Stanley Cowell (05/05/41 – 1712/20)

In an age when there are many musician-led labels and self-productions it is easy to overlook how great a debt is owed to pioneers. Pianist-composer Stanley Cowell, who has died at the age of 79, deserves a double accolade for co-founding the legendary imprint Strata-East as well as creating a superlative songbook that contains timeless compositions such as ‘Blues For The Viet Cong’, ‘Effi’ and ‘Equipoise’, all of which exerted great charm through their yearning, wistful lyricism and harmonic finesse. 

Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1941 Cowell began playing piano as a child, going on to study at the renowned Oberlin College and University of Michigan before relocating to New York in the mid 1960s. Thereafter his career went from strength to strength as he became a highly-rated sideman for stars such as Sonny Rollins, Harold Land, Marion Brown and Max Roach. Cowell’s contribution to Roach’s classic 1969 set Members, Don’t Get Weary was significant insofar as the quality of his writing as well as playing really shone through – pieces such as ‘Abstrutions’ and the aforesaid ‘Effi’ were highlights of a small group performance that saw Cowell joined by trumpeter Charles Tolliver, his ‘alter ego’.

After working with the Detroit Artists Workshop, the two men later founded Strata-East, and the imprint recorded such luminaries as Clifford Jordan, Billy Harper, Charles Rouse, and Gil Scott-Heron, as well as Cowell and Tolliver. Along with Black Jazz and Tribe the label formed a holy trinity of musician-run operations that were influential in the 1990s and millennium for both the beauty of the music recorded and the abundance of breaks supplied to the rhythm hungry hip-hop generation. Cowell’s specific contribution to the dynamic new producer culture was epitomized by the gorgeously ethereal kalimba riff he played on the Heath Brothers’ ‘Smilin’ Billie Suite (Part 1)’, which was sampled by Q-Tip for Nas’ ‘One Love’, and undoubtedly stands as one of the killin’est of killer beats.

As well as managing the label and clocking up numerous sessions as a sideman Cowell found time to record several excellent solo projects such as Brilliant Circles and Illusion Suite, a fine trio album featuring bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Jimmy Hopps (that was issued by ECM), Musa-Ancestral Streams, Talkin’ Bout Love and New World. He also went on to become a highly respected teacher at the Mason Gross School Of The Arts at Rutgers University. New Jersey, and nonetheless continued to record regularly for labels such as Steeplechase in the 2010s. His many releases include Welcome To The New World, Are You Real? and No Illusions. 

The Strata-East reunion gig (pictured above) at the Barbican, London in 2015 gave British audiences a chance to take stock of just how distinctive a composer and player Cowell was, as his bluesy touch was tinged with a delicacy and attention to detail that also reflected his affinity for chamber and ambient music. He will be greatly missed for his warm, genial personality as well as gliding melodies such as the deeply graceful ‘Maimoun.’