Neil Cowley
Neil Cowley studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the age of ten performed a Shostakovich Concerto at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
But by his mid-teens he turned his back on formal classical training and entered the world of pop, joining a Blues Brothers tribute band, "as a way of getting into pubs.鈥�
His work has seen him write themes for a number of television programmes, as well as with some of the best funk and soul bands of the day including Zero 7 and Brand New Heavies, alongside his own band Fragile State.
Having worked a lot on electronic music, Neil eventually began focusing more on the piano, eventually forming the Neil Cowley Trio with Richard Sadler on Bass and Even Jenkins on Drums.
The band鈥檚 debut album Displaced was released on their own record label in 2006 and went on to win the 2006 大象传媒 Jazz Award for Best Album.
In 2008 the group followed up this success with their second album Loud...Louder...Stop.
The recording placed the trio at the forefront of the British 鈥楶ost-Jazz鈥� movement and earned them critical acclaim from across the musical spectrum.
In the same year, Neil's unique handle on bringing inanimate ideas and objects to life earned him a 30 second nationwide television commercial for Nokia.
The list of people he has collaborated with over the years includes Adele for whom he performed on the album 21.
In 2012 his trio embarked on a set of shows across the United States, and he is currently the musician in residence at the UK 2013 City of Culture.
