NEIL COWLEY, UK JAZZ PIANIST PROFILED (2009): Hip and riffing

 |   |  3 min read

Neil Cowley Trio: Dinosaur Die
NEIL COWLEY, UK JAZZ PIANIST PROFILED (2009): Hip and riffing

In August 2009, to belatedly commemorate the 40th anniversary of the release of The Beatles double album (aka The White Album of ‘68), some Australian singers (including Tim Rogers of You Am I and Josh Pyke) got together with an orchestra to play the whole thing live.

Well, not quite the whole thing of course. It would be a brave or foolish soul who undertook the sound collage of Revolution 9, right?

So that makes British jazz pianist Neil Cowley one or the other -- because when Mojo magazine offered its tribute to the same Beatles set in a cover disc last year Cowley’s trio -- bassist Richard Sadler and drummer Evan Jenkins -- stepped up.

And their improbable attempt at the impossible is pretty good: it starts like a pointillist ballad then gets angular, pounding and shattering off into free playing. Don’t expect an echo of Yoko saying, “You become naked . . .” and so on, but this is a vigorous re-interpretation.

Cowley, 37, is arguably the brightest star in the British jazz scene since the heyday of guitarist Ronny Jordan and saxophonists Andy Sheppard and Courtney Pine in the late 80s/early 90s.

He studied classical, played with the Brand New Heavies and Zero 7, recorded three albums as Fragile State with Ben Mynott (disbanded 2005), and formed his own trio.

Their Displaced debut won the 2007 BBC Jazz Award, Mojo said it was the best jazz debut of the year (which probably isn’t saying much) and the Observer Music Monthly hailed it with five stars, comparing its energy to that of the early Clash. Others have noted that Cowley is almost anti-jazz because most people have a simple equation: jazz = boring.

The attack of the Cowley Trio strives to never be dull and their song titles have an increasingly Zappa-like quality: Pair of Teeth, She Eats Flies, Pinball Number Count and Taller Than Me all appeared on Displaced.

On their new album Loud Louder Stop we get Ginger Sheep, We Are Here to Make Plastic and Streets Paved With Half Baguettes Pt2.

As with many jazz players who came up in the rock -- and especially the post-punk era -- Cowley seems at pains to distance himself from jazz and work the more hip rock end of the audience spectrum.

loud_1I’ve always doubted the wisdom of that (those people are more fickle, it’s a pretty small demographic anyway) but right from the start of Loud Louder Stop -- the name taken from a comment by critic -- he delivers a statement of intent: His Nibs is pure piano-thrash, and not a lot more unfortunately.

Later Ginger Sheep sounds like it was lifted from a Madness album, all lively quirkiness, and again not a lot more. Cowley keeps his pieces short (they average around five minutes) and you do long for him to stretch out.

Apparently that’s a very “jazz” thing to say.

johnCertainly there are pieces on Loud Louder Stop where he gets under the skin of the music: Dinosaur Die starts as a gorgeous ballad which trickles into life over an almost tamboura-like drone then hits a powerful repeated figure of almost manic intensity and increasing density. It could have found a place on any edgy ECM album.

However Clumsy Couple attempts a not dissimilar progression but sounds heavy-handed, and the eight minute closer Streets Paved confirms Cowley’s signature style is of repeated phrases in a minimalist manner. Metalheads might call it a riff?

In places (the Monk-like Scaredy Cat) you do get to hear Cowley as a jazz musician, one engrossed by the music, but rather too often this is about surfaces, immediacy, effect and yes, riffs.

Share It

Your Comments

mark robinson - Jan 12, 2010

I have been a fan of The Neil Cowley Trio since the release of the debut CD (as you might expect) having followed the career of Cowley from his days with Brand New Heavies, Gabrielle and Zero 7. I saw him perform live in small South East England clubs in these bands.

I was instrumental in introducing The Neil Cowley Trio to the organizers of the 2009 ASB Queenstown Jazz Festival and very happy to say that it came to pass that the trio performed 3 gigs at the festival. As i was MCing at the festival I was able to hang with the band and interview them (incidentally the drummer, Even Jenkins, is a Wellington lad). Nice guys, passionate and enthusiastic about their music.

It was interesting to note the audience reactions at the gigs; "old school" jazz buffs (for the most part) did not like the music, commenting that it was "pop" music whilst, Sharl we say "more hip" members of the audience were delighted. In-fact the reaction to the trio at a small intimate gig at The Novotel was ecstatically enthusiastic.

The Trio have been compared to The Bad Plus and EST and certainly fall into that ECM genre. They are also associated with the "Death Jazz" genre that had a lot of hype at the time of the debut release (check "Soil and Pimp Sessions" too).

Yes repetitive riffs, perhaps poppy, certainly emotional but live they are tremendous; jazz needs this music.

post a comment

More from this section   Jazz at Elsewhere articles index

Crayford/Street/Weiss: East West Moon (Rattle Jazz)

Crayford/Street/Weiss: East West Moon (Rattle Jazz)

Jonathan Crayford has long been considered one of New Zealand's finest jazz pianists and his range is wide, from Latin flavours to touring with Trinity Roots, playing acid-jazz with New York's... > Read more

PATTI AUSTIN INTERVIEWED (2012): Along came Jones . . . and Jacko

PATTI AUSTIN INTERVIEWED (2012): Along came Jones . . . and Jacko

Patti Austin laughs frequently, sounds a world removed from her diva-like peers, makes references to Snoop Dogg and Rod Stewart, and admits her career – now more than five decades long and... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Philip Glass: Koyaanisqatsi (1983)

Philip Glass: Koyaanisqatsi (1983)

There are few things more depressing than observing a revolution become a style (or the Beatles’ Revolution become a Nike ad). Or to witness innovation morph into cliché. When director... > Read more

RIENZI IN ROME: The man, the madness and the music

RIENZI IN ROME: The man, the madness and the music

Rome hadn't seen anything like him before, this strutting little fanatic who was so gifted with words he could move a crowd to mass action. A born propagandist, he was often invited into the... > Read more