Music

Neil Cowley Trio coming to Exeter Phoenix (news)

10th February 2010

Pioneering jazz combo the Neil Cowley Trio are set to visit Exeter as part of the city's Vibraphonic festival.

Pianist and composer Neil Cowley will be joined by his long-time collaborators - Evan Jenkins on drums, and Richard Sadler on bass.

Once dubbed 'jazz for Radiohead fans' and positioned as the act to provide an entry point to jazz for rock fans, the Neil Cowley Trio have turned the concept of the piano trio on its head.

This year they return to the stage with Radio Silence, their astonishing and much anticipated follow-up to 2008’s Loud Louder Stop.

Radio Silence's rich palette of light and shade is at once complex and thoughtful, melodic and joyous - Cowley’s inventiveness, wit and brash dynamism is again in full force.

His trio’s muscular, racy and thrilling anthems sit alongside intricately reflective pieces, all delivered with a distinct streak of endearing English eccentricity.

But it is their powerfully emotional shows, coupled with Cowley’s cheeky banter and remarkable rapport with his audience that set this trio apart from the rest, reaching out far beyond the confines of the jazz idiom.

Yet, if the trio’s critically acclaimed releases and rapturous audiences established them as one of the most important and distinct acts on the UK jazz scene, Radio Silence establishes them as a world class act firmly at the centre of the international stage.

See for yourself at the Phoenix on March 21. Tickets cost £12/£10 on 01392 667 080.

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