ECM Releases Gary Peacock and Ralph Towner’s 1994 Album Oracle on Vinyl as Part of its Audiophile Luminessence Series

ECM’s audiophile vinyl-reissue series Luminessence continues with Gary Peacock and Ralph Towner’s Oracle.

Gary Peacock, Ralph Towner

Oracle

Gary Peacock | double-bass

Ralph Towner | classical guitar, 12-string guitar

ECM 1490

Release LP: January 16, 2026

The Luminessence series is a kaleidoscope, shedding light on the jewels of the label’s deep catalogue in elegant, high-quality editions. The hallmarks of the series: original and evocative music, imaginatively played and sensitively produced. The recordings underline the scope and variety of ECM’s world of sound and the LPs are presented in different formats.

racle, recorded in 1993 and originally released in 1994, captures the first duo meeting between two ECM legends: double bassist Gary Peacock and Ralph Towner on classical and 12-string guitar (another session would follow with 1998’s A Closer View). As Gramophone magazine noted at the time, on the album “Peacock and Towner produce an intellectual intensity” that is “seductively beautiful to listen to.” Tackling each other’s originals, the duo engages in thoughtful interplay that blends composed material with adventurous improvisation seamlessly, creating evocative chamber music dialogues that emphasize the particular sound qualities of their stringed instruments. The album was produced by Manfred Eicher. 

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