Vanguard Sessions: Best of the Vanguard Years by Oregon (CD, Mar-2000, Vanguard)

Album Features
UPC:	015707956024
Artist:	Oregon
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2000
Record Label:	Vanguard
Genre:	Fusion, Jazz Instrument

Track Listing
1. Tide Pool
2. Grazing Dreams
3. Cry Of The Peacock / Coral
4. Aurora
5. Margueritte
6. Canyon Song
7. Improvisation on Robert de Visee's Menuet II - (previously unreleased)
8. Gospel Song
9. Interstate
10. Yet to Be - (previously unreleased)
11. Serenade - (previously unreleased)
12. Charango - (previously unreleased)
13. Dust Devil
14. Sail

Details
Playing Time:	76 min.
Contributing Artists:	Larry Coryell, Elvin Jones, Glen Moore, Ralph Towner, Collin Walcott, Zbignew Siefert
Distributor:	Welk
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Oregon: Ralph Towner (trumpet, French horn, mellophone, piano, Hammond B-3 organ, 12-string & classical guitars, clay drums, percussion); Paul McCandless (flute, wood flute, bass clarinet, oboe, English horn); Glen Moore (flute, violin, piano, acoustic & electric bass); Collin Walcott (clarinet, dulcimer, sitar, tamboura, piano, 12-string guitar, congas, tablas, pakhawaj, esraj, percusion).Additional personnel: Bennie Lee Wallace (tenor saxophone); Zbigniew Siefert (violin); Larry Coryell (acoustic & electric guitars); Elvin Jones (drums); David Earl Johnson (congas, timbales).Producers include: Oregon.Compilation producer: Tom Vickers.Recorded in 1970-1979. Includes liner notes by Sam Graham.Digitally remastered by Jeff Zaraya.It's a cliché to say that a band is "in a class by itself" or "defies categorization," but in the case of Oregon, those aren't empty clichés -- they're statements of fact. Oregon's style of jazz is quite unique; the band has always been difficult to categorize. You could call the 1970s recordings on The Best of the Vanguard Years fusion, but while Oregon was part of the 1970s fusion explosion, no one would mistake their music for the fusion of Miles Davis, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Return to Forever, or the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Oregon's music is calmer and has a certain tranquillity. Its introspective blend of jazz, rock, pop, European classical, folk, and world music (especially Indian ragas) is as recognizable as it is unorthodox. The amazing thing is how organic and natural Oregon's eclecticism sounds; risk-taking classics like "Aurora," "Canyon Song," and "Tide Pool" have held up well over the years and don't sound the least bit pretentious or unnatural. Spanning 1970-1979, this CD illustrates the excellence of Oregon's Vanguard output and is the logical starting point if you're exploring the band's music for the first time. ~ Alex Henderson