It was not for a lack of talent that Ralph Towner never quite matched the profile of fusion’s elite. Commercially, it could be argued that the Washington-born jazz man, who passed in January at the age of 85, was held back by his chosen instrument.
“I never liked the electric guitar,” he said of his nylon-string leanings in a 1975 interview. “I’m not on an anti-electric campaign or anything. I’m just not drawn to it.”
