QOW Trio - The Rule of Three

Three is the magic number in so many ways. Three elements provide stability with flexibility; three acts tell a story; three pillars hold up a roof. With The Rule Of Three, the unique generation spanning entity that is QOW Trio return with a barnstorming third album. Building logically on the natural development of their two previous collections, this time the fearless threesome can be heard roaming further than ever before into the uncharted hinterlands where the deep jazz tradition of the classic tenor trio format, laden with melody and swing, ventures into the untamed regions of free improvisation.

At the heart of the band is the unmistakable beat of drummer Spike Wells, who this year celebrates his 80th birthday and the 65th year of his extraordinary career at the forefront of jazz in the UK, providing the driving force behind everyone from homegrown heroes Tubby Hayes and Bobby Wellins to visitors like Stan Getz and Roland Kirk, and countless others. Riding at his side to represent the current London based millennial cohort is saxophonist Riley Stone Lonergan, whose intriguing compositions and boundless creative imagination as an improviser continue to add to his burgeoning reputation. Representing the diversity of tastes and interests and the uncompromising creative stance typical of Gen X, big toned bassist Eddie Myer rounds out the posse.

The trio initially got together through their mutual love of Sonny Rollins’ touring piano less trios of the late 1950s and early 1960s, but soon found themselves expanding their repertoire to explore the rich and varied territory opened up by their unique combination of individual tastes. This album is their most coherent, wide ranging and adventurous set of recordings yet. From Ayler to Strayhorn, from bebop to calypso, from cowboy movie to free jazz shootout, there is a surprise at every turn, always delivered with total sincerity, conviction, and a driving desire to bring the audience with them every step of the way.

The album is rich in Riley’s stimulating original compositions. “I felt I was really able to write to the band’s strengths and bring tunes that suit what we do best.” Opening track The Rule Of Three bursts into the rodeo arena with a confident swagger, Spike and Eddie laying it down as Riley restates the eternal verities of the blues in the language of the present. The pace does not diminish for Egglet, but instead distils into a quiet, poised intensity, Spike’s brushes dancing beneath Riley’s glorious melodic invention. Kurt Angle, named for the WWF star, is a gloriously unpredictable three way tag team effort that explodes into exhilarating free improvisation before Spike’s pulsing ride cymbal brings the music back to the narrative.

Ellington is a firm favourite with all three members of QOW Trio, and Strayhorn’s Lush Life provides a rich vehicle for exploration, as Eddie and Spike lay down a woozy waltz following Riley’s breathtaking statement of the verse. Flip the disc and NowHere offers a buoyant calypso, with all three players adding their verse to tell the story. Eddie’s heavy gut string bass sets the scene for Sheriff Elvin and its dark modal exploration, saxophone skirling and drums breaking like waves. Ghosts pays tribute to the genius of Ayler, summoning fierce energy into the haunting refrain. Finally, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, the theme song from the classic 1952 Gary Cooper tale of revenge and justice, closes the album.

“QOW Trio continues to mature, we play as one voice in all our varied repertoire,” says Spike. The Rule Of Three is a bold and confident statement of intent from a real long term project that is as invested in the music’s future as it is inspired by and reverent of its past. “More than any other project I have ever been part of, QOW Trio really feels like a band, and I think this album shows how we have grown to understand how to bring out the best in each other,” adds Riley.