“Gary Husband the pianist has long been overshadowed by Gary Husband the drummer. I can personally testify to it. However, here we have a recording which will probably achieve the reverse of what I just wrote.
In addition, he has chosen to base this recording primarily on my compositions. I am honoured. This is a recording that is full of surprises, and the fact that I have difficulty recognising one or two of my own compositions is only one of them!
But Gary is no ordinary musician, full of invention and surprises, modulations and inversions of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic content abound. This is Gary Husband in full bloom. Wonderful!”
John McLaughlin
"GORGEOUS, supreme inventiveness, absolute creativity, unique and deeply moving piano music!! Truly inspiring!!"
Chick Corea
“After hearing his The Things I See, I was immediately struck with his novel, almost orchestral approach to layering multiple piano takes over one another to create his dense tapestry of sound. Gary plays with a lot of heart and clearly doesn’t rely on licks and preconceived bags of tricks in his solos. When he improvises he’s creating in the moment. A few days ago I received this new CD. I was very impressed again with his wonderful dense layering approach and super interesting new harmonisations and contrapuntal detail. Being a drummer, his timing is rock solid, and throughout, his improvisations are fresh and interesting. I respect his “no compromise” approach to his music.”
Stu Goldberg (Keyboardist with Mahavishnu Orchestra and John McLaughlin’s One Truth Band)
* SPECIAL NOTE
Tracks 1-2, 5-6 and 15-16 are joined. To ensure you experience the consecutive playback uninterrupted in correct form it is highly advisable you opt for the download of this album and check you have “gapless playback” enabled on your player.
The second in a series of two “interpretational” endeavours (based on music of two respective artists), exploring ways my imagination and their imagination can meet. This one - “the younger brother”, as it were, of The Things See * Interpretations Of The Music Of Allan Holdsworth - very much the very same kind of method, arrangement approach and mission. So these two recordings have a very strong affinity with each other.
Here I’m presenting a reimagining material of my hero, colossal early inspiration (and boss in the 4th Dimension since 2005!) you’ll find material here stemming from many varying periods of John McLaughlin - from Mahavishnu Orchestra eras, original Shakti, Heart Of Things band, the 1970s “Electric Guitarist” album ... even earlier recordings such as John’s debut “Extrapolation” and the wilder project a short time later with John Surman “Where Fortune Smiles”.
Similarly again with “The Things I See” you’ll note composition credits correspond when shared compositional input is involved. Noticeably in these cases the composition’s name is a variation on the original.
I hope very much you’ll enjoy the reimagining and the creative journey.
Gary Husband- 16/06/21
1/ Spirits Opening (John McLaughlin))
2/ A Meeting Of Spirits (Gary Husband)
3/ Vision Is A Naked Sword (John McLaughlin)
4/ You Know, You Know/ Are You The One?/ Miles Beyond (John McLaughlin)
5/ Maya Prologue (Gary Husband)
6/ The Dance Of Maya (John McLaughlin)
7/ It’s Funny (John McLaughlin)
8/ Lotus Feet Reflections (Gary Husband)
9/ Celestial Terrestrial Commuters (John McLaughlin)
10/ Jazz Jungle (Excerpt) (John McLaughlin)
11/ Joyful (Gary Husband)
12/ Song For My Mother (John McLaughlin)
*Epilogue*
13/ Alap (Gary Husband)
14/ Lotus Feet (Reprise) (John McLaughlin)
15/ Earth Bound Hearts (John McLaughlin)
16/ Development And Closing (Gary Husband)
All arrangements and performance by Gary Husband - Piano, in-piano percussion, voice and bells
Produced by Gary Husband
Recording engineer: Toby Wood, NuCool Studio, London, November 9th & 10th 2005
Mixed and mastered by Toby Wood and Gary Husband at North Seven Studios, London, April 13th & 14th 2017
Optimisation and Remastering: Markus Reuter, June 2021
Dedicated to John McLaughlin
