Wednesday, June 05, 2013

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Ralph Bowen

Artist:Ralph Bowen
Song:Two-Line Pass
Album:Power Play





Canadian sax player Ralph Bowen was first noticed as a member of the 80s jazz group Out Of The Blue. He is currently on the faculty of Rutgers University in New Jersey and he records for Posi-Tone Records. Two-Line Pass is from his 2011 CD Power Play. He was born Dec. 24, 1961 in Guelph, ON. His father was a real estate broker and had a farm near Acton. This area is west of Toronto. Bowen started playing clarinet and then sax at age ten and as a teen played in local bands including with Phil Nimmons. While attending the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, he met sax player Pat LaBarbera and studied with him for several years. Bowen was also a member of the Toronto based fusion band Manteca. After further studies at Indiana University, he formed Out Of The Blue with pianist Renee Rosnes and sax player Kenny Garrett among others. Out Of The Blue recorded four albums for Blue Note from 1985-89. Bowen also recorded and toured with Michel Camilo and Horace Silver. He recorded his first album as leader in 1992 on Criss Cross Records. He also joined the faculty of Rutgers University in 1990. He switched to Posi-Tone in 2009. Bowen works a lot with pianist Orrin Evans who also records for Posi-Tone. Two-Line Pass is from Bowen's 2011 CD Power Play with Evans on piano, Kenny Davis on bass and Donald Edwards on drums. Bowen's latest CD Total Eclipse was released last year. And he continues to teach and tour. He's a good solid sax player. Here's Ralph Bowen performing Two-Line Pass with Ivan Farmakovsky on piano, Darryl Hall on bass and Donald Edwards on drums at the Moscow House of Music Sept. 27, 2011.

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