Acclaimed pianist Neil Cowley, who will perform at Aberdeen Jazz Festival, played piano on Adele hits including Rolling in the Deep.

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 2017  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.”

This is the embarrassing moment three bungling thieves filmed themselves singing along to Adele whilst they committed burglaries in stolen cars.

Stevie Lakin, 20, Declan Dale, 22, Mason Wall, 18, were arrested after police traced a tablet device inside the van they had stolen to South Kirkby, West Yorkshire, in the early hours of August 8, 2024.

Footage taken by the men shows them inside a stolen Mitsubishi car, which they refer to as a ‘rammer’, as they strain their voices singing Adele’s Someone Like You.

West Yorkshire police jokingly put a warning before the video which read: ‘The following video contains singing which may be harmful to your ears.’

Showing all three of their mugshots, the force poked fun at them again, writing: ‘Unfortunately for these burglars the someone we found was them.’

Police found videos and photographs of them with with cars and other items they had stolen, this time singing along to Rihanna‘s We Found Love.

A more sinister video found on their phones show them filming themselves as they broke into someone’s home in the middle of the night to steal what appears to be a handbag.

One of them can be heard whispering: ‘Take your time’ to the other who is climbing through the window.

They were also caught speeding in the cars they had stolen, reaching speeds of up to 160mph.

Police are still trying to indentify the two other men in the footage and have urged anyone who knows them to come forward by contacting them online or calling 101.

Lakin, Dale and Wall pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary dwelling with the intent to steal, one count of burglary dwelling, two counts of attempt burglary dwelling and three counts of theft of a motor vehicle.

The conspiracy to commit burglary dwelling charge includes 37 burglaries in Pontefract, Upton, South Elmsall, Castleford, South Kirkby, Wakefield, Hemsworth, Skellow, Barnsley and Crofton between November 30, 2023, and August 6, 2024.

The other offences occurred in South Kirkby and Upton in August 2024.

All three appeared at Leeds Crown Court on March 6 where Lakin was sentenced to nine years and six months in jail.

Dale received two years and eight months and Wall was handed three years and four months.

“She’s flawless”

While Gabrielle was starstruck by the idea of getting to support the ‘Hello’ star, Adele later fangirled on stage about having Gabrielle supporting her.

“The fact that even when she went on stage she was talking about me, again, you can’t ever take this away from me,” Gabrielle gushed.

She also revealed that the ‘Set Fire to the Rain’ singer was watching her sets from backstage while getting ready to perform later.

“So many great things happened that year, but to be on that stage, to actually have her [watching] my stage in rollers with my sound guys!” the ‘Dreams’ singer reminisced, still in disbelief.

“I thought: ‘This woman is amazing. Just doing her own thing, rocking out and just chilling and singing along.’”

Asked if she’d support Adele again at a concert, Gabrielle sweetly replied she thinks she’d be too nervous to open again for the “flawless” but “down to earth” singer.

“If I ever had to support her again I’d be like: ‘No I can’t, because I’m too scared!’ She was incredible, but I don’t think I can do it twice because she was so amazing!”

Dreams can come true

Gabrielle last toured the UK in 2023 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her fan-favourite track ‘Dreams’.

The song will be turning 33 years old this year, and the singer will still be proudly belting it out every evening for her fans.

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