Gary Husband and Alex Machacek: Now
Author: Andy Robson
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Stéphane Galland (d) |
Label: |
Outhere |
Magazine Review Date: |
May/2018 |
Catalogue Number: |
Out 662 |
RecordDate: |
July 2017 |
Historically Husband's enjoyed a tortured relationship with the piano ever since his erstwhile teacher hurled his beloved Bill Evans recordings across the room. His piano bands met various fates and in general his keys have been criminally under recorded. So all credit to Billy Cobham who revived Husband's work on electric keys. And now Husband is in acoustic full flood, appearing solo in France and here in cahoots with the equally singularly voiced Machacek. The latter has much of Wolfgang Muthspiel's quirky fluidity and it's no surprise this pairing have some echoes of Muthspiel's work with Ralph Towner or Brian Blade. Husband likewise summons Corea's spirit on ‘Gaggia’, but the overall tone of the pairing is fresh, in the moment and beholden to no one. They can intertwine effortlessly as on ‘Gently’, mixing chopped chords and bursts of ecstatic melody. Or they can get splendidly neurotic on ‘Cinema Lullaby’, which like all the songs morphs into something different from your expectations just as you think you've sussed it. It all climaxes gorgeously with ‘Spring Song’, which is just what you need to hear amid mid-winter blasts. No one mixes the endlessly romantic with the edgily crazed like Husband: let's hope this is just the beginning for his piano work. Life begins at 50-plus indeed.

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