Following two fine recent albums for Steeplechase, the veteran pianist returns with a solo offering on the solemn matter of Emancipation Day, approaching the issue with the well measured blend of understatement and accentuation that has been his trademark for some five decades. As those familiar with anthems such as ‘Equipoise’, ‘Maimoun’ or ‘Travelin’ Man’ will know, Cowell constructs the most gorgeous of melodies from subtle classical-ish chord progressions. Yet he can also imbue themes with a gospel fire, as is the case here with the joyous skip of ‘Ask Him’, the most explicit reference to the primacy of religion in the African-American condition. This is a modern day ‘Negro Spiritual’ of quiet majesty. It acts as a potent counterpoint to some of the appropriately darker stylings elsewhere, above all the winding harmonic path embarked upon on the epic ‘Juneteenth Recollections’, where the whimsical but charged phrasal shifts effectively capture the wide range of emotions that must have flooded the mind of a slave on coming to terms with the end of bondage. And the beginning of the seemingly endless road to equality. Cowell's meditation on the weighty theme of freedom, with the attendant occurrences of struggle, illusion and resignation, presents as much light and shade, nuance and attention to detail as one would expect from a playerstoryteller of his stature. Highly cultured reading of a challenging, essential subject.