My Foolish Heart (Ralph Towner album)

Last updated
My Foolish Heart
My Foolish Heart (Ralph Towner).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 2017 [1]
RecordedFebruary 2016
StudioAuditorio Stelio Molo RSI
Lugano, Switzerland
Genre Jazz
Length40:28
Label ECM
ECM 2516
Producer Manfred Eicher
Ralph Towner chronology
Travel Guide
(2013)
My Foolish Heart
(2017)

My Foolish Heart is a solo album by American guitarist Ralph Towner recorded in February 2016 and released on ECM a year later. [2]

Contents

Production

Towner had long wanted to record the jazz standard, "My Foolish Heart", stating in an interview with National Public Radio "It's one of the first tunes I'd heard that combination of Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian play. So that tune had a lot of meaning for me and was very important for me starting out as a jazz musician." [3] The composition "Blues as in Bley" is dedicated to the jazz pianist Paul Bley who died a month before the recordings. [4] The album also includes two compositions from early Oregon albums: “Shard”, from Music of Another Present Era (1972) and “Rewind”, from Beyond Words (1995).

Reception

The AllMusic review by Matt Collar awarded the album 4 stars, stating, "Ultimately, it's Towner's immense gift for portraying that kind of romantic drama that makes My Foolish Heart such an evocative listening experience." [5]

Will Layman from PopMatters writes "Listeners with a hunger for subtlety will find a feast here, played on classical guitar but in several styles and modes.... Towner is a tiny orchestra unto himself." [6]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]

Track listing

All compositions by Ralph Towner except as indicated
  1. "Pilgrim" - 4:32
  2. "I'll Sing to You" - 4:33
  3. "Saunter" - 5:01
  4. "My Foolish Heart" (Victor Young) - 4:14
  5. "Dolomiti Dance" - 4:24
  6. "Clarion Call" - 4:40
  7. "Two Poets" - 2:05
  8. "Shard" - 0:54
  9. "Ubi sunt" - 1:21
  10. "Biding Time" - 1:29
  11. "Blues as in Bley" - 3:54
  12. "Rewind" - 3:44

Personnel

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References

  1. "My Foolish Heart". ECM .
  2. ECM discography
  3. "Ralph Towner: An Old Hand With A 'Foolish Heart' (And An Unmatched Style)", by Tom Cole, Weekend Edition Saturday, National Public Radio, April 22, 2017 https://www.npr.org/2017/04/22/524937829/ralph-towner-an-old-hand-with-a-foolish-heart-and-an-unmatched-style
  4. "My Foolish Heart". ECM Records. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Collar, Matt Allmusic Review
  6. "Ralph Towner: My Foolish Heart, PopMatters". PopMatters. 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2023-11-14.