Ralph Towner

Ralph Towner studied at University of Oregon and Bend Senior High School. The recorded working language is English, Italian and German. The field of work recorded is music, jazz and arrangement. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are jazz. Residence is recorded at Rome.

• Name — Ralph Towner • Born — 1 March 1940 • Birthplace — Chehalis, Washington, U.S. • Died — 18 January 2026 • Place of death — Rome, Italy • Genre — * Jazz rock • folk rock • Occupation — * Guitarist • arranger • bandleader • composer • Instrument — * Guitar • piano • synthesizers • percussion • trumpet • French horn • Years Active — 1960–2026 • Label — ECM • Website — http: www.ralphtowner.com/

Towner was born into a musical family in Chehalis, Washington, United States, on March 1, 1940. His mother was a piano teacher and his father a trumpet player. Towner learned to improvise on the piano at the age of three. He began his career as a conservatory-trained classical pianist, attending the University of Oregon from 1958 to 1963, where he also studied composition with Homer Keller. He studied classical guitar at the Vienna Academy of Music with Karl Scheit from 1963 to 1964 and 1967–68. He joined world music pioneer Paul Winter's "Consort" ensemble in the late 1960s. He first played jazz in New York City in the late 1960s as a pianist and was strongly influenced by the renowned jazz pianist Bill Evans. He began improvising on classical and 12-string guitars in the late 1960s and early 1970s and formed alliances with musicians who had worked with Evans, including flautist Jeremy Steig; bassists Eddie Gómez, Marc Johnson and Gary Peacock; and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Along with bandmates Paul McCandless, Glen Moore, and Collin Walcott, Towner left the Winter Consort in 1970 to form the group Oregon, which over the course of the 1970s issued a number of influential records mixing folk music, Indian classical forms, and avant-garde jazz-influenced free improvisation. At the same time, Towner began a longstanding relationship with the ECM record label, which released virtually all of his non-Oregon recordings beginning with his 1973 album Trios / Solos. Towner appeared as a sideman on Weather Report's 1972 album I Sing the Body Electric. His 1975 album Solstice, which featured a popular track called "Nimbus", demonstrated his skill and versatility to the fullest using a 12-string guitar. From the early 1990s, Towner lived in Italy, first in Palermo and then in Rome. He died in Rome on January 18, 2026, at the age of 85.

• Trios / Solos with Glen Moore (ECM, 1973) • Diary (ECM, 1974) • Solstice (ECM, 1975) • Matchbook with Gary Burton (ECM, 1975) • Sargasso Sea with John Abercrombie (ECM, 1976) • Solstice/Sound and Shadows (ECM, 1977) • Batik (ECM, 1978) • Old Friends, New Friends (ECM, 1979) • Solo Concert (ECM, 1980) • Five Years Later with John Abercrombie (ECM, 1982) • Blue Sun (ECM, 1983) • Slide Show with Gary Burton (ECM, 1986) • City of Eyes (ECM, 1989) • Open Letter (ECM, 1992) • If You Look Far Enough with Arild Andersen, Nana Vasconcelos (ECM, 1993) • Oracle with Gary Peacock (ECM, 1994) • Lost and Found (ECM, 1996) • Ana (ECM, 1997) • A Closer View with Gary Peacock (ECM, 1998) • Verso with Maria Pia De Vito (Provocateur, 2000) • Anthem (ECM, 2001) • Time Line (ECM, 2006) • From a Dream with Wolfgang Muthspiel and Slava Grigoryan (Material, 2008) • Chiaroscuro with Paolo Fresu (ECM, 2009) • Travel Guide with Wolfgang Muthspiel, Slava Grigoryan (ECM, 2013) • My Foolish Heart (ECM, 2017) • At First Light (ECM, 2023)

Atmosphere • Atmospheres Featuring Clive Stevens & Friends (Capitol, 1974) • Voyage to Uranus (Capitol, 1974) Oregon • Music of Another Present Era (Vanguard, 1972) • Distant Hills (Vanguard, 1973) • Winter Light (Vanguard, 1974) • In Concert (Vanguard, 1975) • Together (Vanguard, 1976) • Friends (Vanguard, 1977) • Out of the Woods (Elektra, 1978) • Violin (Vanguard, 1978) • Roots in the Sky (Elektra, 1979) • Moon and Mind (Vanguard, 1979) • In Performance (BGO, 1980) • Our First Record (Vanguard, 1980) • Oregon (ECM, 1983) • Crossing (ECM, 1985) • Ecotopia (ECM, 1987) • 45th Parallel (Portrait, 1989) • Always, Never, and Forever (veraBra, 1991) • Troika (veraBra, 1994) • Beyond Words (Chesky, 1995) • Northwest Passage (ECM, 1997) • Music for a Midsummer Night's Dream (Oregon Music, 1998) • Oregon in Moscow (ECM, 2000) • Live at Yoshi's (ECM, 2002) • Prime (C.A.M. Jazz, 2005) • 1000 Kilometers (C.A.M. Jazz, 2007) • In Stride (C.A.M. Jazz, 2010) • Family Tree (C.A.M. Jazz, 2012) • Live in New Orleans (Hi Hat, 2016) • Lantern (C.A.M. Jazz, 2017) Paul Winter Consort • Road (A&M, 1970) • Icarus (Epic, 1972) • Earthdance (A&M, 1977)

With Horacee Arnold • Tribe (Columbia, 1973) • Tales of the Exonerated Flea (Columbia, 1974) With Jerry Granelli • Koputai (ITM Pacific, 1990) • One Day at a Time (ITM Pacific, 1990) With Vince Mendoza • Start Here (World Pacific, 1990) • Instructions Inside (Manhattan, 1991) With Maria Pia De Vito • Nel Respiro (Provocateur, 2002) • Moresche e Altre Invenzioni (Parco Della Musica, 2018) With others • Azimuth, Départ (ECM, 1980) – recorded in 1979 • Salvatore Bonafede, Journey to Donnafugata (C.A.M. Jazz, 2004) • Bill Bruford, If Summer Had Its Ghosts (Discipline Global, 1997) • Gary Burton, Six Pack (GRP, 1992) • Larry Coryell, The Restful Mind (Vanguard, 1975) • Pino Daniele, Che Dio Ti Benedica (CGD, 1993) • Cyrus Faryar, Cyrus (Collectors' Choice Music, 2006) • Robben Ford, Blues Connotation (ITM Pacific, 1997) • David Friesen, Waterfall Rainbow (Inner City, 1977) • Jan Garbarek, Dis (ECM, 1977) – recorded in 1976 • Egberto Gismonti, Sol Do Meio Dia (ECM, 1978) – recorded in 1977 • Gerri Granger, Add a Little Love (United Artists, 1972) • Trilok Gurtu, Usfret (CMP, 1988) • Charlie Haden, Helium Tears (NewEdition, 2005) • Tim Hardin, Bird on a Wire (Columbia, 1971) • Keith Jarrett, In the Light (ECM, 1974) – recorded in 1973 • Maria Joao, Fabula (Verve, 1996) • Joseph LoDuca, Glisten (Cornucopia, 1982) • Andrea Marcelli, Oneness (Lipstick, 1994) • Andy Middleton, Nomad's Notebook (Intuition, 1999) • Duke Pearson, I Don't Care Who Knows It (Blue Note, 1996) – recorded in 1968–70 • Terry Plumeri, Ongoing (Airborne, 1978) • Michel Portal, Musiques De Cinemas (Label Bleu, 1995) • Weather Report, I Sing the Body Electric (Columbia, 1972) • Kenny Wheeler, Deer Wan (ECM, 1978) – recorded in 1977

Ralph Towner is recorded as guitarist, pianist, composer, bandleader and musician. American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. Career and activity. Towner worked in music, jazz, arrangement and music composition. He belonged to Paul Winter Consort and Oregon. He worked at Rome.