HE'S the world's most listened to pianist, but you might not have heard of him.

Neil Cowley is the man tinkling the ivories for all of Adele's greatest hits, including Rolling in the Deep, Make You Feel My Love and Turning Tables.

He has also appeared on tracks by Stereophonics, Birdy, Professor Green and Emeli Sande.

But he likes to keep a low profile despite his raft of successes.

"Every single restaurant I ever walk into, I'm playing in the background," he laughs.

A regular collaborator with Adele, the partnership came about as somewhat of an accident.

"I got a call as she was about to record the first track on her first album. They said Adele had a piano player, but he left because he thought they weren't going anywhere!

"So we did Hometown Glory and we found we had a certain magic between us, so after that it was often just me and her in a room writing and playing.

"No-one knows who I am though so I get the best of both worlds. I really do think I get to enjoy all the perks, but none of the problems!"

Southampton audiences will be the first outside of London to hear his new project when Neil brings it to the Turner Sims on Friday October 21.

Spacebound Apes Live sees Neil Cowley Trio perform their new sixth studio album in its entirety.

The trio – long-time band mates Neil Cowley, Evan Jenkins (Eric Clapton, Peter Green) on drums and Rex Horan (The Staves, Laura Marling) on bass are joined by Brian Eno collaborator Leo Abrahams on guitars and FX plus other guests and a specially designed light show.

Together, they present the sort of powerful and captivating musical tale audiences have come to expect from Neil, a widely acclaimed composer of cinematic style music.

It's the hypnotic soundtrack to the tale of Lincoln, a mysterious ape who goes to space to face his fears and is loosely based on the novel The City and the Stars by Arthur C Clarke.

"Yep, you're the lab rats Southampton! Turner Sims is a great place and I love the atmosphere there.

"We normally play a selection of material new and old, but this is going to be the new album in its entirety. We did that with the last album but that wasn't as much of a concept, so I think this one will be a real immersive experience live. If you want us to play any other stuff, it will have to be a very long encore!

The 43 year old adds: "It's semi autobiographical, Lincoln is in his early 40s and is having a bit of a midlife crisis! Each planet is a different emotion.

"This is a project 'I've been working towards for a long time. It takes in themes of guilt, loss and longing with a few twists along the way. It’s been utterly immersive yet incredibly exciting."

Though classically trained as a child from the age of six, Neil's heart lies firmly in the world of pop.

He may have been performing a Shostakovich piano concerto to a full house at Queen Elizabeth Hall at the age of ten - under sufferance when he just wanted to stay home and play cricket he tells me - but it was in the late 80s and early 90s when he found his place touring and recording with successful soul and funk bands including Brand New Heavies and Zero 7 alongside his own successful chill-out project Fragile State and later the BBC Jazz Award winning Neil Cowley Trio.

With such a pedigree of picking the very best artists to play piano alongside, who is his next tip for the top?

"I've been doing a lot of stuff with Ala.ni. She's got a beautiful voice and we did Later with Jools Holland before she was even signed. She's a British artist who sounds like Judy Garland. We did a Jamie Cullum exclusive live session with her as well and her voice is stunning."

However big she becomes, you can expect only one man to be hitting all the perfect notes in the background.

Tickets for Neil Cowley Trio - Spacebound Apes at Turner Sims on Friday October 21 are available from the box office on 023 8059 5151 or turnersims.co.uk