Stanley Cowell

Stanley Cowell 1977

Stanley Cowell (born May 5, 1941 in Toledo (Ohio) ) is an American jazz musician ( piano , keyboard ).

Life

Cowell learned to play the piano from the age of five, initially taking lessons from his sisters. During his studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music he played with Roland Kirk . In 1966 he moved to New York City . Between 1966 and 1967 he played with Marion Brown , from 1967 to 1979 with Max Roach , with Stan Getz and the quartet of Bobby Hutcherson and Harold Land . In the early 1970s he founded the Music Inc. quartet and, together with Charles Tolliver, the Strata-East record label and musicians' organizationCollective Black Artists Inc. Between 1974 and 1983 he played with The Heath Brothers , Jimmy, "Tootie" and Percy Heath and recorded pieces by Jimmy Heath for solo piano. From 1981 to 1999 he taught as an adjunct professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York music history, improvisation and composition. In 1988 and 1989 he taught jazz piano at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Cowell was a professor at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Department of Music, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He sporadically recorded other albums, including a. with Joe Chambers and Steve Coleman . In 1991 he wrote a piece in honor of Art Tatum , who had an early influence on his music. After retiring as a university lecturer, he continued his musical career; In 2015 he released the solo album Juneteenth and in 2017 as a quartet No Illusions .

Stylistically, he moves in a variety of ways in the areas of hard bop , postbop and free jazz . Although he is highly valued and highly committed by fellow musicians, he is fairly unknown to the broad jazz audience.

Web links

• Stanley Cowell at Allmusic (English), with extensive discography, under credits as a sideman.
• All about jazz
• Stanley Cowell at Discogs (English)