houseisland
Member
I have met Ralph Towner twice in passing.
My general impression is that he is a cold and very serious person. The other members of Oregon, Colin Walcott, Glen Moore, and Paul McCandless were very relaxed, open and friendly.
I also knew someone once who was friends with one of Towner's students - it was reported through this grapevine that Towner is stern and demanding task master and that he despises New Age Music, this dislike strange and not strange - strange since he with Paul Winter was responsible for the genre's creation and not strange in that the genre is often vague and noodlely - DADGAD can make a whole lot of nothing sound far out, profound and mystical (edit: self criticism here as much as anything else -been there, done that, bought the T-shirt).
Anyway, you don't have to be a "nice" person to be a genius - it is not a prerequisite. I have Ralph's books. I have most of his recorded output. Anytime I want to get really depressed about the inadequacies of my playing, I go and try sight reading one of his tunes or just listen to him on the stereo. :blue:
Here he is doing Jim Pepper's lovely tune, Witchitaito, on a Guild 12 string: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_13j5GoNDU
My general impression is that he is a cold and very serious person. The other members of Oregon, Colin Walcott, Glen Moore, and Paul McCandless were very relaxed, open and friendly.
I also knew someone once who was friends with one of Towner's students - it was reported through this grapevine that Towner is stern and demanding task master and that he despises New Age Music, this dislike strange and not strange - strange since he with Paul Winter was responsible for the genre's creation and not strange in that the genre is often vague and noodlely - DADGAD can make a whole lot of nothing sound far out, profound and mystical (edit: self criticism here as much as anything else -been there, done that, bought the T-shirt).
Anyway, you don't have to be a "nice" person to be a genius - it is not a prerequisite. I have Ralph's books. I have most of his recorded output. Anytime I want to get really depressed about the inadequacies of my playing, I go and try sight reading one of his tunes or just listen to him on the stereo. :blue:
Here he is doing Jim Pepper's lovely tune, Witchitaito, on a Guild 12 string: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_13j5GoNDU
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