Stanley Cowell Trio: Illusion Suite [ECM]

Why you'll love it

Back on vinyl in a gatefold sleeve. Cowell leads a young Stanley Clarke on bass and Jimmy Hopps on drums through six of his own compositions, and DownBeat gave it four and a half stars.

This edition

• Gatefold sleeve
• ECM 1026, back on vinyl

About the album

Cowell grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where Art Tatum was a family friend, and studied classical piano at Oberlin with Emil Danenberg before moving to New York in the mid-1960s to play with Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson and Sonny Rollins. In 1971 he co-founded Strata-East with trumpeter Charles Tolliver, one of the most successful Black-led independent labels of its day. On November 29, 1972, he went into Sound Ideas Studio in New York with Clarke and Hopps and cut this album.

Several tunes are named for people in his life: 'Cal Massey,' 'Miss Viki,' and 'Emil Danenberg' for his old Oberlin teacher. His playing runs from rolling, almost orchestral chords to bright, knotty runs, Clarke matches him at every turn, and AllMusic said Hopps plays as if he has four hands. ECM has a reputation for quiet records; nobody seems to have told this trio.

Cowell and Clarke display amazing technique.
Andrew Hamilton, AllMusic

Tracklist

Listen

Out September 18, 2026 on ECM (cat# 4505321), a reissue of the 1973 album.