From the beginning, their strength lay in the balance. For although Oregon was actually a soloist ensemble, the musicians acted as a band. This was...

From the beginning, their strength lay in the balance. For although Oregon was actually a soloist ensemble, the musicians acted as a band. This was because of the unusual combination of talent and curiosity. None of the participants was content with just one instrument. Stylistically, there were connections to classical Indian and European music, bluegrass, folk, jazz and experimental avant-garde. With so much background and substance, the Oregon four needed little more than themselves, a zeitgeist that allowed for improvisational and chamber jazz sounds, and an audience that valued this wild mix of characters and compositional talents. Soon after the band's formation in 1970, Oregon became well known, did a lot of performing and recorded even more. In time they have developed from the style laboratory of the early years into a chamber jazz authority whose special appeal unfolded above all in the pyrotechnics of concerts like the one in Ludwigsburg.1990 they performed there a colourful mix, a cross-section of two decades of experimental sound work.