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Gary Husband

Gary Husband is one of a rare breed of musicians in that his expression is divided equally in his capacity as a drummer and a pianist and keyboardist of international repute. His classical roots, his quest and development in the improvisational, jazz and jazz/fusion areas – not to mention his tenure in the pop, rock, funk and blues circuits – are all evident inside Gary’s distinct and far-reaching musical personality. His solo album and DVD output has also reinforced his status as a critically acclaimed writer and arranger in the contemporary music world.

For close to four decades Gary has worked alongside a vast and eclectic range of celebrated musicians including John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, Jack Bruce (Cream), Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy), British pop/funk band Level 42, Billy Cobham, Al Jarreau, Mike Stern (Miles Davis), John Wetton (King Crimson), Chris Squire (Yes), Andy Summers (The Police), Steve Hackett (Genesis), Robin Trower (Procol Harum), and with producers Sir George Martin (Beatles), Trevor Horn (Grace Jones & Art of Noise), Quincy Jones (Michael Jackson), Jerry Hey and James Guthrie (Pink Floyd).

Further associations and performing/recording credits include his work with Randy Brecker, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, fusion/jam band Gongzilla, Germany’s NDR Bigband, Soft Machine, Maria Schneider, Christian McBride, Eddie Van Halen, Dean Brown, Bob Berg, Nguyên Lê, Joe Lovano, Charles Tolliver, Bireli Lagrène, Peter Erskine, Ron Sexsmith, drum n’ bass protagonists Lemon ‘D’ and Dillinja.

As an internationally established drum clinician he has performed alongside Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta, Terry Bozzio, Billy Cobham, Simon Phillips, Omar Hakim, Ricky Lawson, Todd Sucherman, Paul Wertico, Denny Seiwell and Bernard Purdie, and most recently has been developing a series of motivational videocasts in drumming.

His alter-ego as a pianist/keyboard player brings an extra dimension to his musicality at the drums. Indeed, he has been the keyboardist & second drummer in John McLaughlin’s 4th Dimension since 2007. Gary continues to devote a substantial proportion of his time recording and performing worldwide across many styles of music.

Gear

Pearl Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Pro-Mark Drumsticks, Factory Metal Percussion, LP Percussion, Remo Drumheads. Roland keyboards.

Gary Husband, Shane Theriot, Dixie Dregs and Kiyo*Sen

by Len Davis
February 2, 2024

Gary Husband from Dirty and Beautiful Vol 1, Shane Theriot, Dixie Dregs, Kiyo &Sen, Al Di Meola and Steve Hunt from Elektrik Market Attraction. French band Sixun, guitarist Yves Nadeau and Jordan Rudess. Playlist Gary Husband “Dreams In Blue" from Dirty and Beautiful Vol 1(Abstract Logix) 00:00 Shane Theriot “Four On The Floor" from Dirty Power (Shose) 08:16 Dixie Dregs “I'm Freaking Out" from Dregs Of The Earth (Arista)16:45/li> Kiyo &Sen “Cuneata-Strictopella" from Drumatica (Elec Records) 24:56 Al ...

Extended Analysis

A Supreme Love

by Duncan Heining
July 10, 2023

Alan Skidmore is one of the finest saxophonists to come out of the United Kingdom, Europe or indeed anywhere. In fact, it was hearing Skidmore's tenor solo on “Have You Heard?" from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (Decca, 1966) that encouraged a young Michael Brecker to take up the instrument. Skidmore had also served his apprenticeship with blues singer Alexis Kornerin the sixties and by the end of the decade was equally well-versed in the blues and in the ...

Liner Notes

Dewa Budjana: Surya Namaskar

by John Kelman
May 11, 2023

There was a time when artists were able to release albums on their own schedule rather than that of the record label. While most jazz artists release, at most, one album a year these days, for some there's an even longer gap between recordings. For the most part, the days when an artist like Miles Davis was releasing two, three, sometimes even four albums in the space of a single year are long gone. There are a number of reasons ...

Liner Notes

The Trackers featuring Gary Husband & Alf Terje Hana: Vaudeville 8:45

by Mike Jacobs
January 26, 2023

What appears next on a resumé as weighty as Gary Husband's is always a matter of musical interest. Even with long and satisfying associations with legends like John McLaughlin and Allan Holdsworth, the talented drummer/keyboardist continually seeks different worthy and intriguing paths to explore--whatever his vehicle of expression. So when his latest project is co-led by a comparatively under-the-radar musician--in this case, Norwegian guitarist Alf Terje Hana--additional curiosity ensues. To that end, the story of their collaboration begins with both ...

Album Review

Mata Atlantica: Retiro e Ritmo

Read "Retiro e Ritmo" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
January 10, 2023

Retiro e Ritmo is a love letter to Mata Atlântica, the coastal rain forest of Brazil, and a call to help preserve and protect this beautiful habitat. The music supports that goal not by quoting or referencing Brazilian music directly, but by building a complex musical ecosystem that evokes it, obliquely creating a sense of place. The album is the brainchild of co-producer Mathias Derer, motivated by a 2017 Brazilian visit. Although he does not perform, he composed ...

Album Review

Mata Atlantica: Retiro e Ritmo

Read "Retiro e Ritmo" reviewed by John Ephland

by John Ephland
November 19, 2022

The coastal rainforest of Brazil, otherwise known as Mata Atlantica, and “its beauty and vivacity" are the inspiration for Retiro e Ritmo. It is an album frontloaded with a varied cast of characters from hither and yon. Maybe that casting is behind a project seeking to draw worldwide attention to the ongoing shit-storm that includes not only the Amazon but the whole planet. Retiro e Ritmo is deceptive, calling attention to a source of worldwide calamity all the ...

Interview

Gary Husband: The Gemini Dimension

by Mike Jacobs
August 23, 2022

Even if forced to count just one of the two musical associations he's most noted for--a 35-year long relationship playing with the late Allan Holdsworth, and a 15-year long (and counting) stint in John McLaughlin's 4th Dimension--Gary Husband would still easily make many people's musician watchlist. But with both to his credit, (each on a different instrument, no less), the drummer/keyboardist's resume taken as a whole reads like an embarrassingly rich litany of explorations that's hard to not marvel at. ...

Recording

Gary Husband And Alex Machacek's Release "Now" on Abstract Logix

Source: Abstract Logix
January 11, 2014

“Gary Husband and Alex Machacek have co-created an amazing piece of modern music which goes beyond categories...” —Chick Corea Now brings together two maverick voices of contemporary improvisation in a engaging, open-hearted conversation. Collaborating as a duo for the first time, pianist Gary Husband and guitarist Alex Machacek opt for a spare, stripped-down approach that highlights their intuitive, borderline-telepathic interplay across a program of original compositions. Whether locked in dazzling unison runs or gracefully yielding to evocative, sparse passages, Husband ...
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Recording

French-Brazilian Guitar Virtuoso Marcelo Paganini To Release Two Behind The Scenes Videos Featuring Jazz Legends Deodato And Gary Husband In Support Of Forthcoming CD

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
January 8, 2014

Paris, France - It took 35 years to finally make the album French- Brazilian guitar virtuoso Marcelo Paganini dreamed about in 1979, when he wrote the song “Lost Secrets”. The album 2012 Space Traffic Jam, which will be released on January 25, 2014, was written in the stars and had to happen, no matter how impossible it seemed to be. To make the impossible possible is Marcelo Paganini's full time job. He was called a crazy man, a fool, a ...
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Recording

John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Mike Stern and others on the New Gary Husband Album

Source: Souvik Dutta
February 16, 2012

Multi-dimensional drummer, keyboardist, composer and arranger Gary Husband hits his stride with Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2, his latest release on Abstract Logix Records. Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2 features an explosive all-star line-up of guest musicians such as John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Jan Hammer, Robin Trower, Jimmy Herring, Wayne Krantz, Mark King, Alex Machacek and Mike Stern. Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2 does not merely pick up where 2010's Volume 1 left off. Volume 2 expands upon Husband's musical ...
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353

Recording

John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Allan Holdsworth on Gary Husband's new album

Source: Big Hassle
October 8, 2010

Gary Husband's new record Dirty & Beautiful Volume One features Mahavishnu Orchestra's John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer—it's the first time they've performed on the same project since the Mahavishnu days. Allan Holdworth, Steve Hackett, Robin Trower and others are on it, too. It's as heavy as a jazz/rock record can get. Over the course of a remarkable, still-unfolding career, Gary Husband has defined himself as the ultimate musician's musician: a fiery, perceptive presence who elevates every scenario—from the ...
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177

Recording

Gary Husband in 'Triptych, Part 2: Alexander Shulgin's Songbook'

Source: All About Jazz
May 26, 2009

This is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of part two of Alexander Shulgin's Songbook, Triptych. Producer Richard Niles and multi-instrumentalist Gary Husband discuss what it was like creating part two of Alexander Shulgin's instrumental album.

“Atmosphere is a key word for me in my musical endeavor, whether it's in the pop, jazz, classical or fusion realms, and here I had a chance to explore exactly that.." - Gary Husband
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268

Interview

Drummer/Keyboardist Gary Husband Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
February 16, 2009

Gary Husband has long cemented his reputation as one of fusion's premier drummers--hell, even Billy Cobham thought two was better than one and hired him as a second drummer. Husband's flexibility has seen him drum in the NDR Big Band, with jazz-funk outfit Level 42, and in a trio format with guitarist Robin Trower and bassist Jack Bruce.

Since the early '90s he has built an impressive discography as a leader which underlines his status as a composer of note. ...
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175

Video / DVD

Gongzilla DVD with Gary Husband available on AbstractLogix.com

Source: All About Jazz
June 23, 2005

127

Performance / Tour

Gary Husband's Force Majeure UK Tour

Source: All About Jazz
January 26, 2005

106

Recording

Gary Husband: the Things i See - Interpretations of the Music of Allan Holdsworth

Source: All About Jazz
August 30, 2004

Angel Air Records announces the October re-release of the acclaimed Gary Husband solo piano recording The Things I See - Interpretations Of The Music Of Allan Holdsworth, featuring extra and extensive liner notes, greater selection of photos, and more.

Advance orders for this may now be placed at www.angelair.co.uk or amazon.co.uk.

There are some touching comments (included below) in original response to this project from the legendary John McLaughlin, and from Allan Holdworth himself.

THEY SAID ...

It has been ...
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Music Industry

Gary Husband Joins Serious For UEFA EURO 2004

Source: All About Jazz
April 3, 2004

GARY HUSBAND & ALEX MACHACEK * NOW (Abstract Logix)

"Gary Husband and Alex Machacek have co-created an amazing piece of modern music which goes beyond categories with “Now”. The compositions and forms that they have made to expand and improvise with are adventurous and magical. The duet is an orchestra unto itself and the players are obviously very comfortable within each others’ universes. They have taken good care of the sonics of the recording as well with a wonderfully rich sound and perfect mix. Congratulations my friends!" CHICK COREA – 2013

—————————————————————————————— “A musician whom I have known and admired for many years, not only for his wizardry at the piano, but also for his artistry at the drums! Gary is no ordinary musician: full of invention and surprises, modulations and inversions of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic content abound. Immense musical talent."
JOHN McLAUGHLIN

GARY HUSBAND & ALEX MACHACEK * NOW (Abstract Logix)

“Gary is one of my all time favourite drummers. And so I really wanted to have Gary on there (“Seven Moons” - Robin Trower/Jack Bruce 2008) because I knew he could add a lot to it, and he did. You don’t need to tell him a lot, he just knows what to do. And that’s my kind of drummer, you know?
JACK BRUCE

“That’s a different kind of drummer then anybody I ever worked with. Obviously Jack (Bruce) had worked with him before. And it was Jack that recommended him. I just think he has another dimension as well, Gary.”
ROBIN TROWER

"Gary's pretty much of an improvisational genius to me. It's like he's always coming up with new stuff; you never know what you're going to get from him. As far as I'm concerned, Gary's one of the greats. He's an amazing drummer, and he's always been special to me because the way he plays the drums within my music is about as close as you can get to the way that I "hear" it. It's always been like that, and I've known him since he was about eighteen. He is one of the most talented and original musicians I have ever had the pleasure of making music with."
ALLAN HOLDSWORTH

“You should hear the tunes Gary writes, plus the way he plays. The guy's a genius. Gary's a three-dimensional man. I first heard him on an Allan Holdsworth recording in the early '80s. My impression was that this is where I'd like to be, in terms of my overall musical musical presentation through the drumset. Gary looks at music from a three-dimensional creative perspective, in that he's able to view a performance from the keyboardist's, guitarist's, and drummer's position. This means that what's played on the drumset is quite in sync with the musical information emanating from any of the three instruments working in a particular musical presentation ... and he does this rather effortlessly!”
BILLY COBHAM

"Gary is always moving forward as he plays. Even minimalist grooves are alive with purpose. He's the man".
HANSFORD ROWE (GONGZILLA)

"I remember when I first saw him play, back in 1979, I knew there was something special about that guy. He's bad, man."
DENNIS CHAMBERS

“The drummer I’ve been looking for all my life.”
ALAN SKIDMORE

"Gary is such a great drummer, and an equally great pianist!"
DAVE WECKL

"Who plays with more passion, heart and heat? Nobody!"
NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN

You don't have to watch Gary Husband at work for long to realise that he's the kind of artist who pours every personal resource he can tap into his intense and passionate music... Husband is now widely credited for the brilliant pianist he is. Remarkable virtuosity allied with sensitivity.
JOHN FORDHAM, THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER, UK

Multi-instrumentalist, multi-genre-busting musician Husband takes a plaintive piano stance on some interesting music composed by an able purveyor of electric fusion. The result is music as ethereal as Keith Jarrett's and grounded as Geoff Keezer's.
C. MICHAEL BAILEY, ALL ABOUT JAZZ, US, August 2001 (On The Things I See - Interpretations Of The Music Of Allan Holdsworth)

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