One of my greatest disappointments in life is that I never saw Ralph Towner in concert. He died today in Rome. There are many places online where you can get the details of his life and career and I even have a Spotify playlist with much of his music and music that is sympathetic to it.

This one composition in particular I find so beautiful it makes me weep:

Ralph showed up in three of my FLEXIBLE MIND poems. A manuscript of meditations which was completed about a year ago and has not been published, except for a few poems in different publications. I offer them to honor this native Cascadian and one of the most impressive musical improvisors who has ever lived.