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QOW Trio by Howard Lawes
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QOW, pronounced 'cow', is the name of a track on the 1974 Dewey Redman album, Coincide, which Scott Yanow described as 'an outstanding ten-minute workout'. The track was also added to later issues of The Ear Of The Behearer album (both albums are available second hand here). The original meaning of the title 'QOW' is difficult to pin down - perhaps it was just a term dreamed up by Dewey - but it is also an American military acronym for 'Quality Of Work' and so is totally appropriate here. Dewey Redman was one of the great avant-garde tenors playing with the likes of Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden and Keith Jarrett and during a telephone conversation, Riley Stone-Lonergan, who plays tenor saxophone in the QOW Trio, described him as one of his top five favourite tenor sax players and hugely under-rated.
Dewey Redman is the nephew of Don Redman, the successful big band arranger and leader and father of Joshua Redman who has also established a successful career as a jazz saxophonist. While jazz is not unique in its inter-generational appeal it has certainly 
always paid homage to its heritage with young, up and coming musicians learning and being inspired by the great musicians of the past. This quality is admirably exemplified by the QOW Trio in that its members span the generations and its music brings a contemporary feel to some classic jazz standards. The band has Riley Stone-Lonergan on tenor saxophone, Eddie Myer on double bass and Spike Wells on drums.
Riley Stone-Lonergan hails from the Irish Republic where he learned his craft as a teenager playing in dance bands and youth jazz orchestras and was fortunate to have inspirational local teachers. He entered Leeds College of Music in 2008 where he met his partner, trumpeter, composer, improvisor and educator, Kim Macari. Graduating in 2011, Riley was awarded a Yamaha scholarship which, in association with Jazzwise Magazine, the 606 Club and the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group, provides financial assistance to help establish a scholarship winner's career together with performance and recording opportunities. Riley continues the relationships he established during this period with Yamaha scholars as well as with other students at the Leeds College of Music and is active in several bands including the Tarel/Lonergan Quartet and Family Band.
Riley Stone-Lonergan
Double bassist Eddie Myer began his musical career in 1983 with a band called Ozric Tentacles who play psychedelic rock and are still active today. More recently he plays in the folk-rock band Turin Brakes, his own Eddie Myer 5tet playing original jazz and a latin band called Son Guarachando. As well as performance and recording, Eddie Myer lectures at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music and is active in journalism and music promotion, particularly in the Brighton area. Drummer Spike Wells' interest in jazz began on hearing Dizzy Gillespie in 1959 and during his illustrious early career he has played with Bobby Wellins, Joe Harriott and for several years with Tubby Hayes, which in turn brought him into contact with Ronnie Scott, Humphrey Lyttelton and Stan Getz. Sadly the death of Tubby Hayes in 1972 cut back Spike's musical career so instead he qualified and practiced as a solicitor for many years before becoming a priest in a church in Brighton. However through all this time his love of jazz remained and he actually refers to it on his website as a 'religion': "Jazz has fed my soul throughout my life. I can’t begin to describe the joy and fulfilment it has brought me," he says, and today Spike combines his priesthood with being a jazz drummer.
A quick trawl through YouTube reveals how busy Riley Stone-Lonergan has been since leaving Leeds College of Music; with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra he was tenor chair and appeared with them in the 2012 BBC Promenade Concerts where he was picked out by journalist Jack Massarik as an outstanding young musician. Apart from his own quartet Riley has played in various 
bands releasing recordings with LOCUS, Perpetual Motion Machine and Anthropology and has played at festivals in the UK and Europe. Eddie Myer also is a very active musician and jazz promoter through the Verdict Jazz Club in Brighton and the South Coast Jazz and Love Supreme festivals - so when Eddie needed a tenor saxophonist for his quintet who fitted in with the open-ended, hard swinging style of the band, Riley was an obvious choice. They went on to record the album Finders Keepers in 2017 which was recorded by Ben Lamdin and mastered by Max Gilkes at Studio1Sonic, the same team that have been used for QOW Trio.
Edde Myer
Photograph by Lisa Wormsley
Here is a video of Eddie's 5tet playing Finders Keepers.
What is clear from talking to Riley is his passion for jazz heritage and in particular the great saxophone improvisers such as Dewey Redman, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, Joe Henderson and Lester Young, a passion that is shared with Eddie and with Spike for whom Lester Young is a particular favourite and so QOW Trio was created to indulge their shared passion.
The great thing about jazz standards flowing from that love for jazz heritage is that many jazz musicians know how to play them almost without the need to rehearse. Even though Riley is relatively young he already has a considerable mental catalogue of great jazz which together with the skill and experience brought by Eddie and Spike enables the trio to turn out great performances almost at the drop of a hat. On top of the quality of the music the recording and mixing are of the highest calibre resulting in an album which is a joy to listen to and for many will remind them of great times spent at their favourite jazz venues which we have all been missing for so long during the pandemic.
A brief introductory video to the QOW Trio's album.
Riley Stone-Lonergan revels in the freedom which the situation allows, reproducing favourite melodies that in the great tradition of jazz are explored and arranged in the moment, establishing conversation with double bass and drums but also allowing them their own freedom to be creative. Of the nine tracks on the album seven are contemporary versions of classics while two are Riley Stone-Lonergan compositions but clearly inspired by Dewey Redman (in Qowfirmation) and Lester Young (in Pound for Prez).
Listen to Qowfirmation.
One of the most interesting tracks on the album, Serenity, and one which Riley admits is challenging, was composed by Joe Henderson and has a 14 bar form and complex harmonies; Eddie Myer plays a nice solo on this track. There are four tunes that have in the past been played by Sonny Rollins, all of which are quite different from each other. An up tempo It's Alright With Me features high octane improvisation from Riley; a beautifully played version of God Bless the Child finds each musician vaying tempo and dynamic freely yet maintaining a fundamental structure, and there are swinging versions of You Do Something To Me and A Slow Boat To China in which Riley and Spike have a lot of fun trading short sections. Cheryl, composed by Charlie Parker, is an example of bebop that Riley Stone-Lonergan handles with great assurance and is another example of how he has developed since his talent was spotted by Jack Massarik and others. To quote Riley "I love playing in this band because it combines both my love of the wonderful tradition of our jazz forebears with my love of the absolute freedom that anything could happen".
Listen to the Trio playing Dewey Redman's QOW.
The music of QOW Trio is an excellent example of the best in jazz - great tunes, great improvisation and great entertainment.
Click here for details of the album which is released on 5th February 2021.
Click here for the websites of Riley-Stone Lonergan; Eddie Myer and Spike Wells.
Spike Wells
Other pages you might find of interest :
© Sandy Brown Jazz 2021
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