Tag Archives: Stanley Cowell

Listening Room – “Another Earth”

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Another Earth

Gary Bartz – Another Earth

From “Another Earth” : 1968 : Milestone M-9018

This 1968 Milestone album finds Gary Bartz fronting a great band that included Pharoah Sanders, Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell.  The music is adventurous without being unfocused.  The title track is a suite of sorts and took up all of Side One on the original LP and clocks in at an impressive 24 minutes.  [Note:  This album can be found on CD as a two-fer with Bartz's "Libra" album.]

Players:
Gary Bartz – Alto & Soprano Sax
Charles Tolliver – Trumpet
Pharoah Sanders – Tenor Sax
Stanley Cowell – Piano
Reggie Workman – Bass
Freddie Waits – Drums

Listening Room – “Brilliant Circles”

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Brilliant Circles 2

Stanley Cowell – Brilliant Circles

Stanley Cowell – Bobby’s Tune

From “Brilliant Circles” : 1969 : Arista Freedom A 1009

This 1969 session was Stanley Cowell’s second as a leader and finds him fronting a fantastic sextet that includes Woody Shaw and Bobby Hutcherson.  The players are at their creative best and the music is a challenging blend of hard bop and the avant-garde.  The album was originally released on the Arista Freedom label and briefly re-issued by Black Lion on CD, but is currently (and ridiculously) out-of-print.

Players:
Stanley Cowell – Piano
Tyrone Washington – Tenor Sax
Woody Shaw – Trumpet
Bobby Hutcherson – Vibes
Reggie Workman – Bass
Joe Chambers – Drums

Listening Room – “The Ringer”

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The talented trumpeter Charles Tolliver released “The Ringer’ on the Freedom Records label (a subsidiary of Arista) in 1969.  It featured a great quartet which included Stanley Cowell on piano and Jimmy Hopps on drums.  The five compositions are all Tolliver originals and showcase his great compositional skills.  Tolliver didn’t record many records after this one, but in recent years he has been releasing some great big band recordings which I hope to preview here soon.

The Ringer
This album is out of print and hard to find.

Released 1969  :  Freedom Records  :  Catalog # A 1017

Players:
Charles Tolliver – Trumpet
Stanley Cowell – Piano
Steve Novosel – Bass
Jimmy Hopps – Drums

Charles Tolliver – On The Nile from “The Ringer”

Charles Tolliver - Spur from “The Ringer”