Few jazz record companies have achieved so distinctive a sound and characteristic a style as the German label ECM. This 1974 recording by acoustic guitarist Ralph Towner is a classic of the label's early period. Adept at blending jazz with folk and classical elements, Towner is joined here by drummer Jon Christensen and two of the label's essential voices, the sweetly muscular saxophone sound of Jan Garbarek and the springy bass virtuosity of Eberhard Weber. The quartet has both orchestral breadth and varied textures, each enhanced by some discreet overdubbing and fairly extensive doubling--Weber adding electric bass leads and background cello, Towner adding some piano to his classical and 12-string guitars, and Garbarek playing soprano and overdubbing two flutes on "Nimbus." The modal and atmospheric improvisations contribute to the feeling of spaciousness, and the sumptuously beautiful sound seems to embrace the instruments. --Stuart Broomer |
