Legendary jazz musician Neil Cowley provided piano on an unknown teenager’s debut album and never imagined her fame would explode globally.
That teenager was Adele and the album 19 which would go on to sell 8.5 million copies worldwide following its release in 2008.
Cowley would also appear on Adele’s 2011 follow up album 21, playing piano on Rolling in the Deep.
It is the biggest selling album of the 21st century and held the number one position in the American billboard charts for 24 straight weeks.
Cowley admits he initially feared his appearance on Adele’s chart-topping smashes would overshadow his own music.
Those concerns quickly dissipated as he racked up a string of influential albums with the Neil Cowley Trio and also as a solo artist.
Playing piano on Rolling in the Deep
The Neil Cowley Trio will headline The Blue Lamp on Friday, March 14 as part of Aberdeen Jazz Festival.
Cowley said: “There was a worry as to whether the Adele stuff would interfere with the picture I’m trying to portray in terms of the amount of love I put into music.
“I spend every single day of my existence worrying and wondering about the output of the Neil Cowley Trio
“And I did the Adele stuff in about five minutes flat.
“Yet the worldwide impact of that five minutes has meant I’ve sat in restaurants for the past 15 years listening to myself on Adele songs.
“That’s just the nature of those pieces of music.
“I used to worry about it.
“Now I’m confident enough that enough time has passed and I’ve created enough of a legacy with the Trio that it barely touches me now.
“I just think it was a moment in time and is now something for me to talk about at dinner parties.”
Cowley has been a key member of the Brand New Heavies and also played piano for Emile Sandé and Michael Kiwanuka.
Neil Cowley Trio return after hiatus
He formed the Neil Cowley Trio in 2005 with the ensemble releasing six acclaimed albums across a 12 year period.
In 2017Â Cowley paused the trio to embrace electronica and neo-classical production.
He would go on to release ground-breaking albums Hall of Mirrors and Battery Life.
Last year the pianist pressed the un-pause button on the trio and the superb album Entity followed.
The 52-year-old said: “It is beautiful to be back with them and I don’t know why the wait was so long.
“When I did the electronica music I felt strangely sad and melancholy when I sat in the dressing rooms on my own before gigs,
“I thought there’s something missing here and it was the same when I was on stage.
“Then I realised it was the other two guys in the band.
“To just have that humanity to bounce off and buzz off.
“Having two people who share the same level of excitement as myself is great, especially when on the road.
“Being with two dear friends is a lovely way to travel.
“We never had a row, I just wanted to do something else.
“But now that we’re back it’s great.”
Cowley is joined by bassist Rex Horan and drummer Evan Jenkins.
The Neil Cowley Trio announced their return last year with a performance at the EFG London Jazz Festival.
The ‘strange DNA’ of Neil Cowley Trio
It would become one of the the festivals fastest selling shows of the year.
Pianist Cowley said: “When we first got back together there was a little rust in the air but it only lasted about two hours.
“After that I realised this is absolutely fine,
“We always instinctively understood each other’s musicality.
“Maybe I hadn’t realised what an incredibly special thing it is
“I certainly do now.
“We fell back into it so easily because we have this inherent thing, this strange DNA between us.”
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