Oregon
Out Of The Woods

The longest-lasting group in the history of jazz was formed at the end of the sixties, as its first two founding members, Ralph Towner (piano, guitars) and Glen Moore (double bass), knew each other from their college days. A period full of cultural ferment and exchanges, where artists sought to integrate as many suggestions and influences as possible into their music, in the name of the utopian search for a "universal language."

Together with oboist Paul McCandless and percussionist (but also ethnomusicologist) Collin Walcott, they found themselves playing together in the Paul Winter Consort, a revolutionary ensemble for the times, which attempted to combine jazz, European classical music, and Indian music, with an instrumentation as varied and unusual as ever, including piano, guitar, sax, cello, and percussion from every geographical origin. After leaving the Paul Winter Consort, the Oregon produced a series of memorable and very "adventurous" works for the Vanguard label, such as "Music Of Another Present Era", "Winter Light", and "Distant Hills". "Out Of The Woods" marks the transition to the Elektra label. The music slightly shifts coordinates, becoming somewhat more "concrete", and the theme-solo-theme pattern appears more frequently; the lesser propensity for total exploration is compensated by each musician's greater concentration on their own instrument, which often gifts absolute value instrumental gems.

And it is precisely a chamber ethno-jazz that opens the album, "Yellow Bell". Towner, who despite his mastery of the guitar was born a pianist, gives us a beautiful solo of clear Evansian influence, quickly followed by a mumbling Glen Moore.

The influence of Indian music is clearly noticeable in the hypnotic raga of "Fall 77", with a flugelhorn solo by Towner, then resumed on piano alone. Throughout the album, there is a continuous display of each of the four's multi-instrumentalist capabilities, as everyone plays everything. Walcott, one of the few Westerners capable of playing the tabla at the level of his Indian colleagues, gives us a taste of his art in "Cane Fields", an elegiac piece entrusted to the lyrical oboe of McCandless. Excellent accompaniment from Towner on the twelve-string. The interplay is at a white heat in the compelling anthem "Dance to the Morning Star", where Moore's pulsing bass, along with Walcott, momentarily shifted to guitar, provides the support for an exchange between Towner (still on twelve-string) and McCandless on oboe worthy of a golden frame...

A masterpiece of compositional intelligence is Towner's "Waterwheel", perhaps the track that most refers to the guitarist's classical background. On a persistent classical guitar arpeggio, McCandless's oboe draws delicate variations of rare beauty and intensity. The piece is permeated by strong drama, with the bass and tabla truly reminiscent of the gurgling of a water wheel, and eventually, Towner's guitar breaks the enchantment, allowing himself a solo in total solitude.

It closes, truly beautifully, with an extended version of "Witchi-Tai-To", a modern standard written by the "Native American" saxophonist Jim Pepper, previously interpreted by Oregon on "Winter Light". The initial sitar intro instantly transports us to a magical world, then gives way to a delicate lullaby in 11/8. From here on, anything can happen: time changes, solos by Towner on both six-string and piano which, finally, he deigns to play intensively - never enough, anyway! A piece that will become a staple of the group, presented on various occasions and with different arrangements during live concerts.

Until some time ago, the album was on sale on Amazon together with the equally beautiful "Roots In The Sky". Two excellent CDs for the price of one, take advantage.