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Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992)

Posted By: Designol

Date: 10 May 2024 14:08:52

It might be tempting to dismiss this Ralph Towner effort as New Age fluff, but the music is so gorgeous that any such considerations fall to the wayside. Yet the wayside is precisely where Towner sets his sights, which is to say that his interest lies in edges where musical idioms meet. He explores these lines, not unlike the blotted cover, with an ease of diction at the fret board that is recognizable and comforting. Drummer Peter Erskine shares the bill, but Towner adds a few synth touches for broader effect, as in “The Sigh,” which opens the session in a cleft of fluid energy.

There are two sides to this album. One is resplendent, exemplified in the congregation of 12-string and cymbals that is “Adrift.” This resonant vessel shares waters with “Magic Pouch” and “Alar” (a tympani-infused concoction that is one of Towner’s finest), both of which blossom in a tropical climate and funnel their tide-swept secrets into “Magniola Island.” Any possible tourist traps therein are elided by Towner’s ever-imaginative picking.

The other side comes through Towner’s solos. The jazzy riffs of “Short’n Stout” pair well with the intimate geographies of “Waltz For Debby,” while the blissful “I Fall In Love Too Easily” lobs us into the goodness of “Nightfall.”

Towner is as astute as ever in his execution. Whether it’s a standard or his own musical vision, we get the feeling that everything he plays is an open letter.

Review by Tyran Grillo, ECMReviews.com

Ralph Towner's a difficult case. The snoozy noodlings of his former band Oregon can be downright stupefying, but his solo work is often, though not always, quite a bit more interesting. Open Letter walks both sides of the line, but succeeds more often than it fails. Towner teams up with jazz drummer Peter Erskine on this set, and while guitar and drums may sound like kind of a dry instrumentation, Towner fleshes things out with some synthesizer and Erskine puts electronic percussion to tasteful use. But it's the more traditional fare that is most successful here – while "Magic Pouch," awith its imitation flute, is almost a new age parody, the similarly gentle "Nightfall" hits the spot perfectly, and Towner's solo turn on the Bill Evans classic "Waltz for Debby" is exquisite. In general, Towner seems to do best with standards rather than originals; he acquits himself beautifully on "I Fall in Love Too Easily," but the faux-Spanish modality and synthesized seagull cries of "Alar" sound like muzak for tourists. Other Towner compositions, notably "The Sigh" and "Short 'n Stout," are far more successful.

Review by Rick Anderson, Allmusic.com

Ralph Towner at Allmusic
Ralph Towner Website
Ralph Towner at Wiki

Ralph Towner classical and 12-string guitars, synthesizer
Peter Erskine drums
Recorded July 1991 and February 1992 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Tracklist:

01. The Sigh (5:13)
02. Wishful Thinking (3:58)
03. Adrift (6:10)
04. Infection (3:19)
05. Alar (7:15)
06. Short 'n Stout (3:05)
07. Waltz for Debby (4:16)
08. I Fall in Love Too Easily (4:19)
09. Magic Pouch (5:06)
10. Magnolia Island (4:36)
11. Nightfall (6:27)

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

EAC extraction logfile from 21. January 2009, 22:42

Ralph Towner / Open Letter

Used drive : PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-212D Adapter: 2 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=EAC FLAC -8" %s

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 5:13.20 | 0 | 23494
2 | 5:13.20 | 3:58.20 | 23495 | 41364
3 | 9:11.40 | 6:10.32 | 41365 | 69146
4 | 15:21.72 | 3:18.43 | 69147 | 84039
5 | 18:40.40 | 7:14.60 | 84040 | 116649
6 | 25:55.25 | 3:04.72 | 116650 | 130521
7 | 29:00.22 | 4:16.30 | 130522 | 149751
8 | 33:16.52 | 4:19.05 | 149752 | 169181
9 | 37:35.57 | 5:06.00 | 169182 | 192131
10 | 42:41.57 | 4:35.48 | 192132 | 212804
11 | 47:17.30 | 6:27.05 | 212805 | 241834

Track 1

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\01 - The Sigh.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00

Peak level 78.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 2D0672B2
Copy CRC 2D0672B2
Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 2

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\02 - Wishful Thinking.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.13

Peak level 73.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC FAA5FF51
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 3

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\03 - Adrift.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:06.30

Peak level 97.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 5EC59CAB
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 4

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\04 - Infection.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.57

Peak level 90.7 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 57737E37
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 5

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\05 - Alar.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.48

Peak level 95.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B0A994B5
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 6

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\06 - Short 'n Stout.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:01.68

Peak level 93.2 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC F324F976
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 7

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\07 - Waltz for Debby.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.60

Peak level 79.3 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3D2431BE
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 8

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\08 - I Fall in Love Too Easily.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:03.60

Peak level 85.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C7D26B5E
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 9

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\09 - Magic Pouch.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:05.55

Peak level 97.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C2CB4854
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 10

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\10 - Magnolia Island.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.72

Peak level 97.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 046D473A
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 11

Filename J:\Ralph Towner - Open Letter (1992) [FLAC]\11 - Nightfall.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:05.63

Peak level 97.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 64916D98
Copy CRC 64916D98
Track not present in AccurateRip database
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None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database

No errors occurred

End of status report

DR log

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-05-25 02:28:27

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Ralph Towner / Open Letter
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR14 -2.05 dB -19.10 dB 5:13 01-The Sigh
DR15 -2.73 dB -20.88 dB 3:58 02-Wishful Thinking
DR17 -0.20 dB -20.45 dB 6:10 03-Adrift
DR18 -0.85 dB -23.58 dB 3:19 04-Infection
DR13 -0.38 dB -17.25 dB 7:15 05-Alar
DR14 -0.61 dB -17.75 dB 3:05 06-Short 'n Stout
DR14 -2.01 dB -18.13 dB 4:16 07-Waltz for Debby
DR14 -1.34 dB -19.33 dB 4:19 08-I Fall in Love Too Easily
DR15 -0.20 dB -17.59 dB 5:06 09-Magic Pouch
DR15 -0.20 dB -17.72 dB 4:36 10-Magnolia Island
DR17 -0.20 dB -20.59 dB 6:27 11-Nightfall
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 11
Official DR value: DR15

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 703 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

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