Code Red is a 4 track EP written by David Cowan and features Lyle Watt & Andy McLaughlan on guitars. The material is in the Rock/Fusion genre and showcases musicianship & talented playing at a high level. An EP for the ''Musos''
Keyboardist and composer David Cowan is well kent (to use the Scottish vernacular) north of the border and parts of England, thanks to his stint in the sadly short-lived Zal Cleminson’s /Sin Dogs/, playing at various times for a number of Scottish bands (he’s currently a member of the Greig Taylor Blues Band) and, most significantly, as part of
The Sensational Alex Harvey Experience (one of the best tribute acts in the country and by far the best purveyors of SAHB songs).
But that’s only the half of it.
David Cowan is a multi-styled musician (rock, metal, blues, soul-funk, instrumental fusion and 'suspense' soundtrack all play their part) who is also quite nifty behind a drum kit.
He dovetails the above duties with solo work (his debut solo album, the John Carpenter inspired Out Of The Dark Part I, was released in 2020), founding soul infused funk-rock band The Meissner Effect (check out the singles 'Water’s Edge' and 'Sober') and finding time for this new 4-track EP Code Red, which showcases his talent, and love, for instrumental jazz-rock fusion.
'Peacekeeper,' featuring the extremely talented Andy McLaughlan on guitar (McLaughlan, part of The Meissner Effect, looms large on three of the four tracks) opens the EP with a seven-minute flourish of fusion that’s as bubby in its musical effervescence as it is bouncy in tempo.
Andy McLaughlan lays down some serious Satriani meets Lukather licks while David Cowan’s synth solo recalls Roger Powell back in the Utopian day (Cowan also lays out a short and punchy drum solo toward the number’s conclusion).
'Danger Plan' is an up-tempo affair that, again, sees Andy McLaughlan cleverly combining a splash of Satch (on the recurring melody-riff) before giving it the full Luke and a lovely, expressive solo atop solid drum work and piano backing. David Cowan then gets to shine on another glossy synth solo at song-end.
The edgy anger of 'Nowhere To Run' is, simply, Toto in full instrumental prog-fusion flight (there are definite compositional comparisons to 'Dave’s Gone Skiing').
David Cowan’s drums lead the high-energy charge with keyboards adding texture to Andy McLaughlan’s biting guitar play. There’s also clever little sections where guitar and drums are in note-for-beat unison and a nice change-up that allows Cowan to get all Latino on the piano solo.
The closing title track, with synth-alarm warning intro, soon settles itself in to a near seven minutes of pacey, spacey and cool vibe’d jazz-tinged fusion.
The number features some exceptionally fluid and fast-fingered six-string work from another great guitarist, Lyle Watt, while David Cowan adds supportive colour through some great keyboard and piano play.
That Cowan has a great sense of melody (and an aptitude for expressive (but never excessive) musical texture) is not in doubt; that David Paich is clearly a huge influence (as heard on the excellent 'Code Red' piano solo) is also not in doubt.
David Cowan has described the Code Red EP as a pre-release/ precursor to his next solo album
(IDENTITY: Out Of The Dark Part II ) is on the way) but this is far more than a stopgap.
This is an extremely good, and very well performed, quartet of tunes that also sound great (courtesy of an excellent production & mix from Paul Rose); as importantly, it should satisfy both the jazz-proggy types and those who enjoy seriously good rock guitar and keyboard led musicianship.
This Code Red definitely gets the Green Light.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Code Red is scheduled for a Digital release (Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes) in August.
Copyright © 2018 David Cowan - Keyboardist - All Rights Reserved.
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