However for fans who enjoyed the first two releases there are still some familiar reference points and the trio is still buzzing with energy.Ī classically trained child prodigy Cowley was performing Shostakovich in public at age ten before musically “dropping out” and opting for a life in pop and soul bands among them The Pasadenas, Brand New Heavies and Zero 7. The fourteen and a half minute “Portal” which closes the album is testament to Cowley’s increasing ambitions for the trio. It’s a more mature record than it’s predecessors and sees Cowley broadening the scope of his writing. “Radio Silence” finds pianist Cowley again joined by bassist Richard Sadler and New Zealand born drummer Evan Jenkins.
The track “His Nibs” was used in a Guinness commercial and is now referred to by Cowley as the band’s “big hit”. Essentially it was more of the same but the trio’s sheer ebullience largely spared them from any kind of critical backlash. I recall a particularly barnstorming set at the 2007 Cheltenham Jazz Festival when the group were really “going for it”.Ģ008’s follow up “Loud, Louder,Stop” appeared on the Candid offshoot Cake and consolidated the trio’s success. An important factor in the trio’s success was the dynamic quality of their stage shows, Cowley being a particularly charismatic performer and a witty and acerbic announcer of tunes. Cowley’s blend of unabashed energy and catchy hooks and grooves appealed to a broader public than the usual jazz audience and the trio achieved a degree of crossover success reminiscent of one of their influences E.S.T. The record was a considerable critical and, in jazz terms, commercial success. The trio first burst onto the scene in 2006 with “Displaced” which appeared on Cowley’s own Hideinside label. On 19th April 2010 the Neil Cowley Trio will release their third album “Radio Silence” on the Naim Jazz label.
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