Water Prayer

Art is often informed by the life experiences of the artist, and what happens to them can impact their work in any number of ways. In November 2018, the singer and songwriter Joe Henry was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and as he wrestled with the prospect of mortality and the physically and emotionally taxing process of treatment, he practiced his own form of self-care – he wrote songs, a bunch of them, and then set about recording them at the home studio of a friend and collaborator, recording engineer S. Husky Höskulds. The product of these sessions, 2019's The Gospel According to Water, in many respects sounds like an ordinary Joe Henry album, with his rich voice and smartly crafted lyrics front and center, but the feel is decidedly different.

The new Joe Henry album “The Gospel According To Water” is the follow-up to his highly acclaimed last work “Thrum” in 2017. The brand new album will be released November 15th - exactly one year after his cancer diagnosis. Joe Henry: “I told my dear wife in those first tremulous moment that I believed I’d just have to write my way through this passage; and now, if I am not exactly “through” it, I am nevertheless finding new balance and clarity, new focus; and have been bolstered by recording what I believe to be among the finest songs I’ve penned.” Not only is he a successful musician, but he also produced albums for artists ranging from Solomon Burke (Grammy Award!), Hugh Laurie, Aimee Mann, Rodney Crowell to Elvis Costello.

Like 1999's Voice in the Night, The Water Is Wide features Charles Lloyd in the company of one of his dearest friends, drummer Billy Higgins, who would pass away less than a year after the album's release. Guitarist John Abercrombie also remains on board, but Lloyd extends the group's generational span by recruiting two younger players: pianist Brad Mehldau and bassist Larry Grenadier. The album begins with a straightforward, elegant reading of Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia."