Neil Cowley Trio @ Capstone Theatre, Liverpool - April 18

Neil Cowley {piano); Rex Horan  (double bass}; Evan Jenkins (drums)

Neil Cowley Trio returned to the Capstone Theatre just over 12 months since their last performance here on 1 March 2025 as part of that year’s Liverpool International Jazz Festival. The guys went down well last year and from the standing ovations and rapturous applause at the end of this concert it was clear that Liverpool loves this group. I only became familiar with Neil Cowley’s work relatively recently through the Jamie Cullum's programme on BBC Radio 2 and Jamie is clearly a big fan. I have several of Neil Cowley’s CD’s and am a fan but the trio’s live shows are something else. Their music has been described as energetic, melodic and “muscular” piano jazz, However, it’s not all about the piano as Rex Horan and Evan Jenkins play major roles in this music.

This concert is part of a tour for their brand new album Built on Bach the tracklist of which is set out below. The trio played all tracks on the album plus other tracks from previous albums. Neil explained the background to the album which came into being by accident rather than design. Clearly Johann Sebastian Bach and his music is important in Neil Cowley’s life and the music on this album was prompted by his touching experience of unexpectedly visiting Bach’s resting place. This live show explores the subtle but powerful influence of Bach on his music.  I enjoyed the tracks from the album with highlights being Perriwiggle and Emma’s Video Shop. I had expected a more reserved approach to the music than in previous albums but I was not disappointed. Neil jokingly described the music as a “Ruination of Bach” but he has adapted, improvised and in my view brought it all up to date in an acceptable way.

From the previous albums the trio included from Entity tunes such as Adam Alphabet and Father Daughter. Two tunes were played for the encore the last one being a fabulously energetic and powerful extended version of the title track of the trio’s album The Face of Mount Molehill

It transpired after the concert that folk from as far away as Spain and Poland had travelled to Liverpool for this concert. I cannot quite put a finger on why I enjoy Neil Cowley’s music so much. I thinks it’s partly because it’s so original. It’s a bit like the music of Australian trio The Necks who I have seen live although their music takes a lot longer to reach a crescendo (normally about 30 minutes). Richard Morris

The album Built on Bach  track list: Sales Technique; Chatterbox; John Wayne; Thomas; Scurry; Emma’s Video Shop; Incorrect Number; Periwiggle; Clever Clogs; White Elephant

The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool Hope University Creative Campus, 17 Shaw Street, Liverpool L6 1HP     www.capstone@hope.ac.uk