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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Gary Husband

Postcards From The Past

Review by Gary Hill

This double CD set is a collection from the archives of Gary Husband. He’s known primarily as a drummer and keyboardist, but he also plays guitar on some of the music here. There are quite a few tracks that are strictly solo creations, but he’s also joined on quite a few tracks. While the vast majority of the album is instrumental, one track on each CD features vocals. The music fits along the lines of art music, jazz and fusion, with some excursions toward pure prog, electronic, classical and rock music at times. This is a great collection of varied music from an incredibly talented musician.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2026  Volume 1. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2026.
Track by Track Review
Disk One
                   
Reykjavík Dream

This comes in trippy and atmospheric. As it grows some jazz elements join. It turns more classical after a while. It gets symphonic and bombastic further down the road. This is a keyboard solo piece, but there are sampled vocals and more in the mix. It turns toward more percussive electronic stuff for the closing movement.

The Disguise

Featuring a trio of saxophone (Graeme Blevins), bass (Sam Burgess_ and drums (Husband), this is pure jazz, but it has some really experimental vibes at play at times. It gets pretty driving.

Not Even The Rain

The lineup here is bass (Michael Mondesir) and guitar (Steve Topping) with Husband on keyboards, electronics and cymbals. It has a more prog rock meets fusion vibe. It also has some real dramatic and mysterious parts. Yet it remains on the mellower, trippy side of the equation.

Water On The Brain

This track has vocals by Paul Williams. There is a real UK sort of sound to this with killer guitar oriented fusion-leaning prog at its heart. Of course, Allan Holdsworth provides the guitar, so that UK reference makes a lot of sense. He’s one of my favorite guitarists of all time, so obviously I love this track. Husband plays drums on this, and the rhythm section is completed by the bass work of Paul Carmichael.

City Nights 2013

Based on piano, acoustic guitar and samples, this is a solo piece from Husband. It has a lot of killer jazz along with classical and prog elements built into it. It’s a great piece of music. It gets pretty trippy at times.

Bridge

Another keyboard solo, this is very brief at just a little over half-a-minute long. It is atmospheric and trippy.

500 Miles High

There is an electronic music element to this. It also has some blues rock vibes and plenty of jazz in the mix. It’s another that’s all Husband, but it has drums, keyboards and samples that at times sound like guitar. Honestly, when this gets into more of a rocking groove, I could swear there is guitar built into it, but there is no guitar listed in the credits, so it has to be samples.

Fallow Land

At a little less than two minutes long, this tentative and trippy jazzy piece is another short one. It’s also fairly experimental and very intriguing. Husband plays drums on this, while Paul Carmichael handles the bass duties. The guitar work is provided by Steve Topping.

City Nights 1993

Now, this fusion jam is positively on fire. It’s another Husband solo piece, but he really makes it sound like a full band.

Evocations Of Burt Bacharach (Live Excerpt)

This powerhouse jam is pure jazz. It has definite fusion leanings built into it. It’s another of my favorite tracks here. It’s positively incendiary. There is a violin (Jerry Goodman) solo section later that is accompanied by nothing but percussion that is absolutely awesome. The track turns a little funky as it comes back up from there. Husband plays both drums and piano on this track. The other musicians beyond Goodman and Husband are Matthew Garrison (bass), Jim Beard (keyboards), Art Tuncboyaciyan (additional percussion), Elliot Mason (trombone and bass trumpet) and Randy Brecker (trumpet)

Companion (For Steve Topping)

This intricate acoustic guitar solo is another that features Husband by himself.

Deux Deux’s Blues

This blues romp is a lot more pure mainstream jazz. I love the bass work (Michael Janisch) on this thing, but everyone is on their A-game here. There is some smoking hot jamming here. While Husband plays both drums and piano, Julian Siegel handles the saxophones and Richard Turner plays the trumpet.

Disk Two
                         
Bing Of The Vale

Featuring piano, guitar and samples, this is another solo piece from Husband. It’s got some pretty freaky jamming that works really. This is definitely fusion. It’s also quite impressive.

The Things You See (When You Haven’t Got Your Gun)

Holdsworth is back here, and this is a cut that has some of that UK thing, but also quite a bit of mainstream jazz, too. This gets pretty crazed at times. Beyond Holdsworth and Husband (on drums), this song includes Ray Warleigh (alto saxophone) and Hansford Rowe (bass).

A Filmic Rhapsody

Another Husband solo piece, this is all piano and samples. It’s pretty trippy and spacey with a lot of atmospheric textures.

Cinema Lullaby

With guitar added to the mix of piano and samples, this is another solo piece from Husband. It has a real energetic jazzy groove to it. This is a fusion styled number that really drives with a lot of style. There a lot of freeform angles at play.

Ternities & Bandons

Continuing the streak of solo pieces, Husband does this one via classical guitar, synthesizer and other keyboards. It’s pretty trippy, very artsy and definitely prog based.

Guardians

Another solo piece, this one has more of a mainstream jazz vibe. It has some synth bass, bringing more of a rhythm section feeling when paired with the drums. The echoey electric piano lends a certain type of magic, too. The drums get pretty intense on this thing.

The Train

There is a trippy, dangerous quality to this. It has a definite psychedelic space jamming vibe. It also leans on jazz territory, though. It features the same lineup as “Fallow Land” - Paul Carmichael (bass), Gary Husband (drums) and Steve Topping (guitar).

Song For My Father

Williams is back, bringing vocals to only the second non-instrumental track here. This time he’s backed by just Husband’s piano. This cut has a real prog ballad approach. It definitely leans on classical music territory. The piano solo later in the number really reinforces that classical thing.

The Fashion Police

Drums start this. The cut works out to a cool jam that is funky. There are hints of Zappa-like musical magic here. I dig the guitar soloing, but everything about this works well. This is one of the more purely rock-like things here. The jamming on this turns decidedly freakier and more fusion leaning later. It really gets crazed. The bass guitar solo type section later is so cool, and has a bit of Larks’ Tongues in Aspic era King Crimson vibe. In addition to Husband on drums, this song includes Michael Mondesir (bass) and Steve Topping (guitar).

Song For My Mother

This is another Husband solo piece. He plays classical guitar on this with some synth accompaniment that simulates a flute.

Aphorism

This s a very short (less than a minute) freeform jam. It features the same lineup as a couple of the earlier tracks, Paul Carmichael (bass), Gary Husband (drums) and Steve Topping (guitar).

 
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