Stanley Cowell

The sixth episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with pianist Stanley Cowell. He’s a jazz veteran who made his recorded debut in 1967, on Marion Brown's albums Now What? and Three for Shepp. He’s also worked with Max Roach, Gary Bartz, Bobby Hutcherson, and the Heath Brothers, among others, and he co-founded the Strata-East label with trumpeter Charles Tolliver in the 1970s. In recent years, he retired from teaching at Rutgers University, and has assumed a more active recording and performing role; in 2015, he put out a solo album, Juneteenth, and in 2017, he released a quartet disc, No Illusions.

In our interview, Cowell discusses his early career, his 1970s work as a solo artist and as part of the Piano Choir, his time as an educator, his fascination with electronic music and how he’s imported that interest into his own work, and much more. It’s a really interesting conversation I’ve been wanting to have for several years, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.