Stanley Cowell | |
|---|---|
 Cowell playing with the Heath Brothers in Rockefeller Center, June 1977 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | May 5, 1941 Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | December 17, 2020 (aged 79) Dover, Delaware, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Piano |
| Labels | Arista, DIW, Galaxy, SteepleChase, Strata-East |
Stanley Cowell (May 5, 1941 – December 17, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and co-founder of the Strata-East Records label.
Cowell was born in Toledo, Ohio. [1] He began playing the piano around the age of four, and became interested in jazz after seeing Art Tatum at the age of six. [2] Tatum was a family friend. [1]
After high school, Cowell studied classical piano with Emil Danenberg at Oberlin Conservatory of Music [3] He included "Emil Danenberg" in his 1973 suite "Musa: Ancestral Dreams". [4] During his time at Oberlin, he played with jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk, which proved to be formative. [1] He went on to receive a graduate degree in classical piano from the University of Michigan. He moved to New York in the mid-1960s. [1]
Cowell played with Marion Brown, Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, Clifford Jordan, Harold Land, Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz. [5] Cowell played with trumpeter Charles Moore and others in the Detroit Artist's Workshop Jazz Ensemble in 1965–66.
In 1971, Cowell co-founded the record label Strata-East with trumpeter Charles Tolliver. The label would become one of the most successful Black-led, independent labels of its day. [6]
During the late 1980s, Cowell was part of a regular quartet led by J.J. Johnson. [7] Cowell taught in the Music Department of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
On December 17, 2020, Cowell died at Bayhealth Hospital in Dover, Delaware, from hypovolemic shock. He was 79 years old. [8]
| Year recorded | Title | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Blues for the Viet Cong | Freedom | Trio, with Steve Novosel (bass), Jimmy Hopps (drums); also released as Travellin' Man by Black Lion |
| 1969 | Brilliant Circles | Freedom | With Woody Shaw (trumpet, maracas), Tyrone Washington (tenor sax, flute, clarinet, maracas, tambourine), Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone), Reggie Workman (bass, electric bass), Joe Chambers (drums) |
| 1972 | Illusion Suite | ECM | Trio, with Stanley Clarke (bass), Jimmy Hopps (drums) |
| 1972 | Handscapes | Strata-East | As The Piano Choir; with Nat Jones, Hugh Lawson, Webster Lewis, Harold Mabern, Danny Mixon and Sonelius Smith (piano, electric piano, vocals, percussion, African piano, harpsichord) |
| 1973 | Musa: Ancestral Streams | Strata-East | Solo piano, electric piano, kalimba |
| 1974 | Handscapes 2 | Strata-East | As The Piano Choir; with Sonelius Smith (piano, electric piano), Ron Burton, Nat Jones, Hugh Lawson, Webster Lewis and Harold Mabern (piano), Mtume, Jimmy Hopps and John Lewis (percussion) |
| 1975 | Regeneration | Strata-East | With Marion Brown (wooden flute), Jimmy Heath (soprano sax, flute, alto flute), John Stubblefield (zuna), Jerry Venable (guitar), Psyche Wanzandae (harmonica, flute), Bill Lee (bass), Aleke Kanonu (bass drum, vocals), Billy Higgins (drums, gembhre, percussion), Ed Blackwell (water drum, parade drum, percussion), Nadi Quamar (mama-lekimbe, percussion, Madigascan harp), Charles Fowlkes (vocals, electric bass), Glenda Barnes and Kareema (vocals) |
| 1977 | Waiting for the Moment | Galaxy | Solo piano, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer, kalimba |
| 1978? | Talkin' 'bout Love | Galaxy | |
| 1978 | Equipoise | Galaxy | Trio, with Cecil McBee (bass), Roy Haynes (drums) |
| 1981 | New World | Galaxy | |
| 1983 | Such Great Friends | Strata-East | Quartet, with Billy Harper (tenor sax), Reggie Workman (bass), Billy Hart (drums) |
| 1985? | Live at Cafe Des Copains | Unisson | |
| 1987 | We Three | DIW | Trio, with Buster Williams (bass), Frederick Waits (drums) |
| 1989 | Back to the Beautiful | Concord Jazz | One track solo piano; most tracks trio, with Santi Debriano (bass), Joe Chambers (drums); some tracks quartet, with Steve Coleman (alto sax, soprano sax) added |
| 1989 | Sienna | SteepleChase | Trio, with Ron McClure (bass), Keith Copeland (drums) |
| 1990 | Close to You Alone | DIW | Trio, with Cecil McBee (bass), Ronnie Burrage (drums) |
| 1990 | Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Volume Five | Concord Jazz | Solo piano |
| 1990 | Departure No. 2 | SteepleChase | Trio, with Bob Cranshaw (bass), Keith Copeland (drums) |
| 1991 | Games | SteepleChase | Trio, with Cheyney Thomas (bass), Wardell Thomas (drums) |
| 1993 | Bright Passion | SteepleChase | Trio, with Cheyney Thomas (bass), Wardell Thomas (drums) |
| 1993 | Angel Eyes | SteepleChase | Solo piano |
| 1993 | Live at Copenhagen Jazz House | SteepleChase | Trio, with Cheyney Thomas (bass), Wardell Thomas (drums); in concert |
| 1993 | Setup | SteepleChase | Sextet, with Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Dick Griffin (trombone), Rick Margitza (tenor sax), Peter Washington (bass), Billy Hart (drums) |
| 1995 | Mandara Blossoms | SteepleChase | With Billy Pierce (tenor sax), Jeff Halsey (bass), Ralph Peterson (drums), Karen Francis (vocals) |
| 1996 | Hear Me One | SteepleChase | With Bruce Williams (alto sax), Dwayne Burno, Keith Copeland (drums) |
| 1999 | Dancers in Love | Venus | Trio, with Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums) |
| 2007 | Death Is the Communion | 3D | |
| 2010 | Prayer for Peace | SteepleChase | With Mike Richmond, Sunny Cowell, Victor Lewis |
| 2012 | It's Time | SteepleChase | Trio, with Tom DiCarlo (bass), Chris Brown (drums) |
| 2013 | Welcome to This New World | SteepleChase | With Vic Juris (guitar), Tom DiCarlo (bass), Chris Brown (drums) |
| 2014 | Are You Real? | SteepleChase | Trio, with Jay Anderson (bass), Billy Drummond (drums) |
| 2015 | Reminiscent | SteepleChase | Trio, with Jay Anderson (bass), Billy Drummond (drums) |
| 2015 | Juneteenth | Vision Fugitive | Solo piano |
| 2017 | No Illusions | SteepleChase | Quartet, with Bruce Williams (alto sax, flute), Jay Anderson (bass), Billy Drummond (drums) |
| 2020 | At Keystone Korner, Baltimore | SteepleChase | Quintet, with Freddie Hendrix (trumpet), Bruce Williams (alto sax), Tom DiCarlo (bass), Vince Ector (drums), Sunny Cowell (vocal) |
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Considered a virtuoso and one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, and received numerous other awards and honours. He played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, simply "O.P." by his friends, and informally in the jazz community, "the King of inside swing".
Strata-East Records is an American record company and label specialising in jazz founded in 1971 by Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell with the release of their first recording Music Inc. The label released over 50 albums in the 1970s. Many of the label's releases are now hailed as prime examples of 1970s post-bop, spiritual jazz, and afro-jazz.
Harold Mabern Jr. was an American jazz pianist and composer, principally in the hard bop, post-bop, and soul jazz fields. He is described in The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings as "one of the great post-bop pianists".
Billy Hart is an American jazz drummer and educator. He is known internationally for his work with Herbie Hancock's "Mwandishi" band in the early 1970s, as well as with Shirley Horn, Stan Getz, and Quest, among many others.
Bill O'Connell is a jazz pianist, educator, and bandleader. He is most associated with Latin jazz and hard bop. He studied piano at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, but has mostly lived in NYC or Long Island. He teaches jazz piano at Mason Gross School for the Arts at the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University, in New Jersey. He worked with Chet Baker and Sonny Rollins early on in his career. From 1982 to 2017 he has often collaborated and toured with Dave Valentin.
Serenade to a Soul Sister is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1968, featuring performances by Silver with Charles Tolliver, Stanley Turrentine, Bennie Maupin, Bob Cranshaw, John Williams, Mickey Roker and Billy Cobham.
This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1969.
Wendell Morris Logan, was an American jazz and concert music composer who created the jazz department at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Strata is an album by the American jazz pianist Matthew Shipp, recorded in 1997 and released on the Swiss hatOLOGY label.
The Ringer is an album by American jazz trumpeter-composer Charles Tolliver and his quartet Music Inc., recorded in 1969 and released the following year by the British label Polydor Records. The album's US release followed in 1975.
Music Inc. is an album by American jazz trumpeter Charles Tolliver's Music Inc. with a Big Band recorded in 1970 and first released on the Strata-East label.
Live at the Loosdrecht Jazz Festival is a live album by Music Inc. led by American jazz trumpeter Charles Tolliver recorded in 1972 and first released as a double LP on the Strata-East label, later released on CD as Grand Max by the Black Lion label
Live in Tokyo is a live album by the American jazz trumpeter-composer Charles Tolliver and his quartet Music Inc. Their fifth album overall, it was recorded on December 7, 1973, at Yubinchokin Hall in Tokyo during Tolliver and Music Inc.'s first tour of Japan. The quartet – featuring the pianist Stanley Cowell, the bassist Clint Houston, and Clifford Barbaro on drums – played the show in mostly fast tempo and performed three of Tolliver's original compositions, along with a ballad composed by Cowell and the Thelonious Monk standard "'Round Midnight".
Impact is an album by American jazz trumpeter Charles Tolliver's Music Inc. and Orchestra recorded in 1975 and first released on the Strata-East label.
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.
Brilliant Circles is the second album led by American jazz pianist Stanley Cowell, recorded in 1969. It was first released on the Freedom label and rereleased on CD with bonus tracks on the Black Lion label.
Musa: Ancestral Streams is a solo piano album by Stanley Cowell recorded in 1973 and first released on the Strata-East label.
Sonelius Smith is known both for his innovative contributions to jazz as composer and pianist and for his collaborations with some of the late twentieth century's greatest jazz musicians.
Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Volume Five is an album of solo performances by jazz pianist Stanley Cowell, recorded in 1990.
Emil Charles Danenberg was an American concert pianist and music educator in the field of classical music. He was Dean of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music 1970–1975, and president of Oberlin College from 1975 until his death in 1982. He was remembered as an administrator who chose to keep a low profile, seeking to build consensus" and as a "modest man" who was known for his encyclopedic knowledge of the performing arts, international cuisine, and the sports world."
Strata-East Records, a pioneering institution in jazz and the broader Black Arts Movement. It would release a steady run of pathbreaking music over the next decade, becoming one of the most successful Black-run labels of its time.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
