Biography

Oregon is an American world jazz quartet comprised of virtuoso multi-instrumentalists and composers. Formed by multi-instrumentalists Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless, Glen Moore and Collin Walcott, they were all members of the Paul Winter Consort before splintering off in 1970. They created an original hybrid meld of modern jazz, folk, and European and Indian classical musics. Their 1972 debut album, Music of Another Present Era, offered acoustically rendered world jazz fusion that proved hugely influential. They made seven more albums for Vanguard including Together (1976) and Violin (1978). After three albums for Elektra from 1978 to 1980, including Out of the Woods, they moved to ECM for 1983's charting Oregon. Walcott was killed in a car accident in 1984 and replaced by Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu for 1987's Ecotopia and several other albums. He left following 1991's charting Always, Never, And Forever; the band recorded 1994's Troika as a trio. Oregon signed to Intuition for four albums including 2000's Oregon in Moscow with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra showcasing drummer Mark Walker. Due to its members' busy solo careers, Oregon recorded infrequently. 2012's Family Tree was the last to include Moore before he retired. 2017's Lantern marked the debut of bassist Paolino Dalla Porta, and 2021 saw the release of 1974, an archival concert by the original quartet, for Radio Bremen. Guitarist/pianist Ralph Towner, who also plays trumpet and flugelhorn, and bassist, pianist, reed, and woodwind player Glen Moore had been friends and collaborators since meeting in 1960 as students at the University of Oregon. By 1969, both were living and working in New York with folksinger Tim Hardin who introduced them to the pioneering world-jazz fusion of the Paul Winter Consort. There, they encountered percussionist/sitarist Collin Walcott (who also played sitar, dulcimer, clarinet, and violin), with whom Towner began improvising as a duo. By 1970, Towner and Moore had joined the Winter Consort and met fellow member, oboist, reed, and woodwind master Paul McCandless. The four began exploring improvisation together, while their contributions were seminal in redefining the Winter Consort "sound" through compositions such as Towner's "Icarus." After splitting to form Oregon, they played some U.S. college shows and were labeled the "Modern Jazz Quartet of the '70s" or "a white, European imitation of the Art Ensemble of Chicago." In truth, they were an excellent ensemble playing a hybrid style that wasn't exactly jazz, and certainly wasn't rock, but liberally quoted and borrowed from free jazz, Indo-Asian, African, European, and pop music sources. They signed to Vanguard in late 1971 and released the revolutionary Music of Another Present Era a year later. The album set the stage for a new transculturalism in jazz, and created a lasting template for the fusion of jazz, classical, and world traditions that would influence generations of musicians. Touring almost incessantly, they still managed to record and release the acclaimed Distant Hills in 1973 and the seminal Winter Light in 1974; the latter included their version of Jim Pepper's Native American standard "Witchi-Tai-To." Two years later, Oregon recorded Together in collaboration with jazz drummer Elvin Jones. On 1978's Violin, they collaborated with violinist Zbigniew Seifert. That same year they issued their Elektra debut, Out of the Woods. On recordings for the label, Towner increasingly favored the piano over his guitars, while McCandless chose soprano saxophone more frequently Oregon became a whirlwind touring unit. They played hundreds of concerts a year all over the globe and became festival mainstays in Europe and Asia. The group issued two more albums in 1979 including Moon and Mind, their final date for Vanguard. Roots in the Sky marked their final studio date for Elektra that year; the deal concluded with 1980's live In Performance. After a break that saw the quartet's members focusing on solo material, they signed to ECM and re-formed for the charting, eponymously titled Oregon in 1983. In support they played a State Department-sponsored tour of the Indian subcontinent. With ECM, the group's sound shifted from some of the darker textures of their earlier outings to brighter, less abstract environments. Synthesizers were incorporated into Oregon's oeuvre for the first time during this period via Towner's explorations with them. Tragedy struck in 1984 when Walcott was killed in a car accident. The album Crossing, completed shortly before his death, was released in 1985 while the group's remaining members were in mourning. Trilok Gurtu, Indian percussion master and Walcott's longtime friend and collaborator, joined Oregon to record 1987's Ecotopia, the band's third and final outing for ECM. He remained for 45th Parallel, a one-off outing for Portrait in 1989 (that landed at number 11 on the new age charts), and 1991's Always, Never, And Forever, one of two albums for Vera Bra Records that landed --uncharacteristically -- inside the Top 25 on the contemporary jazz album charts. After Gurtu's departure, they issued Troika for the label as a trio, who followed with 1985's Beyond Words for Chesky. The group signed to Germany's scrappy startup Intuition for 1997's Northwest Passage. They had previously recorded albums by everyone from Jon Hassell, Eddie Palmieri, and Dino Saluzzi to Steps Ahead, John Lurie, and Maceo Parker. Returning as a quartet, the date included alternating drummers Arto Tunçboyaciyan and Mark Walker. 1998 saw Oregon privately issue the conceptual trio recording of Music for a Midsummer Night's Dream in 1998. In June of 1999, the band -- as a quartet with Walker as their permanent drummer -- and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra recorded Oregon in Moscow with producer Steve Rodby at the State Recording House GDRZ. It was released in early 2000 and marked the debut recording of their orchestral repertoire that had been in development since the Winter Consort days, and had been performed earlier with various symphony orchestras but unrecorded. The album garnered four Grammy nominations. Their final outing for Intuition was the Rodby-produced Live at Yoshi's in 2002. Oregon took a two-year break so its members could pursue individual projects. In 2005, the band issued Prime, their debut for Italy's prestigious CAM Jazz label as a quartet. The set relied heavily on Oregon's particular approach to jazz as it intersected with melodic improvisation. They have recorded exclusively for the label ever since. 2007's 1000 Kilometers wed post-bop and the group's idiosyncratic approach to classical chamber music. 2010's In Stride juxtaposed their bracing modern jazz sound and free improvisation. Oregon released the self-produced Family Tree for the label in 2012. Followed by a world tour, it marked the final Oregon outing for Moore who retired from the road and went on to pursue individual studio projects. It would be five years before Oregon found a bassist and released another studio album. After touring, its members all took on individual projects. 2017's Lantern, with new bassist Paolino Dalla Porta, showcased a revitalized sound that relied as heavy on African and Latin-American folk styles as on modern jazz and improvisation. In 2021, German label Moosicus released 1974, an archival concert recorded at Radio Bremen by the original quartet. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi