Innate inside 1940 within Chehalis, Washington, Towner is one of the virtually all variously gifted musicians of the preceding half-century, & has manufactured notable recordings of jazz, classical music, folk music, and world music. He began his career as a conservatory-trained definitive guitar player, so joined globe music pioneer Paul Winter's "Consort" ensemble in the late 1960s. Along by owning bandmates Paul McCandless, Glen Moore, and Collin Walcott, Towner left a Winter Consort around 1970 to form a class action Oregon, which over the course of the Seventies issued a total of extremely influential records mixing ethnic music, Indian classical forms, and avant-garde jazz-influenced free improvisation. At a equivalent instance, Townsman began a longstanding relationship by owning the influential ECM record label, which has released most of his non-Oregon recordings since his 1972 debut as a leader Trios/Solos. Townsman has likewise mass produced many appearances as a sideman, possibly virtually all famously in jazz fusion heavyweights Weather Report's 1972 album I Sing a Person Electric car.

Unlike virtually all jazz guitar player, Townsman eschews amplification, using just 6-string nylon-string & 12-string steel-string guitars. Following, he tends to keep away from high-volume musical environments, preferring little groups of mostly acoustical instruments that emphasize moral force & class action interplay. Two sustaining Oregon & as a solo creative person, Townsman has mass produced important utilise of overdubbing, allowing him to play piano (or even synthesizer) & guitar in the equivalent track; his virtually all notable have of the system come on his 1974 album Diary, where he plays guitar-piano duets sustaining himself in virtually all of the album's Octonary tracks. In the Eighties, Townsman began using the Prophet Five synthesizer fairly extensively, however has since deemphasized his synthesizer & piano swimming in favour guitar.

Townsman's musical activity has been somewhat reduced since a late 1990s, owing to his relocation to Sicily.

Major Collaborators
Oregon Marc Johnson Jan Garbarek Eberhard Weber John Abercrombie Gary Burton Gary Peacock

Notable Recordings as a Leader
Trios/Solos (1972)--co-leader by having Glen Moore Diary (1974) Solstice (1974) Sargasso Sea (1976)--co-leader by having John Abercrombie Solo Concert (1979) Anthem (2001)

For the names of major Oregon recordings, please consult the class action's entry.