QOW Trio (Ubuntu Music)
QOW Trio
Released February 15, 2021
Jazzwise Top 20 Releases of 2021
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k–RvkolvirW8FpInSD43jnt8XugiDxQY
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4ec6ilzRuPpPvixMzcGinS?si=hL12G_6wTP2YeCL5HF7Wdg
About:
Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce the signing of QOW TRIO, which features three exceptional British musicians–Riley Stone Lonergan (sax), Eddie Myer (bass) and Spike Wells (drums).
QOW TRIO is a generation-spanning trio of diverse players who’ve come together, united by a love of the tradition, to explore the freedom that opens up within the three-way saxophone-bass-drums format. Their influences reach back across the history of the music, and look forward into its future, drawing inspiration from its constant evolution, from Lester Young to Charlie Parker to Sonny Rollins to Joe Henderson to Dewey Redman to Seamus Blake to Bill McHenry and beyond, creating a wide-open trio sound that tells a host of exciting stories. The QOW TRIO debut album, recorded live across a single charged afternoon, captures the spontaneous interplay that’s always been at the heart of jazz: in it you will hear echoes of prohibition era Kansas City swing, the kinetic rush of 52nd Street bebop, the untrammelled freedom of the Manhattan loft scene, and more.
Together QOW TRIO’s playing experience encompasses a span of sixty years across three generations.
Firebrand young sax star Riley Stone Lonergan is a regular at Ronnie Scott’s and one of the most exciting young players on the London scene.
Multi-genre bassist and bandleader Eddie Myer is a familiar figure on the Brighton scene and draws inspiration from Wilbur Ware and George Tucker as well as Eric Revis and Dennis Irwin.
British drum legend Spike Wells has enjoyed an astonishing career, starting in swinging 60s London, and playing with everyone from Dexter Gordon to Stan Getz to Joe Harriot – yes, really – but is best known for his long and close association with two of the greatest British tenor legends, Tubby Hayes and Bobby Wellins.
QOW TRIO spent a beautiful day together in the renowned Fish Factory studios under the eyes and ears of engineer Ben Lamdin, capturing the freewheeling essence of their interplay direct to tape. Their debut record sounds like a series of spontaneous, direct and honest conversations, taking place across time and space, with melody, swing, warmth and passion for the music as the constant factors throughout.
Spike Wells commented, “It was the most enjoyable time I’ve ever had in a recording studio. The owner, Antonio, is a left-handed drummer like myself (would you believe) with the cover of a Philly Joe Jones LP on the wall. The engineer is the laid back and utterly skilful Ben Lamdin who delights in producing a magnificent jazz drums sound. He lets your cymbals ring and your drums sing and never wants to dampen your bass drum. Not a booth, partition or headphone in sight – the real Rudy Van Gelder deal! The atmosphere was so conducive that we managed to record eight tunes in under five hours, almost all with only one take. Thank you, Ben!”
Riley Stone Lonergan elaborates, saying, “I love playing with this band because it combines both my love of the wonderful tradition of our jazz forebearers with my love of absolute freedom and the feeling that anything could happen.”
Eddie Myer concludes, with, “We’re super excited to be joining the Ubuntu family of artists. Ubuntu Music’s roster includes such a diverse selection of the best players on the scene, embracing the cutting edge of the contemporary but also representing torchbearers of the tradition, and that’s exactly how we see QOW TRIO – looking back to the heroes of the music, and looking forward to a future of endless, unlimited possibilities. Ubuntu is the perfect partner for us to bring that vision to life and spread the word far and wide.” Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, shared his thoughts: “If you like pure, unadulterated jazz, then you’ll love QOW TRIO. Seamlessly spanning six decades between them, these three extremely talented musicians were made to play together, delivering the real deal in a spectrum of traditional meets contemporary jazz. The sax/bass/drums format has become somewhat of a lost art form, which made this project that much more special. We’re thrilled to be sharing this exceptional music the world over.”
Track Listing:
1. A Slow Boat To China 6:07
2. QOW 5:54
3. Serenity 5:06
4. Cheryl 4:54
5. Qowfirmation 4:54
6. God Bless The Child 5:04
7. It’s All Right With Me 4:04
8. Pound For Prez 7:15
9. You Do Something To Me 6:07
Personnel:
Riley Stone-Lonergan: tenor sax
Eddie Myer: bass
Spike Wells: drums
Recorded by Ben Lamdin at
Fish Market Studio
Produced by Ben Lamdin and Qow Trio
Executive Producer: Martin Hummel
Review:
This post-bop, pre-lockdown recording is comforting and vivid, capturing three players in a resonant room loving their work. Combining three generations, with Sussex hip priest and Tubby/Wellins drummer Spike Wells the energetic elder, a chordless trio such as Sonny Rollins’ is the mode for excavating mostly standards. The point can always be questioned, when you can pile high Blue Note dates exhaustively defining the sound. But Ubuntu is a UK label supporting players who, as Myer defines the elixir, “get the feeling you really mean it, that what you’re playing has to be played at that moment, it’s just this.” That’s what you’re hearing as Riley Stone-Lonergan’s full, round tenor tone slides easily onto ‘A Slow Boat to China’. There’s a crash when Wells’ thrusters come on, as Bird’s ‘Cheryl’ rolls racehorse-sleek down the track, and Dewey Redman’s ‘QOW’ boasts a Myer dance pulse the Stone Roses would have nicked in Madchester days. The flicker and rustle of Wells again revving up before Stone-Lonergan blows straight and clear on Joe Henderson’s ‘Serenity’ recalls the author’s own chordless resurgence on The State of the Tenor (1986). Myer is gently guitar-like before Stone-Lonergan softly rings blues and rueful romance from ‘God Bless the Child’, while the saxophonist’s lugubrious pre-bop feel on self-penned tribute ‘Pound for Prez’ honours a mutual hero. “I’ve sat in the bar between sets listening to Riley and Spike enthusing about Lester,” Myer says, “reaching back beyond all our experiences.” Indeed, this sort of music was played almost nightly in Myer’s Brighton hometown before the shutters fell, headily transfused with audience energy. Maybe you’ve heard it all before. But when they feel it, we still do too.
Nick Hasted (Jazzwise)
