Neil Cowley Trio

“The Face Of Mount Molehill”

(Naim Jazz Naimcd171)

The Cowley Trio’s fourth release and their second for Naim (after moving from Candid’s Cake imprint) represents a further departure for the band. Pianist and composer Neil Cowley has widened his sonic palette with the addition of guest guitarist Leo Abrahams (a former Brian Eno alumnus) plus a string quartet, The Mount Molehill Strings. The album is the direct descendant of the Cowley Trio’s acclaimed “with strings” experiments at the 2010 London and 2011 Cheltenham jazz festivals and the additional elements represent a welcome extension of the Trio’s now familiar core sound.

The thirty nine year old Cowley was a fairly late comer to jazz arriving via a circuitous route that took in childhood classical training (something of a prodigy Cowley was playing Shostakovich at London’s QEH at the age of ten), soul covers bands and marginal pop stardom as a member of the bands Brand New Heavies and Zero 7. Also an in demand session player he played on the soundtrack of the Ian Dury biopic “Sex and Drugs ‘n’ Rock ‘n’ Roll” and also appears on Adele’s phenomenally successful album “21” along with Polar Bear drummer Sebastian Rochford. 

Cowley formed his piano trio with drummer Evan Jenkins and bassist Richard Sadler in 2006 and the self released début “Displaced” was, in jazz terms at least, a runaway success winning the band a cross genre following and scooping best album at the BBC Jazz Awards. “Displaced” was inspired by contemporary piano trios such as E.S.T. and The Bad Plus and Cowley’s catchy, hook driven, song like instrumentals plus the trio’s energetic and often humorous live performances ensured their “across the board” appeal. Evan Jenkins gave up his contemporaneous membership of blues guitarist Matt Schofield’s band to concentrate on the trio full time.

Some jazz purists were rather sniffy about the trio’s success citing a lack of improvisational content in the band’s music. They were partially vindicated when the follow up, “Loud, Louder, Stop”, a title lifted from one of those critical put downs, offered more of the same. Although the trio’s live shows saw them stretching out it seemed that Cowley preferred to keep things much tighter on record.

“Radio Silence”, the trio’s third album and their first for Naim offered greater improvisational content, particularly on the freely structured “French Lesson” but some of the group’s trademark energy was dissipated by this process. “Mount Molehill” seems to steer a path between the two extremes, Cowley has reverted to short, lean compositions but his treatment of them is significantly different to that of the first two albums with Abrahams and the Strings adding nuance and texture to the trio’s music. It’s a clear progression and one that arguably makes this their most satisfying release yet.

Another significant factor is the departure of founder member Richard Sadler and his replacement by the Australian born bassist Rex Horan, leader of the funk/soul outfit Mama’s Gun and a prolific session musician. Horan has given an added rhythmic impetus to an already hard driving band and his work throughout the album is commendably tight and propulsive. 

The twelve relatively short tracks begin with “Lament”, a surprisingly tender and lyrical item embellished with strings and Abrahams’ ambient guitar textures.

If the opener was somewhat uncharacteristic then “Rooster was A Witness” combines the best of both worlds. A typically catchy Cowley hook and groove is enhanced by the counterpoint of the pizzicato strings with the quartet later picking up their bows to provide additional melodic content. Densely composed and arranged there’s a lot going on in this piece and the blend of energy and sophistication ensures that it’s one of the best things Cowley has ever done.

At a shade under three minutes “Fable” is archetypal hard driving Cowley. If he ever decides to release another single this should probably be it. Having said that Cake released “His Nibs” from “Louder” as a vinyl 7 inch and it failed to take off despite being featured on a TV ad for Guinness Red. Cowley was still giving them away at gigs some two years later and there was me buying one for a fiver back in 2007 thinking it was going to be a collector’s item!

“Meyer” takes a typically persuasive Cowley hook and drenches it in strings, but in a good way. There’s an anthemic quality to this that should make it another live staple. “The greatest stadium filling anthems that Coldplay never wrote” claims the publicity for the trio’s coming tour. This is a good example of what Uncut Magazine were talking about.

“Skies Are Rare” is another representation of Cowley’s more lyrical side, a song like construction containing a fine Horan bass solo, some of Cowley’s most expansive piano work and some more lucid writing for strings. 

As the title suggests “Mini Ha Ha” with its sampled laughter represents the more playful side of the trio’s output. Cowley possesses a surreal, very English sense of humour which manifests itself in both his song titles and his between tunes banter at gigs. At first “Mini Ha Ha” sounds like a novelty item but it also features a surprisingly tender and lyrical coda featuring a deeply resonant bass solo from Horan.

The “songs without words” analogy is routinely applied to Cowley’s music and “Slims” represents a sublime case in point. Strings swirl around an insistent piano phrase in another of those “stadium filling anthems”. Cowley and Horan allow themselves a little space but overall this is a highly disciplined performance. 

“Distance By Clockwork” is an evocative piece of writing with lush strings Abrahams’ guitar atmospherics augmenting the trio sound. Behind the song like structure there’s something of a film noir ambience.

The title track represents a typically Cowley-esque reflection on life’s little trivias. It’s a suitably irreverent romp which initially sounds as if it might have been at home on either of the trio’s first two albums. However in keeping with the ethos of this latest project Cowley’s trademark keyboard hammering is augmented by clattering electronic effects, spiky strings and Jenkins’ hip hop style groove. It’s great fun.

At six minutes plus “Hope Machine” represents the album’s lengthiest track. It’s refreshingly upbeat and pits a monster groove against soaring strings before a more reflective central section punctuated by Jenkins’ drum explosions.

“La Porte” alternates gentle, lyrical passages with sharp,stabbing phrases and some commendably full on trio playing with Jenkins again making his presence felt. The brief “Siren’s Last Look Back” represents an appropriately impressionistic and reflective finale.

With its increasingly diverse writing and consistently intriguing arrangements “Mount Molehill” represents Cowley’s most adventurous and mature work to date. I’m not always a fan of strings on jazz recordings but they work brilliantly here, really adding depth and colour to the music. The trio will be touring in March 2012 and it would seem that Abrahams and the Mount Molehill Strings will be joining them on the road making this series of gigs a “must see”.

Tour dates are;

On tour in 2012
with the Mount Molehill Strings

15th March, LONDON, Queen Elizabeth Hall
21st March CARDIFF, RWCMD
22nd March LIVERPOOL, Capstone Theatre
23rd March GATESHEAD, The Sage Gateshead
24th March LEEDS, The Venue
13th April BIRMINGHAM, CBSO
14th April SOUTHAMPTON, Turner Sims
26th April BRISTOL, St Georges

COMMENTS

From Emrys Baird;

What a great review of the album really enjoyed that.I saw them recently at the QEH and they stormed it!! Excellent piece of writing sir!!

Warmest regards Emrys ( The Soul Immigrants)

http://www.thesoulimmigrants.com

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