This 1978 release from Kenny Wheeler features four original extended tunes by the trumpeter backed by an ECM dream team: Jan Garbarek, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, with special guest Ralph Towner sitting in on 12-string guitar on one song.

Oregon emerged in 1970 as a splinter band from the Paul Winter Consort. Its members each had experience in jazz, classical, and a variety of non-western musical styles, and were also multi-instrumentalists.

An international summit meeting, “Travel Guide” features US guitarist Ralph Towner, Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, and Kazakhstan-born and Australia-raised guitarist Slava Grigoryan. Towner has been a key ECM recording artist for more than 40 years, while Muthspiel and Grigoryan make label debuts here. Grigoryan is well known as the preeminent Australian classical guitarist of his generation, and Muthspiel’s been an important figure on the transatlantic jazz scene for two decades, with his own bands and as a contributor to groups of Gary Burton, Paul Motian and many others. What all three guitarists share is a strong feeling for structure, a sense for lyrical improvisation and a feeling for space, harnessing instrumental technique to very graceful musical ends. Repertoire features five compositions by Towner, and five by Muthspiel.

In 1976, guitarists Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie teamed up for a duet session, Sargasso Sea, that was released under Abercrombie's name. Five years later, they made this ECM date. One can easily tell the two guitarists apart, since Abercrombie mostly plays electric and has a more forceful sound, while Towner's solos are usually more introverted. They perform three of Towner's songs, a pair of Abercrombie originals, and three collaborations. Although the interaction tends to be fairly quiet, there is a lot of subtle passion.

Considered one of Ralph Towner's greatest albums, this 1975 release features the guitarist leading a quartet consisting of Jan Garbarek on saxophones and flute, Eberhard Weber on bass and cello and drummer Jon Christensen. Towner composed all the songs except for one contribution from Weber.