Neil Cowley (born 5 November 1972) is an English contemporary pianist and composer. He has also released music as part of Fragile State, the Green Nuns of the Revolution, and the Neil Cowley Trio. With his trio, he appeared on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' in April 2008 and won the 2007 BBC Jazz Award for best album for ''Displaced''. In 2018, Cowley announced he was working on a new electronic focused solo project. In 2020, Cowley announced his debut solo album, 'Hall of Mirrors'.

Biography

Cowley was born in London, England. He began as a classical pianist and performed a Shostakovich piano concerto at the age of 10 at

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The Q ...

. In his late teens Cowley moved into being a keyboardist for soul and funk acts Mission Impossible,

the Brand New Heavies The Brand New Heavies is an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing in west London. Centered around songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, the core members of the group since its founding, Brand New He ...

, Gabrielle and

Zero 7 Zero 7 are an English musical duo consisting of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. They began as studio engineers and in 1997 formed the group Zero 7. Their debut album, '' Simple Things'', was released in 2001 in which their song " Destiny" stayed ...

. He also appeared as a co-composer and session musician with the jazz-rock group Samuel Purdey. An early album was ''Foxbury Rules'', released under the pseudonym Diamond Wookie. In 2002, he formed the duo Fragile State with Ben Mynott; after its end, the Neil Cowley Trio. In 2006, he released an album called ''Soundcastles'' under the name

Pretz Pretz (プリッツ, ''Purittsu'') is a Japanese snack made by Ezaki Glico. Like Ezaki Glico's other popular snack, Pocky, Pretz is stick-shaped and comes with a texture similar to pretzels. Unlike Pocky, Pretz is dusted with seasonings instead of ...

. In 2008, the Neil Cowley Trio recorded cover versions of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " Revolution 1" and "

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" for ''

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'' magazine. In 2012, he appeared as the session pianist on

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

's album '' 21''. In 2013, he was Musician in Residence for

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, when it was designated the inaugural

UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city (or a local area from 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneration for the ye ...

. On 16 September 2016, the album ''Spacebound Apes'' was released by Neil Cowley Trio. In 2018, Cowley announced that the trio was on hiatus and he was working on a new electronic focused project.

Discography

Solo albums

Diamond Wookie *''Foxbury Rules'' (1997) Pretz *''Soundcastles'' (2006) Neil Cowley *''Hall of Mirrors'' (2021)

As leader/co-leader

With Green Nuns of the Revolution *''Rock Bitch Mafia'' (1997) Fragile State *''Nocturnal Beats'' (2001) *''The Facts and the Dreams'' (2003) *''Voices From The Dust Bowl'' (2004) Cowley Trio *''Displaced'' (2006) *''Loud... Louder... Stop!'' (2008) *''Radio Silence'' (2010) *''The Face of Mount Molehill'' (2012) *''Touch and Flee'' (2014) *''Live at Montreux 2012'' (2013) *''Spacebound Apes'' (2016) *''Spacebound Tapes'' (2018)

As sideman

-'' 19'' (2008) * Stereophonics – '' Keep Calm and Carry On'' (2009) *

– '' 21'' (2011) * Birdy – '' Birdy'' (2011) *

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Growing up on ...

– '' At Your Inconvenience'' (2011) *

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé, ( ; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by an English mother and a Zambian father ...

– ''

Our Version of Events ''Our Version of Events'' is the debut studio album by Scottish recording artist Emeli Sandé. The album was released on 13 February 2012 by Virgin Records, following Sandé's winning of the Critics' Choice Award at the BRIT Awards 2012. Though ...

'' (2012) *

Sam Sallon Sam Sallon (born 6 January 1980) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Born in London and raised in Manchester, he is the fourth child of eight. His first release ''Kathy's Song EP'' was released on Indigo-Octagon in January 2013, foll ...

– ''One for the Road'' (2013) * Birdy – '' Fire Within'' (2013)

References

External links

Neil Cowley at All About JazzNeil Cowley Trio Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowley, Neil 1972 births Living people English jazz pianists 21st-century pianists