[TR24][OF] Neil Cowley Trio - Radio Silence - 2010 (Contemporary Jazz)

Neil Cowley Trio
As a young boy, London-born Neil Cowley studied classical music at the prestigious Royal Academy, and by the age of 10 had performed a Shostakovich piano concerto to a full house at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.

By his mid-teens, Cowley had joined a friend in a Blues Brothers tribute band, “as a way” he says “of getting into pubs”, yet the London pub circuit served him well – he learned to play classic, old school Rnb in a number of bands whose members had come from, or went on to great things. By the age of 17 he turned his back on formal training altogether, and entered the world of pop. He went on to record and tour with some of the best soul and funk bands of the day, including The Pasadenas, 4 years with the Brand New Heavies, and Zero 7, until in 2002 he formed his own band, Fragile State.

As one half of the Fragile State production duo, Cowley set the world of jazzy chill-out music alight and produced two critically acclaimed albums, from which came Four-Four-Four, a track that was later licensed by Vodafone for a nationwide commercial. When the record company dissolved, Cowley continued to make music; his incredible versatility as a composer saw him producing themes to a number of television programmes and documentaries, drawing on desert blues, chill, jazz and orchestral soundtrack.

Cowley soon began to find the experience of extracting music from a computer chip unbearable, so set forth with his dear friend the piano and a renewed enthusiasm to present creativity without technological hindrance. Cowley began composing and eventually realised a long-standing vision, and formed the Neil Cowley Trio with Richard Sadler on double bass and Evan Jenkins on drums.

In June 2006 Cowley formed his own label, Hide Inside Records, and released the trio’s debut album Displaced, an outstanding album of original recordings that established him as a dazzling pianist and stunning composer. Through his examination of the possibilities of the acoustic piano trio, Cowley created a unique trademark sound that delivered, powerful music of massive dynamic range and contrasts – where ferociously forceful, hook laden melodies sit side by side with reflective, tender pieces capable of heart shattering tenderness. The album was released to huge critical acclaim, and won the 2007 BBC Jazz Award for Best Album.

In February 2007, the Neil Cowley Trio undertook their first full UK tour, revealing Cowley’s instinctive flair and ingenuity as an entertainer. At the heart of their captivating live performances is Cowley’s marvellously English wit, mischievous humour and remarkable rapport with his audience.

In the summer of 2007, the trio recorded their follow-up album, Loud… Louder…Stop for the indie jazz label, Cake. Fizzing with the energy of rock and the surging dynamics of dance music, Cowley solidified his sound, yet stretched the envelope further. Released in March 2008, it placed him and his trio at the forefront of the British ‘Post-Jazz’ movement, and earned them far reaching critical acclaim from across the musical spectrum. Mojo hailed the recording as a “Modern Classic”, and listed it in their ’50 Best Albums’ of that year. The trio became noted for blurring the boundaries between jazz and other genres, and, dubbed ‘Jazz for Radiohead fans’, they found themselves with a diverse touring schedule that would take them from Glastonbury and the iTunes Festival to the infamous Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. A TV appearance on Later with Jools, a Mojo cover- mounted CD (a celebratory reworking of the Beatle’s Revolution), and a Guinness commercial inched them further toward crossover status.

In the meantime, dedication to his trio would see Cowley decline various invitations to appear as side man on other projects. However, his contribution to the platinum-selling 19, the debut recording from Adele, and in particular his poignantly expressive intro to the stand-out Hometown Glory is now legendary. More recently, Cowley has collaborated with the Stereophonics on their current album, Keep Calm and Carry On.

Radio Silence is Cowley’s third album and undoubtedly his most cohesive recording to date. It is released in April 2010 on one of the UK’s most exciting Indie labels, Naim Jazz, and though the recording does not stray too far from the Cowley template, it represents the sound of a band fully comfortable in their unique sonic skin. It is the record that Cowley has been working towards, seizing the magical empathy of his unit, who, with thousands of hours under their belt have learnt to breathe and listen as one.

Mature and masterly

Radio Silence is the sound of a band fully comfortable in their unique sonic skin. And if an album is simply a snapshot of a work in progress, then this is a perfect portrait, capturing Cowley and his co-conspirators in the right place at the right time. This is the record that he has been working towards, documenting the magical empathy of a unit, who, with thousands of hours under their belt have learnt to breathe and listen as one.

Described by Cowley as music for the ‘heart and feet', Radio Silence shifts effortlessly between moments of poetic grace, rip-roaring riffs and Chaplinesque ditties that reminds us that for all his many influences, Cowley's music is as British as ‘Test Match Special', warm beer or a bacon sarnie. After all, it is Cowley who played the elegiac intro to Adele's London hymn Hometown Glory and likewise, his own music is just as rooted in where he comes from. This is music born in London pubs, on stage at Glastonbury, in suburban side streets and the banter of the tour bus, with results that are as enthralling, heart-warming and gripping as the very best in contemporary music.

Take for instance, the gorgeous title track which invokes the sudden and stark realisation, that someone you love is no longer close to you. It is a deceptively simple but highly effecting tune propelled by the bands intuitive group interplay and conjures moments of sheer beauty. Elsewhere, Gerald is an affectionate portrait of a geeky friend and part-time guitarist who likes to 'wig-out' at the weekend, while the epic, blissful Portal expresses a child-like sense of wonder before the cosmos. Vice Skating is a lyrical tour-de-force and the raucous Hug the Greyhound is partly inspired not only by the impossibility of such an act, but is also a wry nod at his own manic energy levels, and it is this restless drive that pushes Neil Cowley Trio towards greatness.

There’s little doubting Neil Cowley’s credentials (he performed a Shostakovich concerto at the Queen Elizabeth Hall aged just 10) but the pianist has faced some gentle criticism from the jazz world for not cutting loose from his stylish, hook-laden, groove-based awnings in recent years. But as elegant and catchy as this third album from the ex-Brand New Heavies keyboardist is, especially on the glassy, contemplative opener Monoface, it’s the playfulness bursting from the piano ace’s fingers that should capture the imagination here – and prove he’s not scared of getting fresh.

Along with some delicious flashes of the minimalist, ambient ideas picked up while training as a classical pianist, baring themselves as silvery piano motifs on the terrific title-track, Vice Skating and glacial album closer Portal, it’s Cowley’s feverish flights of fancy that really stand out. Similar in style to the striking piano play that marked out the highlight of his 2006 album Displaced, the tumbling lunatic Clown Town, and those covers of Revolution No 1 and Revolution No 9 he recorded a few years ago, Cowley is channelling his improv spirit with real refinement.

When his music breaks into a massive grin, like it does on the thumping joyful rocker Gerald, with its furiously repetitive piano riff that snags the mind, and on the almost cartoonish Hug the Greyhound, which sees him hammering wild yet complex piano notes as if he’s racing the lean, galloping groove to the finish line before falling over it in an exhausted heap, this is undeniably compelling stuff. And Cowley plays his improv style another way, too. On Stereoface, his light, percussive melodies and gently freeform ideas dot the soft groove-based funk patter brilliantly.

Giving his detractors ammunition, however, Cowley always returns to the middle ground, even mid-improv, and all too often he turns to the sort of safety-first sound that he should’ve been free of the day he quit offering his services as a session musician. With bassist Richard Sadler and drummer Evan Jenkins along for the ride and as reliable as ever, the latter laying down fabulous, expansive percussion, there’s no need at all for Cowley to deny himself more flashes of brilliance. (Chris Parkin, BBC Music)

“lyrical, angular seismic, elegiac .... sonic peaks that elevate the album towards greatness” (The Independent)

“beautiful... elegiac, meditive even... a band that seems to have found its voice... the sound of a band maturing fast, and in the process taking more chances. .. This is Cowley’s best yet” (Jazzwise)

Neil Cowley - Piano
Richard Sadler - Bass
Evan Jenkins - Drums