Ralph Towner Batik Rar
Ralph Towner, Eddie Gomez, Jack De Johnette - Batik - 1978 (2496.LP) Ralph Towner. Eddie Gomez, Jack De Johnette. Find a Ralph Towner, Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette - Batik first pressing or reissue. Complete your Ralph Towner, Eddie Gomez, Jack.
Ralph Towner Ralph Towner 12-string and classical guitar, piano Eddie Gomez bass Jack DeJohnette drums Recorded January 1978, Talent Studio, Oslo Engineer: Jan Erik Kongshaug Produced by Manfred Eicher There are certain images that seem fail-proof when musically evoked. The “Waterwheel” that inaugurates us into guitarist Ralph Towner’s astonishingly beautiful Batik is one of them. Having since been painted for us by such varied talents as Hamza El Din (see the Kronos Quartet’s Pieces of Africa) and Marina Belica (former leader of the October Project, of which their self-titled debut is a personal all-time favorite), Towner’s particular configuration embodies the best of all worlds with the precision of his fingers magnified to great effect by Jack DeJohnette on drums and soothingly animated by the bass of Eddie Gomez. Towner’s democratic shifts in density allow for solos to shine through the haze unhindered, such as the enchanting bass that darts through his added splashes of 12-string. Towner rejoins in overdubbed costume, while amplified sustains peek like the sun from behind a cloud. Their passage through the sky is marked only by DeJohnette’s delicate metronome, allowing us one final glimpse of its thematic pool.
“Shades of Sutton Hoo” is named for an Anglo-Saxon burial ground and haunts us with its reverberant lows and tinkling cymbals. A noticeably freer structure pervades, tracing every mound of earth with archaeological care. This delicate filler leads us up a “Trellis” of melody into ghostly afterthoughts. Gomez’s voice cuts with urgency through Towner’s ornamental stride. Their sumptuous counterpoint continues in the 16-minute title track and sets us down comfortably in territory. DeJohnette unleashes a noteworthy solo, while Gomez laces his quick fingers to support every hoisted footstep. We end in the “Green Room.” Painted with Towner’s mournful piano, it glows in a wash of potent commentary from bass and brushed drums, crumbling like spring snow into silence.
A classic to the nth degree. Original cover.
I have this originally on vinyl and couldn’t snatch up the CD fast enought-matter of fact it was initially unavailable in the U.S. So I sent off to ECM Germany to order it. I find this is quite a bit more agressive and uptempo (in a good way) than anything else i’ve ever heard Towner record but also balanced by some very wonderfully dark abstract pieces. The sound is, once again, perfect, every nuance of the quieter acoustic bass and guitars comes through.
And a never to be repeated line-up with Gomez and Dejohnette.
Just before heading to Oslo to meet up with Azimuth for, Ralph Towner was performing solo in Europe, with dates in Munich and Zurich providing the recordings for this spellbinding live album. Sometimes known as ' for the guitar', the comparison only really works inasmuch as they're both high watermarks in ECM's catalogue of concert recordings; there's no epic improvisations here, just seven perfectly rendered compositions, four of them Towner originals.
Opening with a flourish of echoing harmonics, Solo Concert grabs the listener right from the off with its longest and most spectacular track - the shimmering 12-string waves of Spirit Lake. The rich, reverberating acoustics of these recordings also illuminate the nylon-string performances like Ralph's Piano Waltz (one of two John Abercrombie compositions here) that follows next. Things get more intricate and spidery with Train Of Thought, one of the best explorations of Towner's virtuoso technique here, but to be honest that could be said of the whole record. The Miles Davis standard Nardis hits a fresh new groove, and the closing take on Abercrombie's Timeless is just. If you only own one Ralph Towner record, make it this one. The prospect of making such a recording should scare the hell out of any guitarist: Just you, a microphone, and a fully acoustic guitar. 
You are live in front of a real audience. There is no hiding, no opportunity for studio corrections, and your real-time playing is absolutely naked. And there are no other musicians to rescue you if you screw something up.
Do it right, or you are immutably exposed. Not only does Ralph Towner pull it off with no embarrassments, he absolutely sings in this soaring performance. This recording truly must be included in any top-10 list of ECM recordings, it is a document for the ages. .to share albums that I like. That's about it! Trying to be eclectic with the albums I post, but in the main I like electronic music, krautrock, ECM jazz and 20th-century composed music / electroacoustic music.