1st Time Ever available! Oregon, formed in 1970, comprised Ralph Towner (classical and 12-string guitars), Paul McCandless (oboe and English horn), Glen Moore (double bass) and Collin Walcott (sitar and tabla). The band's music has always been almost totally acoustic. 'Acoustic instruments sound more expressive to me,' Towner explained to Jazzwise magazine (UK) in September 1997. He further explained his guitar style: 'With classical guitar [you're] using all the fingers of your right hand to pluck which means you can be sounding anything from two to five notes in exact unison, rather than a strum.' As well as their core instruments, Towner has played trumpet, synths and piano with the band, McCandless bass clarinet and flute, Moore flute and violin and Walcott clarinet and dulcimer. To name but some. "At one time we were carrying eighty instruments on the road!" McCandless has said. The combining of instruments from disparate musical traditions and the musicians' range of influences meant that 'jazz' was always an inadequate label for the band. 'Live In Bremen 1974' documents Oregon at their mesmerizing best. The interplay between the four players is stunning and on each piece mood and texture are ever-changing, yet always following an aesthetic logic that seems irrefutable. 'Live In Bremen 1974', however, is a reminder of a band that made music that had never been heard before, that had never been imagined before. One track is titled 'Brujo', Spanish for 'sorcerer.' Truly, Towner, McCandless, Moore and Walcott were musical sorcerers whose playing retains it's power to enchant not only the band's original fans but even, surely, anyone lucky enough to be hearing the band for the very first time.
1974 live-recordings of US - Jazz and World Fusion artists Oregon documenting the band at their mesmerizing best.
Oregon, formed in 1970, comprised Ralph Towner (classical and 12-string guitars), Paul McCandless (oboe and English horn), Glen Moore (double bass) and Collin Walcott (sitar and tabla).
The band's music has always been almost totally acoustic. ''Acoustic instruments sound more expressive to me,'' Towner explained to Jazzwise magazine (UK) in September 1997. He further explained his guitar style: ''With classical guitar [you're] using all the fingers of your right hand to pluck which means you can be sounding anything from two to five notes in exact unison, rather than a strum.'' As well as their core instruments, Towner has played trumpet, synths and piano with the band, McCandless bass clarinet and flute, Moore flute and violin and Walcott clarinet and dulcimer. To name but some. ''At one time we were carrying eighty instruments on the road!'' McCandless has said.
The combining of instruments from disparate musical traditions and the musicians' range of influences meant that 'jazz' was always an inadequate label for the band. ''Live In Bremen 1974'' documents Oregon at their mesmerizing best. The interplay between the four players is stunning and on each piece mood and texture are ever-changing, yet always following an aesthetic logic that seems irrefutable. ''Live In Bremen 1974'', however, is a reminder of a band that made music that had never been heard before, that had never been imagined before. One track is titled ''Brujo'', Spanish for ''sorcerer.'' Truly, Towner, McCandless, Moore and Walcott were musical sorcerers whose playing retains its power to enchant not only the band's original fans but even, surely, anyone lucky enough to be hearing the band for the very first time.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, trumpeter Randy Brecker and his younger, sax-playing brother Michael Brecker charted a new course in modern music by blending sophisticated jazz harmonies and searing solos with slamming funk grooves and a visceral energy that grabbed rock ears. The funk-fusion juggernaut known as The Brecker Brothers helped define a sub-genre within jazz and set the tone for a generation of aspiring musicians who followed. The CD and the vinyl double LP contain dynamic studio versions of some of the live tunes, performed by a host of special guests. Guitarist Dean Brown, a member of the '90s edition, appears on First Tune of the Set, Merry Go Town, Really In For It and Adina. Guitarist Adam Rogers plays on the beautiful Stellina and the funky boogaloo number The Dipshit, in which Randy slyly drops a quote from Lee Morgan's Sidewinder (the tune's obvious inspiration). Rogers is also the sole accompanist to Randroid (transformed here as a Delta bluesman) on the downhome. Perhaps the most moving track on the collection is Randy's Elegy for Mike. As simple, beautiful and affecting as Herbie Hancock's Chan's Song (a tune that Michael recorded on his 2001 album Nearness of You: The Ballad Book), it is a poignant ode to one of jazz's all-time greats. It was nice to have a tune with that feel and with Mike in mind, Randy says.
Spyro Gyra - Live In Leverkusen 2022 - This fantastic live album from the Leverkusen Jazz Days on November 7, 2022, features one of the most successful U.S. jazz fusion bands, Spyro Gyra. For Spyro Gyra's performance at the Leverkusen Jazz Days on November 7, 2022, the band's lineup consisted of Jay Beckenstein (saxophone), Tom Schuman (keyboards, piano), Julio Fernandez (guitars), Scott Ambush (bass), and Lionel Cordew (drums, percussion). "Art manifests itself in a variety of styles and contexts. That's why we started making music in the first place, " is Spyro Gyra's philosophy. And the band's live program that evening in Leverkusen was just as diverse, including their big hits "Shaker Song" and "Morning Dance.
