Ralph Towner RIP - Kitchen Listening

Last night before going to bed we saw that guitarist Ralph Towner passed away at the age of 85. I always enjoyed his music which was an interesting blend of jazz, new age and world music. I discovered his music around 1974 when I was very interested in the music coming out of ECM Records and the laid back new age jazz of that time. 

I collected several of his albums around that time and also the records of the band Oregon of which he was also a member. 

Today I put on a group of Towner's albums. Just a couple of weeks ago I had played some Oregon albums in a Kitchen Listening set. I need to listen to those albums again real soon. 

In the meantime I have a group of his albums playing in the kitchen right now. So beautiful and wonderful sounding. He really had a unique way of playing the acoustic guitar.

His albums in my collection:

• Solstice, 1975
• Matchbook w/ Gary Burton, 1975
• Sargasso Sea w/ John Abercrombie, 1976
• Sound and Shadows, 1977
• Batik, 1978

The Oregon albums in my collection:

• Music of Another Present Era, 1972
• Distant Hills, 1973
• Winter Light, 1974
• In Concert, 1975
• Together w/ Elvin Jones, 1976
• Friends, 1977
• Best of the Vanguard Years, 2000