A night of the finest music from those who were at the vanguard of the 1960s London jazz scene.
HENRY LOWTHER
During the sixties Henry was one of the first musicians on the British jazz scene to experiment with total free improvisation, notably with Jack Bruce, Lyn Dobson and John Hiseman. He played with the original and seminal Mike Westbrook band (which included Mike Osborne and John Surman), and also with John Dankworth, including playing on the now legendary and rare Kenny Wheeler album “Windmill Tilter”. In the sixties Henry also worked on the rock scene with Manfred Mann and John Mayall, and also with Keef Hartley, with whom he appeared at the famous Woodstock festival in 1969.
Over the last thirty years Henry’s work on the British jazz scene reads like a “Who’s Who”. He has played regularly with, amongst many others, Gordon Beck, Michael Garrick, Graham Collier, Mike Gibbs, Pete King, Loose Tubes, John Surman, John Taylor, Stan Tracey and Kenny Wheeler.
DAVE GREEN
Born in London in 1942, he started on tea-chest bass in local skiffle groups before buying his first double bass at fifteen. Local gigs followed, often with neighbour Charlie Watts and trumpeter Brian Jones.
Turning professional in 1963 he worked with Keith Ingham and with multi instrumentalist Pete Shade. He joined the Don Rendell Quintet in the December, and remained with until 1969, by which time it had become the Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet. In 1964 he worked with Benny Goodman on TV. In 1965 he joined Humphrey Lyttelton, remaining with the band for eighteen years, but managing to combine the work with playing with Stan Tracey, and accompanying many visiting American jazzmen.
PAUL CLARVIS
English drummer and percussionist who has played with many different bands and is involved with all musical genres, working with musicians ranging from Leonard Bernstein, Harrison Birtwistle and John Dankworth to Randy Crawford. Paul has recorded albums with Gordon Beck, Bryan Ferry, John Williams, Sam Rivers, Moondog, John Adams, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Marc Ribot, John Zorn, Michel Legrand, Elton John, Richard Thompson, The Orb, Henry Lowther and John Harle, along with Mose Allison, Randy Brecker and Ravi Shankar. He has been the featured percussionist / drummer for most of the London Orchestras and is in great demand on film and recording sessions as a specialist hand drummer.
PETE HURT
Pete Hurt has quietly been part of the London jazz scene for almost four decades and has developed one of the most uniquely distinguishable sounds and styles. Apart from his great saxophone playing he has also been recognised for his compositional and arranging skills. Pete’s unique musical contribution is featured on Chris Biscoe’s new album Profiles Of Mingus.
BARRY GREEN
“The pianist can effortlessly sustain a graceful Bill Evans-like lyrical swing, but also massages the ideas of the others. His contemporary references give him a broad sweep, and he has much to do with this set’s freedom from bop-standard rigidities…The pianist wraps a light tracery around Speake against ringing cymbal and thumping keynotes on Jitterbug Waltz, and then plays a pungent solo…”
John Fordham,The Guardian