- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRalph Norman Towner
- Ralph Towner was born on March 1, 1940 in Chehalis, Washington, USA. He was a composer, known for Cruising (1980), Another Life (1992) and And So Farewell (2021). He was married to Mariella Lo Sardo and Janet Lee Baxter. He died on January 18, 2026 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
- SpousesMariella Lo Sardo(1994 - January 18, 2026) (his death)Janet Lee Baxter(October 14, 1965 - February 5, 1981) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenCeleste Annabelle Towner
- ParentsMilo Sylvester TownerBernice Beryl Caverly
- RelativesArdeth Ann Towner (Overbay)(Sibling)Leland Wayne Towner(Sibling)Loyst Milo Towner(Sibling)Lucile June 'Ione' Towner (Jorgensen)(Sibling)
- An American composer and multi-instrumentalist.
- Joined world music pioneer Paul Winter's "Consort" ensemble in the late 1960s.
- Mother was a piano teacher and his father a trumpet player.
- Along with bandmates Paul McCandless, Glen Moore, and Collin Walcott, Towner left the Winter Consort in 1970 to form the group Oregon, which over the course of the 1970s issued a number of influential records mixing folk music, Indian classical forms, and avant-garde jazz-influenced free improvisation.
- Studied classical guitar at the Vienna Academy of Music with Karl Scheit from 1963 to 1964 and 1967-68.
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