Ralph Towner - Solstice (1975 Japanese Pressing, ECM Records Vinyl LP)

Ralph Towner - Solstice | Vinyl LP - 1975 ECM Records Japanese Pressing (ECM pap-9035, Trio Records distribution)

Ralph Towner had already released solo albums for ECM and recorded extensively with Oregon, his quartet with Collin Walcott, Paul McCandless and Glen Moore, when Manfred Eicher put this group together in December 1974. What Eicher assembled was an entirely new ensemble: an American classical guitarist and pianist alongside three of the strongest musicians on the European side of the ECM roster. Jan Garbarek plays tenor and soprano saxophone and flute. Eberhard Weber plays bass and cello. Jon Christensen plays drums and percussion. Jan Erik Kongshaug engineered the session at Arne Bendiksen Studio in Oslo, and the combination of Towner's 12-string guitar work, Garbarek's soaring saxophone and Kongshaug's spacious, detail-rich recording produced something that didn't sound like anyone else's records. "Oceanus" opens the album at nearly eleven minutes, Garbarek's tenor riding over Towner's layered 12-string patterns while Weber drones on bowed bass underneath. "Drifting Petals" and "Nimbus" explore quieter ground, "Piscean Dance" picks up the tempo, and Weber's own composition "Sand," courtesy of Vanguard Records where he'd originally recorded it, closes the album. Towner wrote the other seven pieces.

ECM's own description calls this "one of the great early production projects" of the label, and most accounts of the ECM sound start here. The session launched a network of collaborations that ran for years: Garbarek and Towner recorded Dis together in 1976, Weber joined the Jan Garbarek Group, and Christensen became the drummer in Weber's Colours band. A second Solstice quartet album, Sound and Shadows, followed in 1977. Towner died on January 18, 2026 at the age of 85. This is the original 1975 Japanese pressing (ECM pap-9035), distributed by Trio Records with Japanese liner notes by the critic Yozo Iwanami.