Henry Lowther

Henry was born in Leicester, England, in 1941. As a child he learned cornet from his father and took private violin lessons before going on to study with Manoug Parakian at the Royal Academy of Music. 

His first interest in playing jazz was sparked by hearing a recording of Sonny Rollins. He then resumed brass playing on trumpet. 

In the sixties Henry was one of the first musicians on the British jazz scene to experiment with total free improvisation and also at this time began a musical relationship with Sir John Dankworth which lasted till the composer’s death in 2010. In 1967 he played on the now legendary Ken Wheeler album, “Windmill Tilter”. 

In 1969 Henry appeared at the famous Woodstock festival with the Keef Hartley band. 

Over the years Henry has worked in all areas of the British jazz scene and is one of only two or three trumpet players to have played lead trumpet for both Gil Evans and George Russell. He has also worked extensively as a studio and classical musician. 

Currently Henry composes for and plays in the London Jazz Orchestra, leads his own band Still Waters, and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music. 

In 2017 Henry played on two tours. First with the Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra and then with Mike Gibb’s 80th Birthday Tour. He was nominated for a Parliamentary Jazz Award in the Services to Jazz category.

 

Henry Lowther playing trumpet

Noel Langley

Noel Langley has been at the forefront of the British music scene for over 30 years, enjoying a multi-faceted career as a performer, educator, composer, arranger, producer and bandleader. Renowned for his ability to cross artistic boundaries, Noel has performed and recorded with many of the world’s finest symphony orchestras, big bands and recording artists. He also appears on many film and television sound tracks and has played in over sixty West End productions. He has led the trumpet section of every major British big band of the last 20 years including those fronted by Sir John Dankworth, Stan Tracey, Tim Garland, Guy Barker, Julian Joseph, and Gwilym Simcock. Noel has also toured with international jazz stars, including Harry Connick Junior, Billy Cobham and Georgie Fame and has been musical director for the big bands of Hermeto Pascoal, Andrew Hill and the Human Revolution Orchestra. 

In 1990 Noel founded the London Jazz Orchestra and rejoined the legendary 1980s band, Loose Tubes for their 30th anniversary performances in 2014. Noel is an active contributor to the UK contemporary classical scene having played with the London Sinfonietta and the Michael Nyman Band. He is an integral member of the virtuoso ensemble assembled by award winning British composer, Graham Fitkin. Noel, who released, his debut album ‘Edentide’ in the spring of 2014, has gone on to produce records for Geoff Eales, and his partner Yazz Ahmed, including her internationally acclaimed 2017 release, La Saboteuse. He is currently working on completing two new projects with Yazz before embarking on his own second album next year.

 http://www.noellangley.co.uk