Ralph TownerTime LineReview

This is Ralph Towner's 21st recording for ECM and his fifth made entirely solo. A mix of through composed pieces, improvisations and a couple of standards, it's a reminder of a singular talent.

Towner's use of 12 string and classical guitarsis pretty much unique in jazz. Similarly, his playing has little to do with conventional jazz harmony, though it's hard to say where else it comes from...

Towner's most discernable influence is probably Bill Evans, and there's something of the pianist's unsentimental, impressionistic melancholia in these pieces. But there's muscle too; the freely improvised 'Five Glimpses'and the gorgeous"Freeze Frame" brim with invention and power. In short, beautiful music from a master of the guitar.