Gary Husband: Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2

Drummer and keyboardist Gary Husband follows up Dirty & Beautiful Volume 1 (Abstract Logix, 2010) with a second volume, consummated by a star-studded aggregation of progressive rock, jazz-rock and jazz fusion instrumentalists, most of whom are Abstract Logix recording artists. Husband draws upon disparate frameworks; jazz improvisation, electronica, and other facets seed a fertile underpinning in concert with the musicians' signature styles.

A drummer possessing gargantuan chops, these days Husband has been manning the keyboards for guitarist John McLaughlin's 4th Dimension band. For the uninitiated, Husband is an accomplished keyboardist who interconnects an all-encompassing musical persona via his solo outings. On "Sulley," he sits behind the drum kit, playing with an overlaid keyboard track for a groove-based power trio incursion. The trio lays out an ominous listening space of ethereal atmospherics amidst Mark King's plucking and thumping bass lines. Through a few rhythmic deviations, the band exudes a semi-structured jam vibe.

McLaughlin tears it up with a supersonic solo exposition and trades riffs with Husband's synth patterns. The trio segues into a harrowing 4/4 vamp towards the finale, treated with a touch of Indo-fusion and the guitarist's flickering notes. "Sulley" is one of numerous high points dispersed throughout a top-shelf product that should find its way onto many best-of lists for 2012.