Towner and Moore had been friends and occasional collaborators since meeting in 1960 as students at the University of Oregon. By 1969, both were working musicians living in New York; while collaborating with folksinger Tim Hardin they were introduced to world music pioneer Paul Winter's "Consort" ensemble, particularly member Collin Walcott, with whom Towner began improvising as an informal duo. By 1970 Towner and Moore had joined the Winter Consort and met fellow member McCandless; the four began exploring improvisation on their own, while their contributions continued to be seminal in redefining the Winter Consort "sound" in compositions like Towner's "Icarus". The four musicians made their first group recording in 1970, but the label, Increase Records, went out of business before it could be released. Oregon made its "formal" debut in NYC in 1971. The group's first release Music of Another Present Era was issued on Vanguard in 1972. With those initial recordings and the follow-ups Distant Hills and Winter Light , Oregon established itself as one of the leading improvisational groups of its day, blending Indian and Western classical music with jazz, folk, space music and avant-garde elements. The group released numerous albums on Vanguard throughout the 1970s, also making three records for Elektra/Asylum between 1978 and 1980. After a couple years' hiatus devoted to individual projects, the group reassembled, recording for ECM, releasing the eponymous Oregon in 1983 and Crossing in 1984. Before the latter's release, however, during a 1984 tour Walcott was killed in an automobile accident in the former East Germany. Oregon temporarily disbanded, but regrouped in May 1985 at a memorial concert for Walcott in NYC, with Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu sitting in. In 1986 Gurtu was invited to join Oregon; the band resumed touring and released three albums during his five years as a member. After Trilok Gurtu's departure, the group continued as a trio, issuing two albums during that period. The 1997 album Northwest Passage marked a return to the inclusion of percussion, featuring either drummer Mark Walker or Turkish Armenian percussionist Arto Tunçboyacıyan on most tracks; subsequently, Walker was taken on as a full member. In 1999 the ensemble traveled to Moscow, Russia to record with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, premiering orchestral compositions that had been in development for years, some dating back to their first days with the Winter Consort; that project's 2000 release Oregon in Moscow garnered four Grammy nominations. 2002 saw the release of Live at Yoshi's, recorded in San Francisco, the first live Oregon recording in two decades. In March 2015, it was announced that Glen Moore was departing from the group, with bassist Paolino Dalla Porta replacing him. As of 2019, Oregon has no further plans to exist as a touring ensemble.
