Oregon
Crossing

I won't be brief. I love Oregon... You've been warned!

How to define the music of Oregon? Jazz is the first term that comes to mind, but after a few listens, you realize it's a limiting term because the formidable multi-instrumentalists of this band, although they primarily have a jazz and classical background, have managed like few others to introduce a vast variety of influences into their music:

 Ralph Towner, famous for the immaculate purity of his acoustic guitar sound, but also a great virtuoso of the twelve-string, as well as a pianist and synth keyboardist. He has always been the mind behind Oregon and the main composer of the quartet's music.

Glen Moore, imaginative double bassist, delightfully "oblique" and unpredictable.

Paul McCandless on oboe, English horn, bass clarinet, soprano and sopranino saxophone, and probably anything else that has a reed and keys! The man who introduced the oboe into jazz, author of intricate and lyrical solos.

The late Collin Walcott on sitar, tabla, and any "ethnic" percussion (preferably self-made) you can think of.

 It's hard to select one among the many masterpieces this band has created in over thirty-five years of career (they formed in 1970 and are still active). I chose "Crossing", from 1985, because it probably represents the pinnacle of the first Oregon period, the one with Collin Walcott, who would perish in a tragic car accident after the recording of this album. It also concludes the collaboration phase with the German ECM label, where Towner initially timidly, and then with increasing confidence, began to introduce synthesizers into the group's music. And the results are quick to be felt...

 The album opens with McCandless' "Queen Of Sydney", with a dark and haunting tone, illuminated by a piano solo by Towner.
"Pepè Linque", composed by Glen Moore, would become an all-time classic of the band, repeatedly played at concerts, experiencing a myriad of arrangements and different versions. A whimsical and carefree theme, centered on Moore's bass solo.
"Alpenbridge" is a typical Ralph Towner piece. On the hypnotic progression of guitar and sitar, first McCandless' oboe joins in, followed by a lovely six-string solo by the leader.
Walcott's "Travel By Day" is essentially a dialogue between Walcott's sitar and Towner's 12-string guitar, a formula often practiced, and sometimes, as in this case, reinforced by Moore's bass.
The delicious and crooked waltz of "Kronach Waltz" showcases Moore's compositional skills, always the author of the group's most "whimsical" pieces. Beautiful bass clarinet by McCandless.
In Towner's "The Glide", jazzy motifs take center stage, with McCandless switching to soprano, and Towner gifting us with a piano solo, also playing the cornet. Excellent bass solo by Glen Moore.
"Amaryllis" by McCandless is, for me, the album's highlight. After a thoughtful intro by Towner on classical guitar over a soft synth backdrop, an oboe solo begins, lucid, intense, and dramatic. The closure once again entrusted to the leader's guitar.
"Looking-Glass Man" is a beautiful, melancholic, rhythmically cadenced theme by Towner, on the piano. Another intense solo by McCandless, this time on soprano sax.
The album closes with the beautiful "Crossing", a choral piece, a sort of poignant farewell to Walcott.

 The palette of colors with which Oregon paints their soundscapes is potentially infinite, even though it's evident that meditative and dreamlike tones are favored in this album. A strongly evocative music, partly aligned with the ECM aesthetic but also full of splendid, highly original solutions.