Jazz Articles about John McCowen

John McCowen: Solo Contra

by Daniel Barbiero
February 24, 2018

John McCowen's Solo Contra presents an EP-length, finely-sketched portrait of a rarely heard instrument: the contrabass clarinet. It also marks the most recent stage in an eclectic path through music that's taken him from the extremes of raw energy to the subtleties of timbral micro soundworlds. After having been involved with hardcore punk as a vocalist, McCowen took up saxophone and flute, subsequently studying bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet with Eric Mandat at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. ...