FunkFreak75 Recorded in December of 1974 in Oslo's Arne Bendiksen Studio with Jan Erik Kongshaug sitting behind the engineering console, it was released during the following year by ECM--perhaps as late as September. Many consider this album as a defining moment--even one the crowning achievements--of Manfred Eicher's ECM label. A1. "Oceanus" (10:58) a very cool, very fresh sound with Jon Christensen and Ralph Towner keeping busy on their respective instruments while Eberhard Weber almost drones away on his bowed electric bass (or cello) and Jan Garbarek fills the front with periodic exhalations from his sonorous tenor sax. The quartet amps up the intensity and volume a bit in the fifth minute before Ralph enters into a jazzy 12-string solo. I'm hard pressed to tell you whether or not the syncopated rhythm 12-string work is the same track with Ralph playing it all at once or whether there is a completely separate track dedicated explicitly to each (lead and rhythm). Jon Christensen's infinitely-nuanced cymbal and snare work is so patiently deployed, responding to Ralph's guitar work that it almost feels as if the two were joined at the brain. And Jan and Eberhard's contributions are so respectful, so reactive and ego-less. (I think that would be the quality I can claim to like best with regards to Jan's saxophone playing: his patient response to both external and internal "calls to action.") Brilliant and enjoyable song despite lacking much in the way of melody. (Weird to think that Eberhard's drone-like bass notes may have been the most melodic in the song--at least in terms of a Western sensibility of what is "melodic.") (18/20)

A2. "Visitation" (2:32) an exercise in Nature and primordial recreation. (4.333/5) A3. "Drifting Petals" (6:56) Ralph on solo piano playing a playful, gentle, introspective pastoral tune is joined in the second minute by Jan's flute. In the third minute, drums, reverberated fretless electrified bass, and Ralph's 12-string guitar step forward to creepy-crawl an exercise in hypervigilance--one that each of these ECM masters are completely up to task. The whole-band dynamic interplay in the fifth minute--both loud and soft--provides a real emotional peak. And the return to gentle piano arpeggi and guitar flute for the final minute is a display of sheer perfection in symmetry. (13.75/15)

B1. "Nimbus" (6:25) here is where I see fodder and inspiration for Pat Metheny's own solo acoustic guitar work. My favorite song on the album: it's absolutely gorgeous music. After 2:30 of exquisite solo acoustic guitar work the band is slowly coaxed into joining Ralph: first Jan's flute, then a slow entry of Jon' beautifully nuanced drumming, along with more tracks of Ralph's guitars and two tracks of Eberhard: one on bowed cello and one on upright double bass. Once full speed has been reached Ralph's awesome 12-string play is met face-to-face with Eberhard's dynamic double bass play and the entry of Jan's perfectly-balancing tenor sax. I don't always like Jan's work (or that of any saxophonist) but this is amazing--and powerful! Great, rousing band interplay over the course of those final couple minutes. Wonderful music even acoustic musicians can make thanks to the magic of multi-tracking! (10/10)

B2. "Winter Solstice" (3:58) Ralph playing near-Spanish style classical guitar with Jan meeting and matching him all along the way with his soprano sax. Man! These two are so in sync--so attuned! And both are definitely putting their full virtuosity on full display. Though I'm not such a fan of the melodies chosen/played by the two, I am so incredibly impressed by their astonishing timing in conveying them that I can't help but be won over. Standing ovations for this one! (9.75/10)

B3. "Piscean Dance" (3:33) funk in acoustic jazz?!? Jon Christensen and Ralph are definitely trying their best to demonstrate its possibility! Definitely a song that both impresses and endears both artists to me even more. (9.3333/10)

B4. "Red And Black" (1:12) electric guitar, volume-controlled whale sounds from Eberhard's electrified bass, and Ralph's acoustic guitar explorations--all coming together as if purely intended as an exploration of a certain sound possibility. (4.375/5)

B5. "Sand" (4:07) droning (and, probably, heavily-effected) sustained bowed cello notes joined by double bass notes with soprano sax splatterings and, eventually, Jon's funky drum play and effected 12-string guitar strums and gentle pickings all come together to create a sound palette that sounds remarkably similar to that which Corrado Rustici, Elio D'Anna, Percy Jones, Renato Rosset, and Narada Michael Walden will be creating for their 1976 NOVA album, Vimana. (9.33333/10)

Total Time: 40:57

I am emotionally and mentally blown away by the music Ralph and his virtuosic friends (and Manfred Eicher's production crew at ECM) have created for this album!

A/five stars; a masterpiece of some of the finest, most creative guitar-centered acoustic jazz you are likely to ever hear.

Steve Wyzard KALEIDOSCOPIC

What could Ralph Towner possibly have to add to his deep catalog after 40+ years with ECM Records? Plenty, it turns out, and while some may grumble about the 40:28 running time, My Foolish Heart is proof positive that his unfettered guitar greatness has not even remotely diminished with age.

Towner's albums (even in the CD age) have never run long, and have rarely included a liner note like this one does. He tells us that the title track (and the Evans/LeFaro/Motian version in particular) had an "immeasurable impact" upon his formation as a musician, and that he "decided to pay a visit" to this "reverent musical space". It's one of the album's true highlights, and the only cover version among the other eleven which are his own compositions.

Long-time listeners will recognize all of the classic Towner trademarks, from the angular, jagged lines of "Pilgrim" to the unbridled vigor of "Rewind". Everything is played with an effortless authority, and the impressionistic "wide-open-spaces-under-a-wild-sky" atmosphere is always present. This is familiar, well-trodden ground, but Towner's intuitive intellect always gives us something original and he continues to turn new pages. The relentless subtlety of "Dolomiti Dance" is this album's stunner, but don't overlook the haunting nostalgia of "I'll Sing For You" or the searching ruminations of the shorter pieces. "Saunter", the longest track at 5:01, begins whimsically, but soon ventures toward probing bent notes and intense slides that are truly awe-inspiring.

Yet another Towner trademark is to be found in the closing flourishes he uses to wrap up his performances, almost as if he's letting the audience know, "we're done now". There's nothing in the kaleidoscopic sound-world of My Foolish Heart to indicate he's anywhere near to being "done". This album can stand head-and-shoulders next to anything else he's ever recorded without any qualifications. The ECM recording is, as always, pristine.

Steve Wyzard INCOMPARABLE LIGHT AND SHADE

With the passage of time, the trumpet has become increasingly important to ECM Records. Following in the footsteps of Tomasz Stanko and Enrico Rava, we are here introduced to Paolo Fresu, who has led many ensembles and recorded many albums (available as imports) in his native Italy. For his first widely distributed release in he western hemisphere, he is paired with long-time ECM recording artist/guitar virtuoso Ralph Towner. The two met at a festival in Italy, and decided to perform and record together as a duo.

So when was the last time you heard a guitar/trumpet duet? This album works brilliantly on every level despite taking a risk with an unusual pairing. While this is mostly reflective, introspective, meditative music, there is also way too much happening with both performers for it to remain placidly in the background. Towner, who has played on many of ECM's greatest albums (Matchbook, Solstice, Solo Concert, et al), contributes fleet-fingered picking on "Punta Giara", double-tracks a baritone guitar on "Sacred Place" and "Doubled Up", and recaptures throughout the classical/jazz/world/folk sound he has given us since the early 1970s. Fresu plays both trumpet and flugelhorn, and his tone has just enough sharp edges (especially on the title track) to avoid being dismissed as a smooth impressionist. He performs a muted tribute to Miles Davis on "Blue in Green", which receives a very different arrangement from Towner's cover with Gary Burton on 1986's Slide Show album. Chiaroscuro closes with two brief but haunting improv pieces, "Two Miniatures" and "Postlude".

It all sounds "very ECM", and one wonders why this instrumental pairing hasn't been attempted before (or if it has, why so rarely). At 46:43, the idea is not overworked and never drifts into aimless repetitiveness. Outstanding recording and booklet graphics, as always, are a given with ECM. Highly recommended for late-night listening, and for those looking for something different.

Steve Wyzard Transcendent!

Back in the early 1970's, the ECM Records motto "The Most Beautiful Sound Next To Silence" was never so eloquently captured and epitomized than on this album. It's one of the greatest moments in both Ralph Towner's and Gary Burton's extensive catalogs dating back to the 1960's. Those looking for the avant-garde and envelope-pushing sounds found on many other ECM recordings from this time are advised to look elsewhere. This is the anthemic, thought-provoking "chamber jazz" that made ECM the success story it still is today.

From the utter stillness of "Drifting Petals" and "Some Other Time", to the humorous title track (where Towner achieves a fuzzy buzzing sound by inserting a matchbook - thus the title - into his guitar strings on the fretboard), to Oregon covers "Icarus" and "Aurora", to the experimental solo pieces "Brotherhood" and "1 x 6", this album is staggeringly inspired and has no weak moments. If a quiet Sunday afternoon could be set to music, this album would be it. Highest of all possible recommendations, and one of the best examples of the highly-vaunted "ECM sound".

chris s Blue Sun marked the beginning of the 1980's for Ralph Towner. All instruments played by the multi instrumentalist but the classical guitar and 12 strings having the most impact. The opener Blue Sun is a beautiful moody song where his guitar work perfectly depicts the sun in all it's glory. Towner always has an inept skill at replicating climate and seasonal atmospheres to his musical pieces. The follow up " The Prince and The Sage" is another highlight to the album where his instruments play off against one another perfectly to create a lovely song. " C.T. Kangaroo" has always perplexed me, maybe it is Ralph Towner just having a bit of fun but the song is largely a throw away piece yet with clever interplays. My personal favourite is " Wedding of the Streams" where he evokes a cacophany of streaming rivulets of water all babbling in harmony at once. A truly elvish sounding piece :-). " Rumours of Rain" the closer is a brooding, slow, dark song. I am not sure whether it is titled from the anti apartheid novelist Andre Brink's book of the same name. If so one can definitely associate and relate to the sombre mood of this length song. In summary a great album and almost a four star work but as this reviewer prefers to round down I am going to give this album a solid three and a half stars.