Howard Cowles is a highly skilled and trained pianist and composer who has played piano nearly all of his life, from the time that he could first sit at the piano bench where he would practice simple melodies and scales. As he grew, he studied and played with classicially influenced discipline, but later as he grew into his teens and beyond, he played in many rock bands and small pop and jazz ensembles. It was while playing in one these bands that Howard worked with the founder of Creative COW Records, Ron Lindeboom, who founded the new record label to bring Howard's music to a wider audience. "As our business grew and my wife and I talked about new opportnities we wished to explore, a record label was the next phase that made the most sense. Thinking back on all the musicians I had worked with over the years, it was clear that Howard should be our first artist. He is the most melodic musician that I had the great fortune to work and perform with," says Lindeboom. "I always loved working with Howard because his feel for the melody and his ability to craft highly emotional passages places him, in my opinion, with musicians such as George Winston, Jim Brickman, and David Foster. We couldn't be more proud of the music he brings to our new label. Plus, he is just a great guy. Someone this talented might be obnoxious as is the case far too often, but Howard is a delight to know and work with."
Over the years, Howard has performed with many top pop, jazz and rock musicians in and around southern California, as well as performing feature recitals of his own compositions at major venues such as the Karen & Richard Carpenter Center at Cal State Long Beach, and at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in San Clemente. Howard notes that one of the great honors he had in performance, was the presence of renowned pianist Roger Williams, who came to hear him play and stayed to talk with him after the concert. "It had to be one of the greatest moments of my life, as Roger Williams is one of the greatest musicians ever to play the piano," says Howard.
Today, Howard still lives and works in and around the City of Orange, California, not far from the hilltop where he grew up playing the piano as a child. Both Howard's roots and his music run deep. He also spends a great deal of time in Palm Springs and the surrounding area, playing at many venues throughout the area. Those that have seen him perform are amazed at the skill which he brings to his performances. If you love melodies and richly textured scales, arpeggios and airy passages that cause you to look again at the beauty of small things too often lost in the work-a-day world, and recall treasured memories that time has tried to dim, then you too may find Howard's music in regular play on your player.
"One of the highest compliments that you can pay to music is that you can play it again and again, and it gets better, never becoming trite or boring," says Ron Lindeboom. "Over the years, I have produced a number of recordings for some very influential artists, and by the time you are done working on the album, you never want to hear it again. Not so with Howard's music. I played the whole thing 28 times according to iTunes, while I worked on the packaging and other duties related to the album. I will probably play it another 28 times in the days ahead. The melodies grow on you, they do not fade into irrelevancy as so many pieces of music do, today."
That is the nature of the music that Howard Cowles plays.
##
|