Search - Ralph Towner :: ECM Touchstones: Solstice

It's

kibblenibbler | CT | 09/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"almost but not quite entirely like Brian Eno and John Fahey meeting up with Keith Jarrett's American Quartet and playing something almost but not quite entirely like Miles Davis's Get Up With It or Weather Report's Sweetnighter. that, and Jan Garbarek in his prime is along for the ride. atmospheric, yet stimulating. not quite five stars, but pretty close (by the way, dear amazon folks, the cover art that you have featured here, as of 9/14/08, is incorrect. please rectify)..."

Truly Definitive ECM!

Thomas Gabuzda | Montco PA, usa | 02/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Other reviewers have this exactly right: here is a thing of just stunning conception and beauty, one of the best in the whole ECM library. The whole of "Solstice" is so coherent and of-one-mind from beginning to end. Every track is very good to great, ending with "Sand"... a track you can listen to 4 times in a row and still be in awe of. The ensemble of Weber, Christensen, Garbarek and Towner is a sympathetic thing of beauty. As an aside, a neglected but brilliant Ralph Towner release is "5 Years Later", the sequel to Sargasso Sea (and likewise a duo with J. Abercrombie). However it may not exist on CD. Another aside, "Solstice" was poorly recorded in its initial vinyl release (relative to ECM standards), and to my relief the CD is just fine."

Jazzman

James K. Stewart | Louisville, Ky USA | 03/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the most beautiful, intense, mind-blowing, and brilliant recordings

I've ever heard. Like the first reviewer of this (who listed it as Pat

Metheny's favorite), I too saw Towner and John Abercrombie in concert

when they were on tour (in Lexington, Ky), after they had recorded their

gorgeous "Sargasso Sea" duet guitar album on ECM. It was a sold-out show

and a mesmerized audience, much like the show he saw. "Solstice" totally

blew me away the first time I heard it. Never had I heard such incredible

beauty and INTENSITY off of cold vinyl. These were the days when I became

a totally addicted ECM vinyl freak; I could not buy these things fast

enough, and "Solstice" quickly became one of my most played items. These

guys are so brilliant, they're SCARY. Of course, I have the cd now and

am still blown away each time I hear it. Eberhard Weber and Jan Garbarek

are just amazing on this as well. It is absolute perfection and genius.

What is so startling about it is that even though I've heard this thing

hundreds of times (both vinyl and cd), it STILL sounds just as exciting,

fresh, and new as the first time I heard it, and I even hear things I

realize I hadn't heard before. Just magnificent. One previous reviewer

stated that the track "Visitation" is one of the spookiest things ever

recorded on ECM. I agree. as it ALWAYS reminds me of an alien UFO ship

landing on earth. To me, a truly SCARY ECM recording is the track called

"Excursion" from Bennie Maupin's mind-bending "Jewel in the Lotus" album,

recently issued on cd for the first time (ECM). Listen to it with all the

lights out. Wooooo! 100 million stars for "Solstice", and another 500

million for the fantastic ECM label, and its founder/producer Manfred

Eicher."