Henry Lowther (trumpet & flugelhorn)
Pete Hurt (tenor sax)
Barry Green (piano)
Dave Green (double bass)
Paul Clarvis (drums)
“For me, Still Waters is the most exciting band I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with” – Henry Lowther
Quite a statement, coming from a man with over 50 years’ playing experience, with small ensembles, big bands and orchestras, of free and composed and classical, with jazz luminary all over the world, from a 45 year association with John Dankworth, soloing in Scott Stroman’s projects, to lead trumpet with both Gil Evans and George Russell, from Woodstock in 1969 with Keef Hartley’s Band to many and continuing years with the London Jazz Orchestra.
20 years after their debut album ID in 1997, Henry Lowther’s Still Waters release their second album Can’t Believe, Won’t Believe. No rush then, an album that reminds us to take some time, for music of great beauty, lucidity and lyricism.
Starting as conversations between Dave Green and Henry more than 30 years ago, of a desire to play music rooted in the jazz tradition but to play with maximum freedom, Still Waters came together in the mid-1990s around Henry’s growing interest in composition.
This band of long-term collaborators and close friends has a cohesion that can be heard in the elegant command of dynamic range and interplay, across the 6 compositions by Henry, Some Other Time by Leonard Bernstein, and the epilogue by Pete Hurt, for Still Waters’ pianist on ID, the late Pete Saberton. The 6th valued member on this album is sound engineer, Andrew Hallifax.
Along with the production of Still Waters’ Can’t Believe, Won’t Believe, and compositional duties on a range of projects, 2017 has seen Henry out on the road with Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra and with the distinguished composer Mike Gibbs. Another long-term association, in 1969 Henry played on Mike Gibbs’s first ever gig as a leader at Lancaster University and has been a regular member of his bands in England ever since.