Neil Cowley Trio, Barbican

Acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Neil Cowley and his trio take the stage at the Barbican for the London premiere ofTouch and Flee, their latest album and most exciting release to date. Cowley has called the album a 'concert hall record' so it's hard to think of a better venue to play host than the Barbican, one of London's finest.

Fan's of the trio will find much that they recognise. The rocky, gospel-tinged vibes and bluesy romps which helped shoot them to fame following their their 2006 debut Displaced  are still very much in evidence. As are the catchy riffs and hypnotic, multilayered grooves that earned Cowley's music the epithet, 'jazz for Radiohead fans'. Yet Touch and Flee, released in June 2014, also marks something of a turning point for the group, a step into new territory. 

Subtler, more complex and more challenging, the album signifies the full-flowering of Cowley's talent as a composer and makes the most of his near-telepathic connection with long-time sparring-partners Rex Horan on bass and Evan Jenkins on drums. 

The broken grooves of opener ' Kneel Down ' set the tone, at first soothing, trancelike, then shot through with a menace that dissipates as unexpectedly as it arrives. From then on the inventive record never looks back, launching into the quirky funk of 'Winterlude' and the smouldering grooves of 'Gang of One' and 'Queen'.

On account of a packed touring schedule, this is the trio's only confirmed London date for 2014 - don't miss this gig.