Towner Ralph: My foolish heart 2017

My Foolish Heart is the latest solo album by master guitarist Ralph Towner, recorded at Lugano"'s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in February 2016, and produced by Manfred Eicher. Solo music is an important thread through Towner"'s rich discography. Diary was the title he gave to his first ECM solo album back in 1973 and each of his solo albums since then - the list includes Solo Concert, Ana, Anthem, and Time Line - has had a special autobiographical, diary-like character. The solo music is where one can see most clearly the inspirational strands informing Towner"'s music. He alludes to this in the performer"'s note introducing the new album, his first solo disc in a decade: """'My Foolish Heart"', the title song of this album had an immeasurable impact on my musical life, as it did with many of my colleagues in the world of jazz and improvisation. The seminal version, played by Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian set me on a course to try to attain the magic of this trio in my own attempts to play the piano, and later, on the classical guitar which became my principal instrument. I needed to know how it felt to inhabit such a reverent musical space. So, many years later, I"'ve decided to pay a visit to this song and include it among a variety of my own pieces. I hope I"'ve continued to use the inspiration I gained from that first encounter in all the music I play.""