From UK Jazz News
“The intriguingly if uninvitingly named QOW trio (it’s a Dewey Redman tune, in case you were wondering) celebrate their trio-ness with the title of their third recording. As, with stirring results, they have done every time they have played together.
The three players, Riley Stone-Lonergan on tenor saxophone, Eddie Myer on bass and British jazz legend Spike Wells – who turns 80 this month – on drums, were originally inspired by Sonny Rollins peerless example, especially his first trio album, Way Out West, from 1957. That is generally regarded as the originating moment of the modern saxophone trio tradition – Don Byas gets an earlier credit in some histories, but Sonny is the one everyone knows. And that formation, with bass and horn free to explore with no chordal instrument on board, has been a pillar of modern jazz ever since.
It’s a tradition that now embraces any number of stunning recordings – it is hard to name a saxophonist who has not been tempted to try their hand at this challenging but enticing format. And it has absorbed all the developments of jazz since bebop, so a contemporary horn player can take inspiration in this vein from Henry Threadgill, Ornette Coleman, or Albert Ayler as well as, say, Rollins or Joe Lovano.
The most satisfying contemporary saxophone trios, to my mind, enjoy command of all that breadth of tradition, and QOW are exemplary in that respect. Their three CDs, one live document and two from the studio, each offer a mix of standards, tunes by favourite sax players, and new compositions that usually reference one of their inspirations.
Thus, this time they open with the CD’s title track, a Stone-Lonergan tune not much more complex than Sonnymoon for Two, which it somewhat resembles. It launches in seconds into intense, bluesy improvisation very much in the zone Rollins occupied in 1957, though without the bleariness of tone that featured on his classic Village Vanguard trio dates that year. Lush Life, on the other hand, sounds more in thrall to Joe Henderson’s several recordings of the great Strayhorn standard, while Ghosts displays Stone-Lonergan’s take on composer Albert Ayler’s bruising timbre, Wells underpinning him with majestic free-form percussion, and Sheriff Elvin has the saxophonist leaning more toward John Coltrane.
Add a few more originals, including a calypso, and the droll surprise of a softly rendered Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling to conclude, and it is a cleverly varied programme for an instrumentation the uninitiated might regard as limited. It really isn’t, and one of the chief pleasures of listening to QOW trio is sharing their relish for the never-ending possibilities of the rule of three.
Trios are also the setting that make it easiest for the listener to appreciate the fine details of interaction between musicians of the highest skill, and QOW offer that satisfaction at almost every moment. Many examples flash by, but the way Wells’ brush accents mirror the saxophone lines when Riley solos on Egglet gives particular delight. A record to return to often, and an unbeatable invitation to their tour, which begins in Brighton on January 24th and visits most parts of the country over the next few months.
‘The Rule of Three’ is released on 30 January 2026”
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