Neil Cowley Trio

The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, Shropshire, 06/11/2010

The second concert at the recently re-vamped Edge saw Neil Cowley bringing his long running group to town to give their unique interpretation to the meaning of the phrase “piano trio”. Cowley’s trio seemed to arrive fully formed in 2006 with their first album “Displaced” which attracted great critical acclaim and was, in jazz terms at least, a considerable commercial success. Cowley’s success was based on strong melodic hooks and grooves (which often invited comparisons with E.S.T.) plus the manic energy he put into his live performances. 2008’s “Loud, Louder, Stop”, the title taken from a rare critical put down, consolidated the trio’s success and effectively reprised their début. The trio’s latest release “Radio Silence” incorporates more ambitious writing and a greater dynamic range, qualities which were very much in evidence during this performance at The Edge.

I’ve been something of a Cowley fan from the time “Displaced” first came out and have seen the trio, which also comprises of bassist Richard Sadler and drummer Evan Jenkins, on several occasions. Frankly they’ve been a bit of a mixed bag, a gig in nearby Shrewsbury had to be cut short when Cowley broke the piano’s pedals and another in Cardiff featured some excellent playing but was too sparsely attended to make it a classic. This was at a rock venue at a time when Cowley’s label was trying to sell him to the non jazz audience, not something that really seemed to work outside London. But the third time, in front of a packed Pillar Room at Cheltenham Jazz Festival everything came together. Cowley was clearly “up for it” and played with a skill and verve that made this a triumph for the hard working trio. I’d received good reports about this year’s appearance at Brecon Jazz Festival too so our carload of Cowley fans was expecting great things at Much Wenlock.

Since those heady early days Cowley’s commercial appeal seems to have stalled a little but there were still 70-80 keen audience members at The Edge (a little down on some of the other events here but with Bonfire Night a possible factor), enough to guarantee a good atmosphere for the concert.

When I’ve seen the trio before their performances have pretty much been a whirlwind of energy but these days Cowley has added a greater degree of subtlety and dynamic range to his act. This ensures that the high octane moments, and believe me there are still plenty of those, are even more striking and dramatic.

The trio commenced with “Clumsy Couple” from their second album. A surprisingly gentle solo piano intro eventually evolved into the tune’s hook with Sadler and Jenkins subsequently adding their weight to the proceedings. Cowley’s writing is frequently playful and makes good use of dynamic contrasts as here with Jenkins really slamming out the rhythms as the tune built to a climax.

“Hug The Greyhound” is one of the most exuberant tunes on “Radio Silence” and the trio’s rollicking performance drew rapturous reward from the Edge crowd as Cowley started to reel his audience in.

But these days the Cowley trio are increasingly concerned with subtlety and contrast. “Radio Silence”, the title track of their latest album was a much more studied affair with a rare feature for bassist Sadler and with Jenkins deploying brushes throughout.

“Kenny Two Steps” from the trio’s début album has always been a live favourite with its staggering but infectious hooks and riffs. Tonight’s version featured stabs of arco bass from Sadler, a series of dynamic drum fills from Jenkins and a a veritable plethora of false endings as Cowley and his colleagues took great delight in toying with the audience.

Next came “Box Lily”, the “secret track” on Radio Silence”, a tender tribute by Cowley to his young daughter. This revealed another new direction for the trio, a kind of ECM style balladry that saw them making good use of the spaces between the notes.

The final (unannounced) item of the first half saw the trio back at their exuberant best. Cowley’s famously robust playing style was finally seen in all its glory-the Edge’s piano was visibly rocking as Cowley slammed out his favourite block chords and clusters like some jazz tinged offspring of Jerry Lee Lewis. Also notable were his fiery exchanges with drummer Jenkins, set up facing each other the two were constantly bouncing ideas back and forth in a kind of good natured musical sparring with bassist Sadler positioned centre stage and acting as referee.

The second set began with the trio performing their “hit”. The tune “His Nibs” opened the trio’s second album and was used in a TV advertising campaign for Guinness Red. For me it’s a case of love the music, hate the beer but it’s a rousing tune with a powerful hook and was actually released as a 7 inch vinyl single backed by the non album track “Foray”. I remember buying a copy of this at Cardiff thinking it might become a collector’s item. Now Neil’s giving them away free to anybody who joins the group’s mailing list and says he still has a box room at home full of the things!
Named for a pugnacious Scottish pub landlord Cowley described the piece as a “three minute pop song” but it’s one that crammed a lot into it’s duration including an extreme drum break from Jenkins and a deliberately ragged stop/start climax.

“Scaredy Cat”, also from the second album exuded a certain feline slinkiness and a discernible blues inflection. This was followed by “A French Lesson” which appears on the “Radio Silence” album as a group improvisation. It’s now been extended into a more formal composition with a solo piano introduction. The overall mood is impressionistic with Jenkins using soft head sticks to vary the sound of his playing.

Next came the knockabout “Gerald” (from “Radio Silence”) a delightfully playful tribute to a characterful friend. The mood here was one of fun, fun, fun and the piece was hugely enjoyable, if ultimately a bit throwaway. It might just have been word association but for the first time I noticed that Cowley had done away with those rather affected scarves he used to wear on stage. Ironically on a cold November night this was the first time I’d seen him when he might have actually needed it!

A rollicking “Clown Town” (from the first album) kept up the mischief quotient via Cowley’s vocal interjections, vigorous piano and drum exchanges and a quote from the theme tune to “Steptoe And Son”.

The gentle piano/arco bass introduction to the unannounced (I think it may have been “Degree In Intuition” if memory serves) closing number was something of a red herring as the trio quickly reached the same levels of intensity with which they’d ended the first set .

An encore was inevitable, and proved to be “She Eats Flies” (it’s about a spider) from the album “Displaced”. This saw the trio approaching rock volume as the trio built to a hypnotic climax with Cowley standing up to pound the piano. Once again the instrument was visibly rocking and Alison Vermee and her staff must surely have feared for the well being of the much put upon instrument. Fortunately it survived intact ready to greet pianists John Law, Ivo Neame, Kit Downes and Gwilym Simcock who are all due to appear later during an inspired “Jazz Notes at The Edge” 2010/11 programme.

The second set, with the exception of “A French Lesson” had been pretty much an outpouring of energy in the typical Cowley style. However the first set had amply demonstrated the increasing degree of subtlety that now informs Cowley’s writing and playing. The Cowley Trio remain a unique voice in the piano trio world, they’re very different to both E.S.T. and The Bad Plus with whom they’re routinely compared. The Cowley Trio have a distinctly British view of the world (not withstanding Jenkins’ New Zealand origins) and this is reflected in their often playful music and in Cowley’s laconic but humorous announcing style. But behind the bluster there’s a serious side to the trio too- this is a band that’s still developing as their forthcoming collaboration with a string quartet at the London Jazz Festival demonstrates. Let’s hope this unique event gets documented with a view to future broadcast/album release.

In the meantime the trio’s second visit to Shropshire had been far more successful than the first with a rousing audience reaction and the piano escaping relatively unscathed.     

 

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