Ralph Towner News

With the realization that there will always be more music coming at him than he can keep up with, AAJ Managing Editor John Kelman wonders why anyone would think that jazz is dead or dying.

CD Reviews: Playing Catch-up SOURCE: See! Hear! by Richard Kamins Perennial - Rob Garcia 4 - BJU Records) - Part of the allure of drummer/composer's Garcia 3rd CD as a leader was the anticipation of hearing the young saxophonist Noah Preminge r and pianist Dan Tepfer .

With the realization that there will always be more music coming at him than he can keep up with, AAJ Managing Editor John Kelman wonders why anyone would think that jazz is dead or dying.

From left, guitar-slingers Grigoryan, Towner and Muthspiel. One of the highlights of last year's jazz season was a trio of bassists: Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten.

The current lineup, from left: McCandless, Moore, Walker and Towner. In 1972, when Oregon first hit the music scene with their debut Vanguard LP Music of Another Present Era, the photos of the band left more than a few jazz fans scratching their heads.

With a lineup of classic flattop models including the F-30, F-50, F-412, and D-55 and a league of devotees that has included Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, Ralph Towner, Richie Havens, and Ryan Adams, Guild is among the most loved and respected acoustic-guitar companies.

Guitarist Nels Cline makes music in a mind-boggling variety of contexts: from relatively mainstream artsy roots-rock with Wilco, to experimental skronk-skree in variously sized groups with all manner of folks, to a sort of rock-informed jazz with his own group, the all-instrumental Nels Cline Singers.