Frank Wright - Run with the cowboys

Continuing the Frank Wright series and his 80s recordings, this is a private lp release that was recorded at Studio Fawe Street. London E14. No date is given for this recording.

The line-up is as follows:

Frank Wright - tenor sax, vocals
Frank Wollny - guitar
Peter Kowald - acoustic bass
Coen Alberts - drums
A.R. Penck - el-piano, flute, vocals

Tracks:

1) Run with the cowboys
2) Do you like it (part 1)
3) An other day
4) Do you like it (part 2)

The back sleeve reports only one track on side 2, but a closer inspection of the record reveals that there is indeed a second track, which turns out to be a continuation of "Do you like it". For sake of convenience, I've split side 2 into two separate tracks.

New to this record is that Heinz Wollny is recording, but not playing, and Peter Kowald has been brought in to take care of bass duties and Coen Alberts to man the drums which is all for the better, in my view.

There's much more of a consolidated group sound here centered on the Wright - Kowald - Alberts trio and Frank Wollny, the most accomplished of the TTT lot, falls in nicely with the "outside" trio. Mr. Penck dabbles on el-piano throughout and is more of a distraction than a genuine contributor, but if you manage to somehow abstract from his "contributions", the record is not at all bad, not the least due to the presence of Wright and Kowald.

Three longish pieces (one split in two) and quite free-wheeling, this is the best I've heard so far of the Wright-Penck collaborations and certainly much better than the Ulm gig, posted here earlier. That said, I haven't heard all yet ...