Oregon
Winter Light

Paul McCandless (winds, oboe, clarinet), Ralph Towner (guitars and piano), Glen Moore (double bass), and Collin Walcott (percussions) in 1974 decided to write what would be considered the masterpiece of the band by critics and lovers of a certain kind of Jazz. Born from the friendship dating back to college days between Towner and Moore, the four musicians began playing under the stylistic guidance of Paul Winter with his "Consort," showcasing their immense capacity as artists. Later, in 1970, the quartet decided to pursue a different path from Winter to form a new group, what is today called Oregon. Right from the start, the band managed to give life to a series of exceptional records, including "Distant Hills," "Music of Another Present Era," and "Winter Light". It is precisely on the latter that I would like to focus today, because I believe it is the point of maximum splendor both compositionally and artistically, which encapsulates the expressive quality of Towner & Co.

Their music elegantly and virtuously blends passion and exquisite technique, expressiveness and improvisation, under a well-defined design. A work brimming with style and personality painted in a contemporary light with sounds that range from Indian traditions to percussionistic creations with a jazz imprint. The genius, in my opinion, lies precisely in the evocative choice to blend instruments such as: oboe, guitar, percussion, and double bass, thus making the instrumentation unique and able to generate delicate and pleasant music to listen to.

From the very first notes of "Tide Pool", signed by the immense Towner, one immediately understands the greatness of the album. It's a composition of gentle artistic imprint, slow beats reverberate in the air, followed in the second part of the track by a small solo from dear Ralph, which seems to have fun with his six strings, through a series of scales that are much to my liking. And it is the wonderful "Witchi-Tai-To" that offers us the best moments of "Winter Light", where another old love of Towner lies, the piano. In fact, he began his studies thanks to this instrument, offering us sensations of delicate sweetness, caressing that piano as if it were a gentle, sinuous body to be revered. Continuing with the tradition of Baroque and classical forging are "Ghost Beads" and "Deer Path", which aim to exalt and praise the technical and creative quality of the American musicians, with excellent percussion that blends well with the rest of the instruments. The fusion of such alchemy in making the quartet's work seamless is fundamentally molded by the extraordinary ability of their own technical personality, which will be the trademark that allows Oregon to reflect fame and significance in the years to come, notably with the subsequent "Out Of The Woods" and "Crossing", other gems of the band that I recommend savoring. Furthermore, this "Winter Light" is a blend of "acoustic jazz" with new-age and fusion hues, the ornamental and engraved sounds in this album represent everything that Towner, Moore, Walcott, and McCandless have to offer due to their fragile and intimate nature. The melody of the record is fundamentally constructed from skillful arpeggios that give an impressionistic and visionary flavor to the pieces, as if one has full awareness of being in contact with the surrounding environment and perceiving the essence of the sounds.

A record that will make you dream... that will make you think about how wonderful music is...