Stanley Cowell RIP...

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

"Michael J. West
@themikewest
I’ve been asked to get the word out about some very sad news.

The great pianist Stanley Cowell passed away this morning at a hospital in Dover, Delaware.

I’ve also been asked to express the family’s desire for privacy for the present."

RIP to a brilliant pianist, the Harold Land/Hutcherson Quintet being just one example.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

WBGO...
"Stanley Cowell, a pianist, composer and educator who demonstrated a vast range of possibilities for jazz over the last 50 years, died on Thursday at Bayhealth Hospital in Dover, Del. He was 79.

The cause was Hypovolemic shock as a result of other health complications, said trumpeter Charles Tolliver, one of Cowell’s closest musical associates.

“Stanley invented pathways for the piano,” Jason Moran, among his pianistic heirs, attested in a post on Instagram. “Many times his two hands sounded as if they were six. The drums in the left hand, the strings or guitar in the middle, the horns and the voice up high, the kalimba down below.”

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Stanley Cowell, feature at Newark:

http://youtu.be/E1M-pbuSN2g

[Ian Thumwood]

"Michael J. West
@themikewest
I’ve been asked to get the word out about some very sad news.

The great pianist Stanley Cowell passed away this morning at a hospital in Dover, Delaware.

I’ve also been asked to express the family’s desire for privacy for the present."

RIP to a brilliant pianist, the Harold Land/Hutcherson Quintet being just one example.

I am really saddened to hear this news. He was a great pianist and I was fortunate enough to hear him perform live as a member of Logan Richardson's quartet several years ago. He had retired from teaching and the European tour was a rare excursion across the Atlantic for him. It was an amazingly edgy gig and seem to recollect that the other members of the band were Tarus Mateen and Nasheet Waits. He played the large grand piano in the club at Vienne but had some sort of electronic device he played that was placed above the keyboard which was occasionally used to manipulate the sound on some of the numbers. For me, the kind of jazz this quartet played really separated the men from the boys and they really pushed the music to the edge. Hearing this kind of jazz performed live really underscores what the music is about and as an acoustic set, the music eschewed any modishness which set it aside from many of the other bands who were performing. Hearing musicians of the generation of Stanley Cowell is a benchmark for assessing the succeeding generation of musicians and makes you appreciate just how good Cowell and his contemporaries are. As well as working in a jazz context, he also composed operas and I believe was largely responsible for the Strata-East record label.

After the gig the musicians mingled with the audience and I had a long conversation with him afterwards. I usually am wary about talking to musicians after gigs. In this instance, I would have to say that he was an absolute gent and really affable. Of the dozen or so jazz musicians I have met, I think he was one of the most friendly and was genuinely interested to know whether I played an instrument. I can recall chatting about Herbie Nichols with him as he was also a fan. It is great when you meet someone you admire as a musician and then find out that they are pleasant person too. He was genuine as both a human and a performer.

RIP

[Jazzrook]

Very sad news.
'Equipoise' was my favourite composition of his from Max Roach's 1968 album 'Members Don't Git Weary' with Gary Bartz, Charles Tolliver, Stanley Cowell & Jymie Merritt:

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=DAy3ctBgdck

RIP

[Serial_Apologist]

I used to have more Stanley Cowell than I do now - probably on lent out albums that were never returned. Fantastic, very versatile musician. I was wanting to link to the 1972 version of the 12-bar Cal Massey with Stanley Clarke and Jimmy Hopps I taped off JRR, many yonks ago, for his extraordinary improvisation, in contrary motion throughout - the left hand an exact mirror inversion of the right. I mean, it would have taken JS Bach some time to have worked that out on paper!! But it was recorded on ECM, and so, of course..... Part of the "Illusion Suite".

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

SC talking about first meeting Monk and Phineas, and the latter's left/right hand octaves...

http://youtu.be/Qxa9HRkjvlI

As Ian says, he does seem like a very nice guy. And listening again to some of his compositions, there's a quality to them reminiscent of Elmo Hope, although I'm not suggesting any direct influence. Wonderful stuff.

[Serial_Apologist]

SC talking about first meeting Monk and Phineas, and the latter's left/right hand octaves...

http://youtu.be/Qxa9HRkjvlI

As Ian says, he does seem like a very nice guy. And listening again to some of his compositions, there's a quality to them reminiscent of Elmo Hope, although I'm not suggesting any direct influence. Wonderful stuff.

Thanks for that link, Bluesie - his recalling of Monk's rebuff probably has many of us recalling moments when in making comparisons we've dropped testimonials! Me comparing Chris Biscoe's alto playing to Anthony Braxton's: "Yes, a few people have said that - I don't actually like Anthony Braxton's playing very much"! Ian Carr's reference to Ron Carter as "anchoring" Miles's band in the 1960s!

Chris and I remain "good friends".

[Joseph K]

For me, the kind of jazz this quartet played really separated the men from the boys

I am intrigued by what you mean by this expression; surely not this for example - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAIKgz6pRlA

[Ian Thumwood]

Here is the obituary from Jazztimes which is interesting. I did not appreciate that he started off performing with Marion Brown. Seems that his career was kickstarted by Max Roach...

https://jazztimes.com/features/tributes-and-obituaries/stanley-cowell-1941-2020/

[Tenor Freak]

Stanley Cowell's contributions to the Hutcherson-Land group (one of my favourite groups in all of jazz) were immense. RIP.

[Jazzrook]

Obituary by John Fordham:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jan/05/stanley-cowell-obituary

JR

[Tenor Freak]

And I totally forgot Cowell's involvement with Strata/East.