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Ralph Bowen: Keep the Change
by C. Andrew Hovan
I can still remember the impression that Ralph Bowen made on a young jazz enthusiast trying to break into radio and be part of the hip jazz crowd. I had decided to get involved with the programming end of a local non-profit arts support organization and on a letter perfect July evening our committee had lined up a double bill that included Kevin Eubanks and the mid '80s collective Out Of The Blue. An hour or so before OTB was ...
Continue ReadingRalph Bowen: Five
by C. Andrew Hovan
Although he's better known in educational circles due to his solid commitment to jazz pedagogy as a member of the faculty at Rutgers University, Ralph Bowen has been a vital member of the jazz community since debuting with the group Out of the Blue back in the mid '80s. His adaptability to a diversity of musical situations has made him a valuable sideman over the years, although the opportunities for Bowen to call the shots as a leader have not ...
Continue ReadingConrad Herwig: A Voice Through the Door
by C. Andrew Hovan
In the challenging economic and political climate of present day, it seems that much time is spent on matters of only fleeting importance. Furthermore, it seems that our culture has experienced a paradigm shift that places more emphasis on immediacy and instant fulfillment and less on rumination and appreciation of more profound matters. On the one hand come the duties and obligations that embody day to day survival, but there is also a need for balance. It is this current ...
Continue ReadingRalph Bowen: Standard Deviation
by Glenn Astarita
Tenor saxophonist Ralph Bowen (Out Of The Blue, Horace Silver, Michel Camillo) is a highly regarded New York-based artiste and an idea man who can stand with the best of them. With his fifth solo venture for Posi- Tone Records Bowen tackles standards, and as the title intimates, he often deviates from the norm. Jerome Kern's “Yesterdays" receives a Latin uplift, sparked by venerable pianist Bill O'Connell's topsy-turvy opening statements and bristling unison choruses with the rhythm section. ...
Continue ReadingRalph Bowen: The Power Play
by Diana Kondrashin
[Editor's Note: A shorter version of this interview was originally published at Jazz.Ru. It has been translated and expanded exclusively for All About Jazz.]Ralph Bowen was born in Canada but he has pursued a jazz career in the United States for over 20 years, as tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger. He strikes neatly with his recordings as a leader, just like it was done last year with Total Eclipse, an album recorded with his quartet: organist Jared Gold, ...
Continue ReadingRalph Bowen: Power Play
by Bruce Lindsay
With over 20 years experience as a recording artist and composer, saxophonist Ralph Bowen has a mastery of straight-ahead jazz that is immediately apparent on Power Play, his third album for the Posi-Tone label. Bowen's first two Posi-Tone releases, 2009's Dedicated and 2010's Due Reverence were quintet recordings. For Power Play, he trims down to an all-new quartet lineup, but it still swings. On the album's opener, “K. D.'s Blues," Bowen jumps straight in with a hard-edged ...
Continue ReadingRalph Bowen: Power Play
by Mark Corroto
The inscription on saxophonist Ralph Bowen's business card probably should read “solid citizen," because his post-bop jazz conception has always been steadfast and dependable. With Power Play, he only adds to his stalwart reputation. Together with bassist Kenny Davis, Bowen was picked, in the mid-1980s, to spearhead the return of Blue Note Records in the all-star band Out Of The Blue. Along with the likes of Michael Philip Mossman, Kenny Garrett, and Ralph Peterson, OTB revived the classic ...
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