Equipose (1978, Galaxy Records)
Stanley Cowell, Piano; Cecil McBee, Bass; Roy Haynes, Drums
Equipoise
Musa and Maimoun
Dave’s Chant
At the end of 2020, we got the sad news that the pianist Stanley Cowell died on December 17th at the age of 79. Excellent obits by Nate Chinen and Giovanni Russonello are recommended and are very informative about Cowell’s life and his music.
An important key to Cowell’s art is apparent on his first record date, Marion Brown’s Three for Shepp. The album is a prime example of the fire of the mid sixties avant grade, full of dissonant energy. On the tune Spooks, the young Cowell takes the first solo and immediately breaks into stride piano, channeling Art Tatem amidst the maelstrom. You can listen to it here. On his only other solo from this date (the tune Delicado) he plays Cecil Taylor-like runs that were more current for 1966. Right from the beginning Cowell demonstrates that he embraces new progressive music making, but also brings the chops, knowledge and taste from the jazz tradition. Cowell is one of music’s most complete musicians.
Cowell made a number of impressive records that demonstrate this simultaneous embrace of the past and the future. Most prominent is his incredible solo record Musa – Ancestoral Streams, where he plays a fantastic range of potent original compositions. Some highlights are the earthy use of thumb piano on Travelin Man’, the searching modal composition Prayer for Peace, and the avant garde (and amazingly virtuosic) Departure. This is one of the definite solo piano records, period.
Another of Cowell’s outstanding records from the 1970’s is Equipose, released in 1978 on the Galaxy label. The name of the album is taken from Cowell’s composition of the same name. Equipoise seems a fitting title for Cowell’s best known tune – his music embraces a balance between two forces often pitted against each other – modernism and the tradition. I’ve posted the above tracks to celebrate this high water mark of Cowell’s great music.
Much of the success of Equipose is because of the amazing musicians that support Cowell – Cecil McBee on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. These are musicians who knew each other well. Cowell and McBee played together in a crucial working band of the early 70’s – Charles Tolliver’s Music, Inc. Cowell is on two Roy Haynes albums with McBee from the prior year (Thank You Thank You and Vistalite) and McBee, Haynes and Cowell serve as the rhythm section on Art Pepper’s excellent comeback album Today (1978). Cowell and Haynes had both played on Jack DeJohnette’s The DeJohnette Complex (1969), and Haynes clearly had an affection for Cowell’s music – Haynes recorded the tune Equipoise on his own records in 1971 and 2011. You can hear the empathy between these musicians in these definitive performances.
One of challenges of performing the song Equipose is to create excitement and variety when soloing over the call and response melody. Cowell neatly solves this problem by choosing a brisk tempo for this version, leaving room in the arrangement for interaction with the bass and drums, and then playing the second chorus of his solo in double time. The results are quite amazing! Cowell is able to preserve the melancholy mood of the piece, but also fill the performance with energy and texture.
This is the only recording I know of Musa and Maimoun. Not many tunes have the unexpected twists and turns this one does. The performance starts in a somber place but quickly morphs and transforms, sounding more and more urgent with each bar. The way Cowell steadily notches the intensity up as his performance progresses is something to behold. Then McBee takes a wonderful solo which shows his speech-like articulation. Cowell returns and plays forcefully, exchanging fours with Haynes. By the time the tune de-accelerates and slides back into it’s plaintive melody, you’ve been on quite a journey!
Dave’s Chant is a showcase for the excitement this trio can create. After a vamp set up by McBee’s bass, the tune quickly picks up steam. Haynes’ drumming on his snare and ride cymbal is hyperkinetic, and Cowell’s playing at this tempo is fleet and dexterous. Cowell uses blues vocabulary, bebop, and pianistic runs to striking effect. I’ve played this tune over and over – the playing is something to marvel at and the energy level is awesome!
Equipoise is one of many great entries in Cowell’s under appreciated discography. Throughout, he shows how big his ears and heart were, with an openness to both old and new musical language and readiness to make a distinctive statement in any setting. In an interview with Jimmy Heath in Jazz Times (Cowell played piano with the Heath Brothers band for years), Heath said about Cowell:
“His music is unique. It’s not like anyone else’s that I know. He’s not strictly a bebopper, and he’s not strictly from the Tatum school. He’s got his own voice in this world. He has things as avant-garde as Ornette Coleman and that era of music. The whole spectrum of African-American classical music. And he never forgets the history of African-American people, and he tries to do everything he can to better our position in the world.”
Let’s not let a musician of this excellence be forgotten!
Where to go next:
Equipose is on Spotify and Apple Music. Listen and enjoy! The rest of the album is wonderful. Musa Ancestral Steams is one of the most impressive solo piano sets. It’s not on the streaming services, but Acoustic Sounds is coming out with a new vinyl pressing in February 2021. Exciting! If you don’t have an LP player, you can listen to the whole album on You Tube here.
Cowell’s 1960’s and 1970’s discography with trumpet player Charles Tolliver is fantastic. Start with Max Roach’s Member’s Don’t Get Weary (1968), which features both Cowell and Tolliver. It’s on Spotify and Apple Music. Cowell and Tolliver started their own record label, Strata East, and put out the exuberant Music Inc. which features Tolliver’s intense big band, but also a lot of terrific Cowell solos. It’s not on the streaming services, but it will also be reissued in vinyl, and there’s You Tube of course.
After the heady recordings of the 1970’s, Cowell quietly recorded one great album after another for the Danish Steeplechase label, including his last release, a live date from 2019, Live at Keystone Korner Baltimore. They are all on Spotify and Apple Music, where you have access listened to them all – they sound great! The early nineties seems to have been especially strong with Departure #2 (1990), Games (1991), Bright Passion (1993), but I’m still listening and will report back.
If you have a favorite Stanley Cowell record, leave a comment – the beauty of this music should be heard by all.
