Double Bass Oregon fans

[basss]

I've been getting into these guys recently. They've recorded a lot of albums over the years. Can someone in the know hip me to their best recordings?

 

[quenoil]

I like Live at Yoshi's, but I'm far from an expert.

 

[damonsmith]

I was really into those Ralph Towner/Gary Peacock duos, then I heard a couple really good Glen More records, a few good Collin Wallcot Lps with Don Cherry, etc. and some side man dates by McCandeless, and I thought I should check out Oregon - I just could not stand it. It that Metheny sugar coating that makes my teeth hurt.
All great players, though.

 

[bruce malcolm]

damon hit it. the individual projects are better than the oregon discog. colin wallcot's pretty amazing on sitar & tabla
& also has a cd with holland, dejohnette & abercrombie...not bad.
the towner / gary peacock studio duos are very good...interesting songs, ideas & chops. and you can actually hear gary peacock all the time, no matter where he is on the board. if only ECM could get him right with jarretts trio.

 

[basss]

Yeah you guys are right they're cheeze wiz.

 

[Marcus Johnson]

I love Ralph Towner's album with Gary Burton, I think it's called "Matchbook". I used to listen to Oregon a lot.

 

[Jeremy Allen]

I'm not that familiar with Oregon, but Glen Moore has recorded several duo records with singer Nancy King. She is amazing, and those records have some brilliant stuff on them. The bass is tuned in a very strange way, though (can't remember exactly what it is, but it ain't normal), so some of the stuff that comes out is kind of impossible for the rest of us.

 

[Jim Calhoun]

Glen used to have both a low C and a high C on his bass, so it was tuned C A D C from low to high. He gave a concert and workshop here last fall with a piano trio (with a couple of excellent young guys from Portland whos names I've since forgotten). He said that he had developed that tuning to play the music Oregon was playing (doubling horn lines on the high string, etc.) but that he had since gone back to standard tuning. It was great to hear him in the "interactive trio' context. Interestingly, they played a number of Ralph Towner compositions.

Anyway, sorry for the hijack. Carry on......

Jim

 

[Manticore Guy]

I just got the Oregon record Violin. It's pretty interesting material, to say the least.

 

[Arnold]

I think they're about the greatest band to ever exist. The greatest hits package on Vanguard is a good start. With all due respect to the posters who seemed to disrespect them, it's not music you "get" the first time, maybe not the 10th time. There's really something going on on these records, and you really have to be all there to get it.
Peace.
Arnold

 

[damonsmith]

I was going through some LPs and pulled out "Crossing" on ECM. I still find it too surpy but there is some great music here, and Glen Moore is beautiful bass player. I prefer the pieces without McCandless.

 

[christ andronis]

hmmm....syrupy? They've got some pop sensibilities but that's not what they're ALL about. I think Ralph Towner writes some beautiful melodies and yeah, they're all really great players. I really liked the recordings with Trilok Gurtu on percussion. Also, Ralph Towner has got to be one of the most under rated keyboard players I've ever heard. I'd love to talk to him and see if he's as influenced by Bill Evans as his keyboard playing seems to be. As a matter of fact, I saw them open for Bill Evans (w/Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera) many years ago in Evanston, IL.

 

[Marcus Johnson]

I'd love to talk to him and see if he's as influenced by Bill Evans as his keyboard playing seems to be.

You should try to do that; he's really cool, and pretty funny the one time I chatted with him.

 

[Silversorcerer]

I'm not familiar with any of the other recordings, but this one has some tracks that I really like. Warning, my taste is on the eclectic side from Baroque to extremely modern and includes such incongruities as Black Sabbath and Astrud Gilberto. Out of the Woods is kind of meditational but not what I'd call cheese, but to each his own. It gets pretty deep in passages. Tablas and eastern vibes, oboe reedy sounds. etc. I guess "Fall" is the track I like best and nothing else on the CD sounds like that one.

 

[maxito]

I've been a fan since the early 70s - when they were born out of the Paul Winter Consort..... and recently saw them live on tour. Fantastic. They have so much depth in their music, it's a shame to see them dismissed here as "cheese whiz" and "syrupy" by today's instant gratification generation. "Back in the day" artists put out record albums - vinyl - they were like auditory novels, intended to be listened to in their entirety; side "a", flip the record over, then side "b". Oregon records shouldn't be thought of as just a bunch of "tunes" but rather "chapters" of the story - which is a foreign concept to those that only download mp3 tracks (not that I don't do that too...).

Granted, Oregon is not for everyone, but for those of us that are into them, we are very into them. They are a group like no other. They have gone thru a couple of phases - most notably with the untimely passing of Colin Wolcott. Both Trilok Gurtu and Mark Walker have brought their own distinct sound to the group. Glen's playing is always solid, spontaneous, nimble, and seemingly "just right" for each setting. Ralph Towner & Paul McCandless have such a rapport with Glen, and can create virtually any mood and easily change gears in an instant.

Check out recordings like Music of Another Present Era (an early one, ehterial and wild at the same time), Ecotopia, 45th Parallel, Distant Hills, Northwest Passage, In Moscow (w/orchestra - a beautiful recording, but obviously much more orchestrated than the others), Yoshi's, and the latest- "Prime" is excellent.

Listen deeply and you will be rewarded.

 

[Marcus Johnson]

I've heard a lot of those recordings, and your list brought back a lot of great auditory memories of early Oregon albums. I like your description of vinyl as stories; that's easy to miss in the era of the iPod.

Whether you like Oregon or not, you have to give them credit for creating an unmistakable sound and successfully recording and touring with that sound for so many years.

 

[damonsmith]

"syrupy" by today's instant gratification generation.

- While I respect them as musicians I have to say those surpy, comercial melodies are much more a precursor to "today's instant gratifacation generation" than my general taste. I listened to Morty Feldman's 4 hour second string quartet in one sitting more than once.

The only lp I still have is "Crossings", It has some unbearable sugar coated lines that could only be made worse by Metheny or Frizzle soloing over them.

I agree they were great and there is a lot of incredible playing if you do the listening. However, they made choices that can lead people to take them lightly.
Like I said, I have gotten more from each member in other contexts.

 

[Silversorcerer]

I listened to Oregon's Out of the Woods again this morning while walking the dog. This gave me an opportunity to listen to it start to finish as suggested and I have to agree, this is the best way to experience the movement of mood through the record. I like having it in the iPod so I can listen during this time because the dog walk has always been a meditation for me. There is a great deal of pathos in this music and really beautiful harmonies. I also enjoy the use of more unusual instruments like the mbira and tabla. Great music for the thoughtful among us.

 

[maxito]

- While I respect them as musicians I have to say those surpy, comercial melodies are much more a precursor to "today's instant gratifacation generation" than my general taste. I listened to Morty Feldman's 4 hour second string quartet in one sitting more than once.

Of course this is always the bottom line. Personal taste will prevail. The wonderful thing about music is that there are no "absolutes." Oregon (in it's various lineups) is not a band with universal appeal, nor is any musical project. Please do not misinterpret my previous post as an attempt to convince you (or anyone) that you are "wrong", however the terms syrupy or cheezy impart the impression that the work is without merit, and I disagree with that premise.

I just don't subscribe to the "my interests are more valid than yours" point of view. Emotion expressed through music is valid - if it doesn't speak to you, don't listen. plenty of choices available!

 

[flatback]

In the past few years I have been doing a bunch of informal playing with Paul Mccandless, and man whatever you think of the band Paul is way under rated and way deep. When we play he plays tenor and man that cat is deep. His musicality goes so far down into the depths of what is essential. I was playing with him one night at a party and it was a jam with a bunch of people of different abilities and I realized kind of like an epiphany, that Paul is (in addition to being the soloing heart of whatever band he's playing in) a totally generous accompanist. He makes everyone around him sound good, and he does it with a generosity of spirit that is just lovely to be part of. And just about when you think you are playing with the deepest tenor player, he pulls out the bass Clarinet, Oboe, and penny whistle (upon which he can play bebop like mad)
If you get a chance check out Paul as an independent player. I really dig Mark Walker's playing as well.