CITY OF EYES

For many jazz fusion lovers Ralph Towner is known by his guitar participated on Weather Report album "I Sing The Body Electric" or his collaboration on Bill Bruford solo album "If Summer Had Its Ghosts". But Towner is a founder of "Oregon" band and has long solo career as well. Being mostly acoustic guitarist , he is known as 12-string guitar master, but he experimented with new technologies (as sound synthesizers) as well.

"City Of Eyes" isn't very usual Towner's album: he has four collaborators there, including great jazz bassist Gary Peacock. Album's opener "Jamaica Stopover" has groove and some Southern melody. "Cascades" is one of few songs, where all musicians play together. Some mix of neo-classical elements and soft fusion drumming, filled with brass soloing. Paul McCandless, former ex-Oregon keyboardist/multi instrumentalist is known by his world fusion /new age works, but he creates more ambient atmosphere there. Winds interplays are airy and have their roots in Nordic folk.

Bigger part of album's compositions combines minimalistic neo-classical elements and some jazz aesthetics. Cool, often ascetic ECM usual sound, beautiful, a bit nostalgic melodies, perfect lines of all instruments. In some moments - a bit nervous and dark free-jazz sounds, but never - too chaotic or destroying whole album's beauty. Every composition is an aural painting of it's own plastic and atmosphere.

Whole album's music is difficult to classify - in some moments it's similar to some Pat Metheny works, in other - goes somewhere to neo classical, free-jazz or improv territories. But all the album is one musical piece doesn't destroyed by such fluctuations.

Really interesting work for open ears jazz fusion fans.