Solstice (Album)
Occupation
- Guitars, piano Ralph Towner
- Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute: Jan Garbarek
- Bass, Cello: Eberhard Weber
- Drums: Jon Christensen
Solstice is a jazz album by Ralph Towner, which was recorded in December 1974 at Arne Bendiksen Studio Oslo [A 1] and published in 1975 by ECM Records.
The album
Background of the album
When the American guitarist Ralph Towner joined the mid-1970s in Europe with his solo projects in appearance, he was known by his membership in the Paul Winter Consort and Oregon in the band. The ECM producer Manfred Eicher had Towner record at this time in various constellations, first as a soloist ( Diary, 1973), then with Glen Moore ( Solos / Trios ), Keith Jarrett (In the Light), Gary Burton ( Matchbook ) and John Abercrombie ( Sargasso Sea ). Solstice was the debut album of Towners Quartet lineup of the same name with the musicians Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber and Jon Christensen, with the beginning of 1977, yet another album, Solstice: Sound and Shadows arose. The album contains almost exclusively original compositions Towners, only the last piece of sand comes from Eberhard Weber.
The music of the album
The album begins with Oceanus; Towner plays " cascade " guitar, followed by the swelling and symphonic bass Eberhard Weber's, to the swinging drumming Jon Christensen contrasts January Garbarek atmospheric and dramatically applicable Soprano Saxophone game. Nimbus begins with Towners acoustic guitar; under the all-round issue in 3/4-time lies down in a 4/4 played flute playing by Garbarek with the bowed bass Weber, then the soprano in 6/8-measure.
Piscean Dance is primarily a dialogue between Towner and Christensen; the other pieces are the free-form style, sound spaces generating short sequences Red & Black and Visitation, characterized by multiple percussion sounds, the bent sounds from Weber's bowed bass and Garbarek's strange, dragonfly -like flute. Weber's composition sand lets the musician 's view of Nastos act in a cosmic Crab Nebula, while they find their connection to the structures of the piece later in the piece. Towners piano game introduces the catchy Drifting Petals, a " prettier and more profound Waltz " with unison lines of Garbarek's flute; Towner then switches to the guitar at a " deeper discourse with the quartet. "
Reception
The album was one of the appeared in the mid-1970s as the records of Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek or John Abercrombie, who created the image of the Munich-based label of the " ECM sound ". Directly after the release of the album earned enthusiastic reviews; so praised the Melody Maker: "listening quite takes the breath away ," and the New York Times wrote: " [ ... ] to almost Oriental sense of balance and dignity". Solstice in 1976 was awarded the Prize of the German Record Critics. The jazz magazine Down Beat gave the album five stars and wrote:
Ian Carr raised in the Rough Guide: Jazz show, Garbarek, Christensen and Weber 's ideal partners for Ralph Towners music, in terms of their sonority, active rhythms and formative phrasing. The romantic Drifting petals show Towner from a soulful page
Richard Cook and Brian Morton, who awarded the album the highest rating, compare Solstice with the Oregon sound aesthetics, should be understood as its hydride Solstice: " unmistakably American, [ associated ] with the ECM preferred European jazz. " Would be any part of Oregon subtly transformed; Paul McCandless ' oboe passionate about Jan Garbarek against tighter, accented soprano sound, Glen Moore's huge bass over Weber's multi -language sound patterns and Collin Walcott's non-conventional clock confront Jon Christensen continuous levitation. With pieces like Piscean Dance 'm developing from the usual "theme and solo jazz " more
Michael G. Nastos pointed out in his review of the album for Allmusic suggests that the release of Solstice by the ECM label guitarist raised to a higher rank, especially what the composer Towner concerned. Especially noteworthy was the reviewer also agile soprano sax and flute January Garbarek, the precise drumming Christensen and unique bass sounds Weber.
Among the many distinguished recordings Ralph Towners Solstice is its crowning achievement as head of the definitive lineup of artists from the ECM stable, the perfectly defined the sound aesthetic of the label this time.
The title
Solstice - ECM 1060 ST ( LP ) or 825458-2 ( CD Edition )
Unless otherwise designated, all stem compositions by Ralph Towner.
Literature / Sources
- Ian Carr, Brian Priestley, Digby Fairweather (eds.): Rough Guide to Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584- X
- Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. 6th edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6
- ECM Catalog: ECM '82
Links / sources
- Review of the album by Michael G. Nastos at Allmusic (English). Accessed on 2 February 2011.
- ECM
- Review of the album at progarchives.com