Stanley Cowell - No Illusions

The Guardian 80

(Steeplechase)

The 76-year-old US pianist and teacher Stanley Cowell is an intriguing but overlooked jazz original – good enough to partner sax legend Joe Henderson in the 1970s; a visionary co-founder of the Strata-East label (it recorded Gil Scott-Heron); and an open-minded but under-recorded composer. This surprise-filled set, made with a contemporary-sounding rhythm section and eloquent Washington reeds-player Bruce Williams, is all original, save for John Lewis’s gently lyrical Milano, which Cowell and Williams deliver as a jazz waltz of keening grace.

The electronica-intrigued Cowell adds harp or dulcimer-like sounds behind Williams’ soprano on the meditative Sunlight Shifting, and shivery hoots on the looping, minimalist Celestial Woman. Williams shows some expressive Ornette Coleman leanings on the spiky title track. Miss TE & O is a wilful tumult of march-time, salsa and pre-bop piano swing. Cowell might just be in for a fascinating third-age renaissance.