Harry Waters, son of famous Pink Floyd mastermind Roger Waters, has released his first solo album simply titled “Harry Waters Band.”
The album is an extremely melodic jazz album which flows from one jazz style to another. Transposing from a kind of boogie-woogie jazz, to swing and then to a more traditional cafe style quartet sound, the album then progresses to a blues inspired jazz, a big band jazz sound, and ends with “Jarretts Dream,” a wonderful mellow and inspiring jazz melody. The “Harry Waters Band” album is truly a pleasurable toe tapping experience.
Harry Waters plays jazz piano and xylophone jauntily and melodically. Sax man Ian Ritchie (who is Roger Waters touring sax player) is the other mainstay of the band, and he performs brilliantly. Other exceptional musicians such as Neville Malcolm and Yarron Stavi on bass (Yarron previously played with the Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Express. He is also part of Phil Manzanera’s current band for the Firebird V11 project), Seb Rochford (who recently appeared on the new David Byrne/Brian Eno album), and Matt Holme on drums round out the band in two separate recording sessions. Chester Kamen, (Roger Waters’ touring lead guitarist in 2002 and 2008) contributes guitar on the fantastic “Jarretts Dream.”
Musically influenced by the likes of The Greatful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Phish and Pink Floyd (of course), Harry Waters has more recently been influenced by jazz, especially by such jazz greats as Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Billie Holiday and Keith Jarrett.
The album and/or any of the songs can be purchased as MP3 downloads on many different websites. The “Harry Waters Band” on CD is available (as an import in the US) as a limited pressing. So get it while you can.
From the Harry Waters website
Biography:
I started to play the piano when I was about eight years old. I learned from a local piano teacher who taught me the basics. It wasn’t until about five years later however that I really got into playing, when I moved schools and started learning with a teacher who taught me ragtime, boogie woogie and blues. In my teens I played in many different bands and experimented with different styles of music, including rock, funk, pop and metal. I first worked professionally in covers bands called Boot-Led Zeppelin and The Cosmic Charlies (a Grateful Dead/Phish covers band) This gave me a good grounding in rock music and kept me going for the better part of three years. Covers can only take you so far however and I started to hunger for something else.
I started listening to jazz in my early twenties and slowly became more and more interested and influenced by the sound. At the time, I was playing in an originals rock band called Hubble Deep Field and my change in musical direction started to cause some problems in the band. I increasingly wanted to stray from the typical rock structures of the songs we tended to play and experiment with the chords often found in jazz but seldom found in rock music. Consequently I found myself at musical odds with the other band members. It was at this time that I was starting to play along to Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson records. It wasn’t long until I decided that this was the direction I wanted to head in.
I spent a term studying with a tutor at Guildhall who helped me get my basic jazz chops down a lot quicker. More recently I have been taking lessons with a teacher from The Royal Academy who has shown me some classical techniques (I was never classically trained) to increase my speed and facility. The jazz jam sessions in London are a great place to learn and get your chops together. I started going to all the jams incl: The Beaufoy (Battersea), Shinos (Blackfriars), Blue Jays (Shepherds Bush, sadly no longer there, it’s now a disco), Halo (Battersea) and more recently Bar Music Hall (Curtain Rd in east london). This last one is a great jam session with some really special players, including but not limited to: Brandon Allen (Tenor) and Quentin Collins (Trumpet).
The Album:
It’s been a long time coming but my album is finally available to buy. We had a great deal of fun making it over two days at Eastcote Studios. There are almost no overdubs, the only exceptions being where Alan had to play more than one horn in the same song, overdubbing a higher harmony on another track. Phillip Bagnall who recorded the Eastcote session 2006 that many of you will have already listened to, engineered this record fantastically, it has come out very much like how it sounds in my head. This is all one can hope for as a recording musician.
It’s taken a lot longer to complete than I expected. The recording/mixing/mastering stage took very little time, the lions share was taken up with the layout and photography for the cover and inlay. It’s a question of dealing with an artist via email and phone for many weeks, whilst they alter and then re-alter the photos you have chosen. I found this most frustrating as the music side of it was so easy and quick. I suppose if I was designer I might have found the music side a lot harder to accomplish!
The Harry Waters Quartet and the recording sessions: Harry Waters Quartet is comprised of two core members, myself and Ian Ritchie. Ian and I have been playing together for the last couple of years and during that time I have been composing original songs with a view to performing them in a quartet.
I am very influenced by the playing of both Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, one of my compositions “Jarretts Dream”, is very much a result of listening to The Koln Concert over and over. It has brought me so many hours of listening pleasure over the years and this song is simply a reference of it.
The Eastcote Session 2006:
These songs were recorded at Eastcote Studios in one afternoon. Phillip Bagnall produced, and did a great job of getting a sound in such a short space of time. We recorded these songs with a fantastic rhythm section, comprising Seb Rochford on drums and Neville Malcolm on double-bass. Chester Kamen joined us for one tune, Jarretts Dream.
Lydia
St Marks Rd
Jarretts Dream
Spring Stepping
Blues in F
B Minor Swing
Waltz in A Minor
Personnel: Harry Waters: Piano, Ian Ritchie: Tenor Sax, Neville Malcolm: Dbl-Bass, Seb Rochford: Drums, Chester Kamen: Guitar on “Jarretts Dream.”
Home Session:
These next set of songs were recorded in my living room. The four of us spent about half a day recording these and we ended up with a good variety of different tunes.
Bags Groove
Days of Wine and Roses
Rum and Coca Cola (Solo Piano)
Tenderly
Darn That Dream
Billies Bounce
What Is This Thing Called Love
Alone Together
Personnel: Harry Waters: Piano, Ian Ritchie: Tenor Sax, Yarron Stavi: Double-Bass, Matt Holme: Drums.
Well, I do hope you all enjoy the album that has taken the better part of a year from conception and writing to being listen ready. I’d welcome any thoughts or criticisms and especially any complements you would guys would like to give. Please email me if you have any questions or would like to book me for a gig !
Harry Waters Band
Blues in G 4:07
Jumping 4:47
Petersons Bounce 3:59
Juggling for Beginners 5:17
Scholars Mate 4:07
Rum and Coca Cola 1:35
Blues in F 6:41
Garden Party 3:03
Spring Stepping 5:45
Alligators Funeral 5:09
Bonus Track: 11. Jarretts Dream 8:06
The What Records website Stated: This debut album is a private pressing being exclusively distributed by What Records. The album, is not a rock album as many would expect given the fact that his father is Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) but it is very much a jazz masterpiece. Harry is clearly a most talented musician and this, his debut album, is well worth listening to.
The Amazon.com website stated: The stunningly fresh debut album by the innovative British jazz collective the Harry Waters Band, finally hits the US in January 2009. Pianist Harry Waters (son of legendary Pink Floyd bassist and lyricist Roger Waters) embarks on a journey through jazz inspired by greats like Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, and Keith Jarrett.
Having toured with his father since 2002, Harry has also toured with the likes of Marianne Faithful and the psychedelic instrumental rock group, Ozric Tentacles. Though primarily influenced by bands like Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead and Phish (and also having played in several jam band cover bands) Harry Waters decided to take a different musical path.
Joined by band members Ian Ritchie on tenor sax (who is also Roger Waters touring saxophonist and co-producer of Roger’s RADIO KAOS album), Yaron Stavi (of the Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Express) on double bass, drummer Seb Rochford (who also performed on the new David Byrne/Brian Eno album EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS WILL HAPPEN TODAY) and guitarist Chester Kamen (who toured with Roger Waters as well and has collaborated with artists like Brian Ferry, David Gilmour and Seal), the Harry Waters Band create pure, unadulterated jazz.
This is not wild, improvisational modern jazz, but a tribute to the traditional jazz of yesteryear. Waters composed all but one of the tracks on the album, exhibiting a jubilant yet stylishly deft touch on the piano that will leave listeners wanting more. Album highlights: Blues In G, Petersons Bounce and Jarretts Dream.
Harry Waters Band Limited Audio CD pressing:
Release Date January 6, 2009
Original Release Date: December 15, 2008
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Import
Label: Alliance Entertainment
ASIN: B001NHZ2DY
Price: £7.99 from the What Records website
(http://www.whatrecords.co.uk/items/46710.htm) or $18.98 from Amazon.com or from the Harry Waters website (http://www.harrywaters.co.uk/) £10.00 shipped to the UK, and £15.00 shipped to the rest of the world.