Displaced, an outstanding album of original recordings that present Cowley as a thoroughly modern player with an impeccable touch. As a pianist, Neil Cowley is dazzling, and as a composer he is stunning. With Richard Sadler on double bass, and Evan Jenkins on drums, Cowley has assembled a masterful jazz trio, whose bursts of energy and emotional infectiousness underpin Cowley’s tremendous flair for creating beautiful, sometimes forceful melodies.
Having rehearsed the material for one week, The Neil Cowley Trio recorded Displaced in one take over two days at Real World Studios. For Cowley, the tunes on Displaced had to tick the boxes of the past masters that live on his shoulders. Shostakovich, Ahmad Jahmal, Frank Zappa, Errol Garner, Taraf de Haidouks. “I love a chord!” he says, “My chords always come before my melody. Each chord has to have its own life and story and touch on something I feel. The melody is often how my fingers play around those chords.”
Displaced is an album of emotional integrity, and one that will surely become contender for Jazz Album of the Year. One thing is for sure, The Neil Cowley Trio have produced an album that demonstrates what should be at the core of all music making. Playing for sheer joy!
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