Neil Cowley Trio - New EP and UK Tour.

Thursday, March 05, 2026

Ahead of their upcoming April UK tour, Neil Cowley Trio announce the release of Built on Bach, a 4 track EP released 20 March, from which a single, Emma’s Video Shop is released today, 6 March.

We have received the following press release;

NEIL COWLEY TRIO unveils Built on Bach. New EP/Album ahead of April tour
Major project unveils new music + live dates tracing Bach in composer’s DNA

NEIL COWLEY TRIO
BUILT ON BACH
New single Emma’s Video Shop released 6 March
Taken from Built on Bach EP released 20 March
Exclusive vinyl available 8 April
Full UK Tour from 8 April
Exeter * Bodmin * Poole * Bradford on Avon * Stroud * Milton Keynes * Cardiff * Sheriffhales * Liverpool * Carlisle * Sunderland * Sheffield * Bury St Edmunds

“Another exciting project… sounds fascinating” (BBC R2: Jamie Cullum)

Ahead of their upcoming April UK tour, Neil Cowley Trio announce the release of Built on Bach, a 4 track EP released 20 March, from which a single, Emma’s Video Shop is released today, 6 March. A Built on Bach limited edition vinyl will be available – at the merch desk and from Bandcamp - from 8 April. All are released on Hide Inside Records.

Last autumn, composer-pianist Neil Cowley announced his Built On Bach tour: a 13-date UK tour to run throughout April 2026 for which he and his trio have created an entirely new body of work. He described how in the summer of 2023, while drifting along a tourist trail in Leipzig, Germany, he found himself inside St Thomas’s Church. There, in an almost accidental moment, he glanced down at his feet to discover the gravestone of the city’s most celebrated resident: Johann Sebastian Bach. “A rush of memories followed — hours upon hours of lessons and practice, absorbing the pianistic rules the great man set out so clearly, so mathematically, and in such beautiful harmony. Like a starstruck fan sobbing at a crash barrier, this was my equivalent.” Bach was the beginning of it all, the core of Cowley’s musicality. In that moment, he resolved to honour that influence.

Back home, Cowley called his bandmates, Rex Horan on bass and Evan Jenkins on drums. Using Bach’s passages, melodies, or harmonies as kernels of inspiration, they improvised and extemporised creating new works ready to unfold on tour. A track, Scurry, was recorded to coincide with the announcement. What began as a bridge between their acclaimed 2024 album Entity and the next studio project quickly took on a life of its own: Scurry enjoyed considerable radio success, and before long they were in the studio recording 10 tracks that Neil calls “some of my proudest work.”

Built on Bach is the result, a collection of new compositions loosely based on the works of JS Bach, but shaped in the distinctive sound of the Neil Cowley Trio. Each piece emerges from a direct connection with Bach, not as a jazz reinterpretation or reinvention, but as a way of revealing the Bach DNA that runs through Cowley’s own music.  As with all of the trio’s work, Bach’s presence is felt — never imitated.

The Built on Bach EP with its lead single, Emma’s Video Shop is released ahead of the tour today, 6 March.  Fast-flowing semiquavers drive the piece from its Bach-inspired motif into chords that feel like a Neil Cowley Trio classic. Bass and drums underpin this harmonic quest, joining the piano to create a sound both wistful, yet optimistic.

Elsewhere on the EP, Clever Clogs is built on a germ of a strong Bach theme featuring Jenkins on drums with pseudo-bombastic brushwork, shaped with extreme poetic license.  Periwiggle has the feel of a chamber performance, blending baroque with contemporary jazz “ticky-tacky” football from bassist Horan and Jenkins. Finally, Thomas closes the EP with a contemplative recital, exploring the space and majesty of Bach’s repertoire as afternoon sunlight streams through the windows.

Neil Cowley Trio’s Built on Bach invites Bach enthusiasts to hear an original and interesting approach and perhaps spot familiar motifs. It invites Bach newcomers into his melodic mastery and timeless brilliance, while it lets Neil Cowley Trio fans hear the trio in all its glory and understand the DNA of the trio sound. And, of course, all listeners will enjoy the interplay of three musicians whose deep connection, forged over years of playing together, makes a project like this possible.

“Built on Bach is a decidedly honest, humble and collaborative. It’s what might happen if the Neil Cowley Trio and Bach got together to chew the fat and jam!”

Built On Bach Tour Dates

8 April                     Exeter                     St Michael’s Mount Dinham

9 April                     Bodmin                   St Petroc’s Church

10 April                   Poole                       The Lighthouse

11 April                   Bradford on Avon     Wiltshire Music Centre

12 April                   Stroud                     Sub Rooms

14 April                   Milton Keynes           The Stables

15 April                   Cardiff                     The Gate

17 April                   Sheriffhales             St Mary’s Church

18 April                   Liverpool                 The Capstone Theatre

19 April                   Carlisle                   Tullie

21 April                   Sunderland             The Fire Station

22 April                   Sheffield                 Firth Hall

23 April                   Bury St Edmunds     The Apex

For Ticket Information go to http://www.neilcowleymusic.com

Emma’s Video Shop single is released on 06 March. It is taken from the Built on Bach EP released digitally on 20 March.  A Built on Bach limited edition vinyl (HIDELP007) and CD is available (HIDECD007) on tour and from Bandcamp only on 8 April. All are released on Hide Inside Records