''Solstice'' is an album by American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

guitarist

Ralph Towner Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn. Biography Towner was born i ...

recorded in December 1974 and released on

ECM ECM may refer to the following: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...

the following year. The ''Solstice'' quartet features saxophonist

Jan Garbarek Jan Garbarek () (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Østfold, southeastern Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław Gar ...

and rhythm section

Eberhard Weber Eberhard Weber is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, he is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing. Weber's compositions blend chamber jazz, European classical music, minimalism and ambient music, and are regarded ...

and Jon Christensen.

In popular culture

The American hip hop group

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

used a sample of Jon Christensen's drum introduction to "Piscean Dance" on a track called "Shoes", which features on their 2003 album ''

Seven's Travels ''Seven's Travels'' is the third studio album by the Minneapolis hip hop group Atmosphere, their first and only for Epitaph. It was released on September 23, 2003. "Trying to Find a Balance" and "National Disgrace" were released as singles and m ...

''.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

awarded the album with 4.5 stars and its review by Michael G. Nastos states: "Of the many excellent recordings he has offered, Solstice is Towner's crowning achievement as a leader fronting this definitive grouping of ECM stablemates who absolutely define the label's sound for the time frame, and for all time".Nastos, M. G. Allmusic Review: ''Solstice''accessed 10 March 2010

Track listing

Personnel

Solstice

– 12-string and classical guitar, piano *

– tenor and soprano saxophone, flute *

– bass, cello * Jon Christensen – drums, percussion

References

{{Authority control 1975 albums ECM Records albums Ralph Towner albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher