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Product Description
Evening Standard, (Jack Massarik), January 28, 2011
(5 stars) It's magnificent...Not so much a guest-list as an electric dream team.
CD Description
'Dirty & Beautiful' is Gary Husbands newest solo album and finds the drummer / keyboardist joined by an enviable cast of supporting musicians including John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Robin Trower, Steve Hackett (Genesis), Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Jan Hammer, Mark King (Level 42), and more. Moving from the meditative to the relentless by Husband's propulsive drumming and harmonically daring keyboard work, the album is a valuable, long-awaited showcase for one of contemporary fusion's most inventive figures. Composed of compelling new originals alongside re-imagined classics from the pens of Miles Davis, Jan Hammer, and Holdsworth, 'Dirty & Beautiful' is Husband's most ambitious and captivating solo project yet. Husband has honed his formidable skills as a sideman with such exacting artists as McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Allan Holdsworth, Mike Stern, Robin Trower, Billy Cobham, Gary Moore, Level 42, Andy Summers, and many more. Currently, he is touring internationally with John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension, and is extensively featured on the group's latest album 'To the One'. On his own, he has released a series of acclaimed albums ranging from solo piano projects to intricate full-band explorations combining jazz sophistication and rock exhilaration.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Gary Husband is a supremely talented musician. I first came to hear of him as regular drummer for guitarist Allan Holdsworth. It was with some surprise that I read an article in Rhythm Magazine (Drummer porn!)that his first instrument had actually been piano. This was something of a shock; how could someone be that good on his "second" instrument? I have since seen and heard him in many different line-ups and on both instruments, sometimes alternating in the same concert or on the same album and I have to say that he is equally good on both... which is either thrilling or utterly sickening, depending on your perspective! Having met him a few times over many years, I can say he is very approachable, charming & self-effacing as well as unreasonably talented, so you can't actually be sickened for long, just inspired - he truly deserves his success. Those familiar with his work for Holdsworth will not be surprised at his often fiery approach to keyboards but what is less expected is his sensitivity on the more lyrical passages. This album shows him in a variety of contexts and with a cast of luminaries which would make most of us green with envy. If ever there was an "All Star" album, this is it. Not only do we hear him with long-term sparring partners John McLaughlin and Allan Holdsworth but also with Steve Hackett & Robin Trower. This CD acts as a showcase for his extraordinary talents but thanks to the variety of musical styles, it would also serve as a perfect introduction to contemporary Jazz / Rock for those wishing to explore this often maligned sub-genre, although it often goes beyond such restricting labels. This is one of those albums that just gets better on every hearing. Frankly, I cannot praise it highly enough and look forward eagerly to volume two, due out this spring.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It's good to see that Gary Husband can put his name to a star-studded fusion album ('Dirty and Beautiful Volume 1' - the second is due soon - on Abstract Logix) without it sounding like a music trade fair demonstration record. One reason may be that this is effectively a showcase album of individual tracks, with contributions from (deep breath) Allan Holdsworth, Jan Hammer, Laurence Cottle, Robin Trower, John McLaughlin, Steve Hackett and Mark King, among others; that's one serious address book, and between them this who's who of the genre ensures a healthy ratio of diversity to slickness. (Roger Thomas, JazzUK)
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Being a lifetime devotee of maestros Holdsworth and McLaughlin I have nothing but respect for the stalwart sideman who has served under both of them with great distinction. So the prospect of a solo project from Gary seemed righteous and fair, especially when the aforesaid maestros were touted as contributors. Unfortunately, the result, in my reluctant opinion, has entirely failed to live up to the original promise, and the primary reason for this is that, no matter how fine a player, on either of his instruments, Gary might be, he just isn't a composer. The twelve tunes on this album are, for the most part, not even that, song forms stitched up from bundles of riffs that, no matter how good the foreground improvisations, go nowhere and leave very little impression. The one exception, track 6, Dreams in Blue, featuring John McLaughlin, is the only track that feels like we're in top-class fusion territory. McLaughlin here is in blinding form, and it might just be enough to make the album worth buying. Every note he plays lately seems to be the right note at the right place and time. It's also the only track where Husband's drumming actually hits the kind of form we've come to expect from his daytime work. Alan Holdsworth features on three tracks, but on all of them his contribution is limited to interesting and imaginative chord work, but no actual solos. I repeat, there are no Holdsworth solos on this album. The solo on track 1, Leave `Em On, sounds at first like a Holdsworth solo, but as it proceeds you realise it is actually Jan Hammer doing a keyboard solo with a Holdsworth guitar like synth patch. And you realise this because it is nothing like as interesting in content as a proper Holdsworth guitar solo would be. Track 3, Between the Sheets of Music, includes a very fine solo from violinist Jerry Goodman. But it is not fine enough to mitigate the banality of the `tune' in which it features. The remaining tracks are increasingly lack-lustre. Track 8 with Steve Hackett, Moon Song, is dull and track 10, The Maverick, with Steve Topping, is noisy without being interesting. Of the twelve tracks five are Husband jamming or noodling along with a bassist. All of these are entirely unmemorable, either for their drumming or keyboards, and unfortunately, even for their bass playing. The last of these, Alverstone Jam, features ex-Level 42 bassist, Mark King, and reminds us what a wonderful warm feel the dude has, but we wait in vain for him to be given the chance to let rip and show what he can really do.
So, although I expect some will hate me for saying it, my assessment is; two excellent solos, one convincing composition, and the rest not even fluff. If Husband is going to try this kind of thing again he needs to think much more about form and composition and what music can be beyond a vaguely pleasant noise.
So, although I expect some will hate me for saying it, my assessment is; two excellent solos, one convincing composition, and the rest not even fluff. If Husband is going to try this kind of thing again he needs to think much more about form and composition and what music can be beyond a vaguely pleasant noise.
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