, playing both guitar and piano for an effect vaguely reminiscent of Bill Evans' Conversations With Myself. The best of these is "Icarus," one of Towner's best-known compositions, which also appeared on Matchbook, his 1976 duo album with Gary Burton. The guitarist's most unusual moves include playing a set of gongs behind his sparse 12-string work on "Images Unseen," and using his guitar entirely as a percussion instrument to create a propulsive rhythm track for "Erg." He closes with a tuneful solo piano piece titled "The Silence of a Candle." The reissue of Diary was timed to coincide with Towner's 2001 solo outing, Anthem.

—David R. Adler