Out of the Woods/Roots in the Sky

Out of the Woods/Roots in the Sky

Category: (Music)

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Customer Reviews

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Reviewed by M. Blackwell, 2007-12-02

I 1st heard of these guys in the early 70's from listening to Paul Winter. As an acoustic guitar player starting in the early '70's I was amazed at the sound these guys made. To me, Raplh Towner is one of a kind...and this band as a whole is unsurpassed in their creative and groundbreaking work with their respective instruments...My 1st album from Oregon was "Out of the Woods" followed shortly thereafter with "Roots in the Sky". A recent trip through my album collection lead me on a search for those 2 albums released as a cd but that search led me into a dead end as far as digital Oregon...I'm sooooo happy to have found these cd/s last month and will be ordering more tonight.

Own This!!!

Reviewed by J. Polak, 2007-11-20

This is some of the greatest music ever made! If you are looking for a description I can only say that this is acoustic music that should not be forced into a particular bin. It's just somthing you have to hear.

Great news: Oregon's Finest 2 albums re-released in a single 2-CD set.

Reviewed by J. Winokur, 2007-08-07

Knowing almost nothing 25 years ago of this most interesting vein of jazz, I bought Out of the Woods leafing through an jazz LP bin just for fun. as an LP based on its beautiful cover, thinking "If this sounds like how it looks, this will be a find!" It did, and was!

Oregon's musicians are each virtuosos in their own right, and the combination is exhilarating. This group combines Ralph Towner's classical guitar/piano, Collin Walcott's sitar/tabla, Paul McCandless' oboe and other winds, and Glen Moore's fine bass. Their disciplined, complex music shows better than anything I've ever heard that passionate and cerebral are hardly mutually exclusive! Don't dare confuse this with tepid "new age"! This music has far more complexity and fire.

And these two albums, released in close sequence those many years ago, are among Oregon's finest work. Witchi Tai To, from Out of the Woods, is my favorite. Like some other Oregon pieces, it has a rootsy element, and a touch of the sacred, drawing from Native American music, and then stoked by these players -- and especially Walcott's sitar and tabla. Both albums are full of other highlights, strikingly original, challenging and compelling. It was no surprise when, some years after the release of these two albums, Oregon released some albums on the ECM label, which has become the epicenter of so much of this burgeoning, more abstract, cerebral yet passionate "chamber jazz that does not swing." (Perhaps the most celebrated of ECM's early, path-breaking releases in this idiom is the Gary Burton-Chick Corea classic, Crystal Silence. Crystal Silence has spawned a lovely recent release, The New Crystal Silence)

The late Collin Walcott's Sitar/Tabla added intrigue to many earlier Oregon albums. Trilok Gurtu (e.g., Izzat: The Remix Album) subbed, adding a special fire for a few years after Walcott's untimely and tragic death. In 2000, Oregon's music was given an enthusiastic orchestral adaptation in a memorable two-disk collection performed by Oregon with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra. Oregon in Moscow (The Burton-Corea, New Crystal Silence release, noted above, resonates with this unique Oregon release in using the symphonic setting for one of its 2 discs.) Otherwise, while lacking the eastern cast Walcott and then Gurtu injected with sitar and tabla, Oregon has become an extraordinary quartet with the addition of drummer percussionist Mark Walker. All Oregon albums are thrilling, but for me these are the best of the best!

Excellent combos

Reviewed by Luc Archambault, 2007-07-12

These albums are a superb value for Jazz amateur. I discovered Roots in the sky which is as great as Out of the Wood. It's a Must to Have!

Do buy this for great music, but not for sonic upgrade

Reviewed by oregonian, 2007-06-30

Everybody should know by now how great these records are. I own the Discovery-issued of each, and bought this on the promise/assumption of better sound...I personally don't feel that the sound is better. In fact I don't believe I can discern any real difference(s). If you own the earlier issue, you might still buy this to satisfy your curiousity, and then I suggest doing the right thing: give it away to turn someone on to this great music.