In January 1984, I got two free tickets from Stanford student radio station KZSU and went with my friend Paul Baer to a concert at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco by guitarists Ralph Towner (1940-2026) and John Abercrombie. Along with another Great American Music Hall concert later that spring by Towner's band Oregon, this concert made me a fan of live jazz. I saw Towner at least ten times in all: in that duo with Abercrombie, with Oregon, and in solo performances, most recently on 12 May 2017 in Basel. I particularly love his two duo albums with bassist Gary Peacock, "Oracle" (1994) and "A Closer View" (1998). (Andrew Shields, #111words, 19 January 2026)