Henry Botham plays trombone with Mr. Wilson’s Second Liners.

He is a trombone player, pianist, session musician and keen flautist. He specialises in Harlem Stride Piano, New Orleans music and playing vintage and analogue keyboards, organs and electric pianos. He also tutor’s piano from home.

Henry is Salford University alumni, cutting his teeth on the Manchester jazz circuit with his first band, HB3, and as a popular accompanist for singers and soloists. During this time, he also toured and recorded with nu-jazz band, RSL.

This led to the formation of No Good Beatniks, an originals project with a stellar, collective line-up of UK jazz talent, including Nick Blacka (AIM, Gogo Penguin), Rob Turner (Gogo Penguin), Howard Jacobs (Toolshed, Homelife), and Stuart McCallum (Cinematic Orchestra).

Creatively developing a studious interest in vintage piano, Henry has emerged as a UK authority on 1920s Harlem Stride and lesser known New Orleans piano, which draws from a wide range of influences including blues, jazz, funk, R&B, rumba, ragtime and even classical music and rock, all epitomised by master of the genre, James Booker.

Putting his comprehensive study to good use, Henry is pianist for New Orleans R&B band, The Nightcreatures, and runs his own band, 52 Skidoo, one of the UK’s leading 1920/30s bands. This keen interest and research has also informed the development of Mr. Wilson’s Second Liners, influencing arrangements and consulting on authenticity. He also runs a monthly New Orleans Jam Night at Matt and Phred’s Jazz Club, Manchester.

As a trombone player, he is featured in The Part Time Heliocentric Cosmo Drama After School Club’s recent film, Language of Ra, which goes some way to explain  their performance, celebrating the influence of Ra’s legacy, and showing the Cosmo Dramatists rehearsing, performing and offering insights into the infectious joy of Sun Ra.