Search - John Abercrombie;Ralph Towner :: ECM Touchstones: Sargasso Sea

It Works For Me

Andrew Stevenson | Union Springs, New York | 08/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Two virtuosos, John Abercrombie and Ralph Towner, get the chance to explore eight of their own compositons (four by Abercrombie, two by Towner, and two by Abercrombie & Towner together.) An entire recording of often subtle guitar duets might have become dull, but Abercrombie and Towner each have a distinctive sound and this music works for me. I particularly enjoyed the sound of Abercrombie's electric guitar with Towner's acoustic one. Towner's occasional piano touches are also welcome. The compositions offer enough variety to help keep things interesting as well. Highlights are the lovely "Fable" and the appropriately mysterious "Sargasso Sea." This music was recorded in 1976. Five years later Abercrombie and Towner recorded another session of duets appropriately titled "Five Years Later." To my knowledge it has never been released on CD. It's about time it was."

Not nearly as bad as all that!

Chris Juergens | Portland, OR, USA | 06/14/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I think Bob W is being a little rough on this record; to my ear the contrasting sensibilities of Ralph & John give this record its color- Also, I rather enjoy the relatively casual feel of Sargasso, although I agree with Bob that Abercrombie has grown by leaps & bounds as a player in the ensuing years. Regarding the notion of hearing these 2 players have another go at it, they did just that 5 years later on the ECM LP "Five Years Later" and it is indeed a superior session. Inexplicably ECM have never, to my knowledge, reissued this 2nd duo album on cd. I've always wonder just why..."

Tremendous

antonio | australia | 12/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After owning this album for more than 20 years and working in quite a few guitar duets, my feelings are that this is the album that I would choose if I only was allowed to own one album."