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Husband scores a winner with his band of all-stars

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  • Husband scores a winner with his band of all-stars

    Husband scores a winner with his band of all-stars

    March 8, 2004

    By JACK MASSARIK

    Gary Husband, Queen Elizabeth Hall

    IT is an exciting moment when a musician comes of age. Gary Husband, a
    respected pianist and drummer, has long been one of London's most
    versatile players, but one who also hankered to write.

    Handed a five-city British tour as leader of a handpicked US
    supergroup, he seized his chance. His superb scores - an engrossing
    series of post-Zawinul, electric-Miles landscapes, deliberately devoid
    of saxophones or guitars - made Friday's concert a revelation.

    It opened with sound portraits of Burt Bacharach, Bjork and John
    McLaughlin, three musicians whose individualism Husband admires. His
    suitably original orchestrations, packed with strong themes and
    brooding synth chords, seemed to double the size of a septet whose
    unusual front line (trumpeter Randy Brecker, trombonist Elliot Mason
    and electric violinist Jerry Goodman) blended magnificently.

    When not rising to conduct ensemble sections, Husband spend most of
    his time at the drums, driving the tempos along with massive authority
    and leaving most keyboard solos unselfishly to synthman Jim
    Beard. Even during quieter passages, the rhythm team of Husband,
    Beard, alert Fender-bassist Matthew Garrison and the amazing Armenian
    percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan kept the atmosphere tingling with
    creative possibilities.

    Second-half highlights included Stone Souls, a suite featuring Arto's
    effective voice-effects and flying hands - "Try to resist him,"
    quipped the leader - the British-born Mason's prowess on the difficult
    bass-trumpet, and the all-round expertise of Goodman and Brecker.

    The Contemporary Music Network, which organised this tour, and BBC
    Radio 3, who commissioned the music, can also take a bow.

    It is one thing to hand taxpayers' money to established stars, quite
    another to risk it on an artist of untapped potential. Husband has
    repaid that faith. The quality of his writing, and his all-stars'
    inspired response to it, produced a performance that ranks among the
    year's best.
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