Here's something you might be interested in.
The next installment of the Athenaeum Jazz at the Neurosciences Institute takes place on October 24 with the long-awaited return of the pioneering chamber jazz/world music ensemble Oregon.
The founding members of the group met in 1970, when several of them were playing in the Paul Winter Consort. After a year with Winter, they struck out on their own as Oregon, comprised of Ralph Towner on guitar, trumpet, and piano, Paul McCandless on woodwinds, Glen Moore on double bass, violin, and piano, and Collin Walcott on percussion, sitar, and tablas.
Initially releasing a slew of albums under the Vanguard record label (including a highly unlikely collaboration with iconic jazz drummer Elvin Jones called Together), Oregon toured the world and were big hits on U.S. college campuses in the '70s and '80s.
Tragedy struck in in 1984, when Collin Walcott was killed in a car accident in East Germany while on tour. The group disbanded, then reformed later with Indian percussion master Trilok Gurtu, who stayed for several years before leaving to join the John McLaughlin Trio.
In 1997, drummer and percussion specialist Mark Walker became a permanent member. This is the Oregon that will play next Monday night at the Neurosciences Institute.
Since its inception, Oregon has specialized in a unique fusion of music that defies categorization. Indeed, they were playing "world music" long before people started calling it that. Towner is a revered nylon-string guitarist and composer, and his original piece "Icarus" is still considered a classic many years later.
You can hear elements of Western classical music, Indian music, all types of ethnic folk influences, and snippets of avant garde jazz in their sound.
Oregon visits San Diego as a part of a West Coast tour in support of their new release, In Stride, on the Cam Jazz label. Many of their older recordings on Vanguard, ECM, Intuition, and Elektra are still available.
Photo courtesy of Oregon
The next installment of the Athenaeum Jazz at the Neurosciences Institute takes place on October 24 with the long-awaited return of the pioneering chamber jazz/world music ensemble Oregon.
The founding members of the group met in 1970, when several of them were playing in the Paul Winter Consort. After a year with Winter, they struck out on their own as Oregon, comprised of Ralph Towner on guitar, trumpet, and piano, Paul McCandless on woodwinds, Glen Moore on double bass, violin, and piano, and Collin Walcott on percussion, sitar, and tablas.
Initially releasing a slew of albums under the Vanguard record label (including a highly unlikely collaboration with iconic jazz drummer Elvin Jones called Together), Oregon toured the world and were big hits on U.S. college campuses in the '70s and '80s.
Tragedy struck in in 1984, when Collin Walcott was killed in a car accident in East Germany while on tour. The group disbanded, then reformed later with Indian percussion master Trilok Gurtu, who stayed for several years before leaving to join the John McLaughlin Trio.
In 1997, drummer and percussion specialist Mark Walker became a permanent member. This is the Oregon that will play next Monday night at the Neurosciences Institute.
Since its inception, Oregon has specialized in a unique fusion of music that defies categorization. Indeed, they were playing "world music" long before people started calling it that. Towner is a revered nylon-string guitarist and composer, and his original piece "Icarus" is still considered a classic many years later.
You can hear elements of Western classical music, Indian music, all types of ethnic folk influences, and snippets of avant garde jazz in their sound.
Oregon visits San Diego as a part of a West Coast tour in support of their new release, In Stride, on the Cam Jazz label. Many of their older recordings on Vanguard, ECM, Intuition, and Elektra are still available.
Photo courtesy of Oregon