Stanley Cowell

[Late]

A heads-up for those interested:

Brilliant Circles is available (though in limited quantities) from www.selections.com. The disc is OOP, but apparently this place still has some copies.

[DatDere]

If that's the same cd version I own, be warned that the sound quality is pretty bad. Great music though, I wonder if the original vinyl sounds better...

[Eloe Omoe]

If that's the same cd version I own, be warned that the sound quality is pretty bad. Great music though, I wonder if the original vinyl sounds better...

Absolutely! I have both - Lp and Cd - but there's no question about it. Cd has an awful sound.

[Van Basten II]

Stanley has some discs on Steeplechase too. I've heard at least two -- titles escape me and I'm not at home right now. But both were superb. Good luck finding them.

Let me also second the recommendation for "Back to the Beautiful" on Concord. I really like the Concord records that don't sound like Concord records.

I have some great stuff of his with Steplechase, especially Angel eyes.

[mikeweil]

I have some great stuff of his with Steplechase, especially Angel eyes.

Yeah - his version of John Lennon's "Imagine" is something to hear.

Cowell can become pianistically busy in the Tatum tradition without getting too much to bear.

[clifford_thornton]

If that's the same cd version I own, be warned that the sound quality is pretty bad. Great music though, I wonder if the original vinyl sounds better...

Absolutely! I have both - Lp and Cd - but there's no question about it. Cd has an awful sound.

I'm still holding out for an original Polydor of this one - let me know if you see it! Yeah, the CD sound blows, and I thought even the Arista-Freedom LP was muddy as all hell.

[JSngry]

If that's the same cd version I own, be warned that the sound quality is pretty bad. Great music though, I wonder if the original vinyl sounds better...

Not enough to really matter. If you can get the CD and not the LP, go for it.

[paul secor]

Not much of a Cowell fan, but I always liked his solo on "Spooks" off Marion Brown's 3 for Shepp album. (I'm assuming that it's Stanley Cowell. Dave Burrell also plays piano on that, and Frank Kofsky's liner notes on the original LP make no mention of who plays on what tracks. But hey, those sort of things weren't important to Frank Kofsky.)

[Chuck Nessa]

I am a Cowell fan. I have a Japanese cd of his solo Strata East disc. He had a really nice Galaxie trio lp and sounded very fine on his recordings with Art Pepper for that label. I do know (and have) the earlier stuff which is why I paid attention to him after that. I met him in the mid '70s and he was a very nice, bright guy. Sorry to say I have not followed his later career.

FWIW, the original Freedom lp of Brilliant Circles sounded ok.

[JSngry]

FWIW, the original Freedom lp of Brilliant Circles sounded ok.

What happened to it on the way to Arista?

[MartyJazz]

If that's the same cd version I own, be warned that the sound quality is pretty bad. Great music though, I wonder if the original vinyl sounds better...

Not enough to really matter. If you can get the CD and not the LP, go for it.

I must differ with you on this. I have the Polydor LP and have liked it so much that when I saw the CD at a 2nd hand store for a very cheap price, I picked it up also. The sound on the CD is absolutely terrible and really does a disservice to the excellence of the session. So I put it in my own "cut out" bin. If anybody still wants it, PM me and I'll give it away for what I paid ($6, postage free within the U.S.)

[Chuck Nessa]

FWIW, the original Freedom lp of Brilliant Circles sounded ok.

What happened to it on the way to Arista?

Never heard it but remember I said ok.

[JSngry]

Hmmmm...

The Arista LP is what I have (bought new back in the day), & it sounds bright & tinny. The CD sounds worse. I'd like to hear that original Polydor.

[mikeweil]

I have the German Intercord/Spiegelei pressing of the Freedom version - spinning it right now. The volume level is rather low compared to most other LPs of the time that I own, the mix is okay, but not the least bright or tinny, rather too weak on the treble end of the frequency spectrum. Maybe the US Arista engineers tried to enhance and made it sound worse that way. The copy I have sounds like it would be best to transfer it to digital on a 1 to 1 basis - unless you had the original multitrack tapes to do a sensitive remix. The drums are a little low in the mix, but the sound of the individual instruments is okay. Not brilliant, but okay, as Chuck said - I have heard many an LP that sounded much worse.

Edited September 12, 2006 by mikeweil

[clifford_thornton]

So then the Polydor appears to be the way to go. I passed it by at $40 but maybe should nab it next time... not that it's a common variant!

[clifford_thornton]

Not much of a Cowell fan, but I always liked his solo on "Spooks" off Marion Brown's 3 for Shepp album. (I'm assuming that it's Stanley Cowell. Dave Burrell also plays piano on that, and Frank Kofsky's liner notes on the original LP make no mention of who plays on what tracks. But hey, those sort of things weren't important to Frank Kofsky.)

Side 1 is with Burrell and Kapp; Side 2 is with Cowell and Harris.

Yeah, Cowell swings on that record, as well as on Why Not?.

[Peter Friedman]

Stanley Cowell is a truly marvelous piano player. The strange thing is that while I love many of his recordings, there are others that leave me cold. At times Cowell's playing takes on a clinical/sterile quality to my ears. I have 3 of his Steeplechase CDs that I like very much. There were a couple of other on that label that I didn't care for and sold. The ones I like are:

Stanley Cowell Trio - Sienna

Stanley Cowell Trio - Departure #2

Stanley Cowell (solo) - Angel Eyes

The 2 Stanley Cowell Trio sessions on D.I.W. are excellent, in my view.

Close To You

We Three

The two CDs on Concord are well worth having.

Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 5

Back To The Beautiful

Cowell's most recent recording is a terrific trio date on the Japanese venus label.

Dancers In Love

[Late]

Brilliant Circles w/Woody Shaw (!) Tyrone Washington (!) Bobby Hutcherson, Reggie Workman and Joe Chambers. NYC, Sept. 1969.

I don't know of its availability, however.

Japanese pressing (CD) currently available at The Chicago Bards.

[Head Man]

Brilliant Circles w/Woody Shaw (!) Tyrone Washington (!) Bobby Hutcherson, Reggie Workman and Joe Chambers. NYC, Sept. 1969.

I don't know of its availability, however.

Japanese pressing (CD) currently available at The Chicago Bards.

Thanks for that, Free for All. They've also got a copy of "Music for The Viet-Cong" which is a Japanese version of the Black Lion release "Travellin' Man".

Anyone know whether these Japenese pressings sound better than their Black Lion equivalents?

[relyles]

I heard Cowell last last week with his Empathlectrik quartet featuring Vic Juris, Tom Dicarlo and Ralph Peterson, Jr.. They played music from a recent SteepleChase release as well as other stuff. Twith this group Cowell uses a device for live electronic processing of the piano and guitar. It creates some very spacey sounds at times. The concert included a mix of songs without the processing to give some balance and variety. I am an unashamed fan of Cowell and overall the concert was an enjoyable experience for me.