NEIL COWLEY TRIO

BUILT ON BACH

UK TOUR APRIL 2026

 Exeter * Bodmin * Poole * Bradford on Avon * Stroud * Milton Keynes * Cardiff * Sheriffhales * Liverpool * Carlisle * Sunderland * Sheffield * Bury St Edmonds

In 2023, composer-pianist Neil Cowley found himself in St Thomas’s Church in Leipzig, Germany. Drawn by a small commotion at one end, he came upon a gravestone flush to the floor, grandly lettered and modestly adorned – it marked the resting place of the city’s most famous resident, Johann Sebastian Bach. “To my surprise,” he says, “I was floored to be in the great man’s presence. In that moment, I realised the profound impact he and his music had had on my life. He was the beginning of it all — the fundament to my technique and the core of my musicality.”

Back home, Cowley dug out his pile of Bach piano workbooks — dog-eared and pencil-marked — and called his bandmates, Rex Horan on bass and Evan Jenkins on drums.  “We were immediately excited by the idea of pulling out my favourite harmonics and melodies from Bach’s work, adding improvisation and extemporisation, and performing it all live” says Cowley. Using original Bach pieces as a starting point, new compositions took shape — often travelling far from their source. Built on Bach is the result, a 16-date UK tour that runs throughout April 2026 featuring brand new music with Bach at its heart, filtered through the Neil Cowley Trio lens

But to be clear, Built on Bach is not merely a jazz reinterpretation of Bach’s work. Rather, Cowley pays homage not by unravelling or reinventing Bach’s compositions, but by revealing Bach within his own. As with all of Cowley’s music, Bach’s presence is felt — not imitated. Built on Bach lifts the car bonnet to lay bare the essence of the Neil Cowley Trio’s sound.

Built on Bach recognises the unconscious influence that surfaces through all of Cowley’s original work; in its length and journey, ‘Gerald’ is  Cowley’s own 3 ½ minute Invention. Or perhaps The Face Of Mount Molehill or most recently ‘Minute’.

Ahead of the April tour, Cowley shares some brand-new music, composed specifically for Build On Bach. Using the essence of Bach’s Invention No.4 Cowley Scully is a playful dance between Cowley and Bach from across the ages!

Built on Bach is an evening of Neil Cowley Trio music using Bach’s work as a ‘jumping off point’. Bach is etched into Cowley’s DNA and as such original music hums with Bach’s presence. Approached in the way they approach all their music; with freedom, with dynamics, with improvisation and above all accentuating the beauty within. This will be a show combining the classic sound of the Neil Cowley Trio with the sound of the most classic composer of them all; Johann Sebastian Bach.

“Everything that had been passed down to me descends from Bach and his incredible body of work. He was my rock God… or my Baroque God if you like”  Neil Cowley

Built On Bach Tour Dates

8 April – EXETER: St Michael’s Mount Dinham

9 April – BODMIN: – St Petroc’s Church

10 April – POOLE: The Lighthouse

11 April – BRADFORD ON AVON: Wiltshire Music Centre

12 April – STROUD: Sub Rooms

14 April – MILTON KEYNES: the Stables

15 April – CARDIFF: The Gate

17 April – SHERIFFHALES: St Mary’s Church

18 April – LIVERPOOL: The Capstone Theatre

19 April – CARLISLE: Tullie

21 April – SUNDERLAND – The Fire Station

22 April – SHEFFILED: Firth Hall

23 April – BURY ST EDMUNDS: The Apex

For Ticket Information go to neilcowleymusic.com