I like to call the jazz stylings of Oregon "Granola Jazz". All the members of the original group, Oregon, are incredible musicians. As a group they even exceed their own individual abilities, and create a truly fine, integrated sound. They actually play their own instruments together, there are no synthesizers, and the instruments are a mix of guitar (and occaisionally piano), woodwinds, tablas and an awesome 1700s bass. These guys used to play sitting on the stage with carpets all around, and odds and ends of unique percussion "thingies" along the walls. The music is incredibly intelligent and lively without being at all trite. Oregon defined this style of jazz for the head and heart, especially when they recorded on Vanguard. After the deeply unfortunate and untimely death of Colin Walcott, the dynamics of the group chaged and the music was never the same as it was "back then". That's not to say the new stuff is bad, it is just not the same. If you like Oregon, or if you are willing to try music by many of the origianl members of the Paul Winter Consort, only BETTER, then I strongly suggest that you dive headfirst into this CD. Afterwards, you can buy all the other ones...

I've been an Oregon fan for many years, but especially enjoy the material they produced back in the 1970s when they were on Vanguard Records. This 'best of' collection from that period therefore got my attention quickly when it came out. There are several things that make this an attractive package: material from several of their albums of that time, four previously unreleased cuts, a total time of over 76 minutes, and the material itself, chamber jazz performed by four very highly talented musicians (each of whom made successful individual careers as well). Oregon was one of the main precursors to the 'New Age' genre of music (and their music is regularly played even now on stations programming such material); they could either be very tight and quartet-like at times, or stretch out into long improvisations in concert (I went to one such performance in which the first 'set' consisted of a one hour-long improvisation; it was followed by a break and then a second 'set' in the same format). All this said, I would not personally call the selections on this cd a 'best of' but rather a 'representative of' kind of collection. Surely, for example, "The Silence of a Candle," probably their best known composition, should be on a 'best of' anthology, but it is absent from this one. A few others could be mentioned as well. What one gets here would seem to be more of an effort at exposing the *range* of their music during this period than it is a 'best of' collection, and while that's not a bad idea, one could reasonably ask for, say, a 2-cd set featuring the latter concept. Still, a very good collection, worthy of deliberate listening or Sunday afternoon dallying in front of a blazing fireplace.

Oregon was never the same after the death of Collin Walcott in 1984. But during the Vanguard years (1970-1978), the band produced some of the best music of its career. To simply refer to Oregon as a jazz ensemble is somewhat misleading with its folk and world music influences--especially Indian raga. Each member is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist: Ralph Towner (guitar, piano), Colin Walcott (tabla, sitar, clarinet, dulcimer), Paul McCandless (oboe, English horn, bass clarinet) and Glen Moore (bass, violin, flute, piano). While all of the members composed, Towner and McCandless were the principal songwriters. They occasionally worked with outside musicians. "Charango" is from the 1977 album Together recorded with jazz drummer Elvin Jones. "Serenade" is from the 1977 album Violin, featuring violinist Zbigniew Seifert. "Improvisation on Robert de Visee's Minuet II" is actually from guitarist Larry Coryell's 1974 album The Restful Mind--only Towner, Moore and Walcott appear on this track. This is powerful music and makes a great introduction to the band that had its origins in the Paul Winter Consort in the late Sixties. [My only complaint is that this collection duplicates more than half of the tracks on the equally excellent Essential Oregon from 1987 also on Vanguard and it's still in print!] While Oregon has recorded sporadically since their tenure at Vanguard, these are among the group's best. It was a real treat to upgrade my old vinyl recordings of this amazingly fresh and improvizational group. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED