Illusion Suite (album)

Illusion Suite
Studio album by Stanley Cowell Trio
Released	1973
Recorded	November 29, 1972
Studio	Sound Ideas Studio New York City
Genre	Jazz
Label	ECM 1026 ST
Producer	Manfred Eicher
Stanley Cowell chronology
Handscapes (1973) Illusion Suite (1973) Musa: Ancestral Streams (1974)

Illusion Suite is an album by the Stanley Cowell Trio recorded on November 29, 1972 and released on ECM the following year. The trio features rhythm section Stanley Clarke and Jimmy Hopps. ^[1]

Reception

The AllMusic review by Andrew Hamilton rated the album 4 stars, stating: "Cowell and Clarke display amazing technique ... and Hopps' impressionistic drumming is head clearing.... Hopps plays as if he has four hands with a drumstick in each, Cowell's rolling piano chords are matched in fever by Clarke's bass work." ^[2]

DownBeat assigned the album 4.5 stars. ^[3] Will Smith called Cowell eclectic, "Perhaps the most enchanting element of his style is the gorgeous and telling use he makes of dissonance as a tension-builder". ^[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[4]
DownBeat	[3]

Track listing

All compositions by Stanley Cowell

1. "Maimoun" - 7:47
2. "Ibn Mukhtarr Mustapha" - 4:49
3. "Cal Massey" - 6:06
4. "Miss Viki" - 5:22
5. "Emil Danenberg" - 8:29
6. "Astral Spiritual" - 7:38

Personnel

Stanley Cowell Trio

• Stanley Cowell – piano
• Stanley Clarke – bass
• Jimmy Hopps – drums

References

1. ECM discography, accessed January 6, 2015.
2. Hamilton, A. Allmusic Review, accessed January 6, 2015.
3. Smith, Will (March 28, 1974). "Reviews. Stanley Cowell. Illusion Suite". DownBeat . 41 (6): 24.
4. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide . USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp.  52. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.