Disc of the day: 05-06-09

Gary Husband’s Drive: Hotwired (Abstract Logix ABLX015)
The sleeve says File under Jazz/Rock but this is more the first style than the second. Husband, one of the country’s most successful and strongest drummers, turned new heads a few years back when he brought out a piano trio album on which he was the pianist, and, indeed, he plays some piano here. Mainly though, it’s a quartet of drums, double bass (Michael Janisch), trumpet (Richard Turner) and saxophone (Julian Siegel).

The Defender, the opener, sets the scene with Janisch holding a bass riff while Siegel, Turner and Husband swirl and dive about him. Turner is a master of the squeezed and bitten off kind of trumpet minimalism of today, but also suddenly soars with a white hot tone; Siegel is similarly adventurous and especially strong down the bottom of the tenor.

Heaven In My Hands is a Level 42 tune – Husband was in that band, of course – but his piano and echo-laden trumpet and sax bookends move a long way away from the original, with spooky electronics below the tight brass riffs in the middle.

There is an intriguing and unusual take on Take 5 as a bonus track, and lots more Husband originals, but the track that catches my imagination is Siegel’s 10/4, which again employs the strong bass ostinato under a simple African-sounding melody line, before subverting it with stranger harmonies while still keeping the groove moving resolutely forward.

Four exceptional musicians playing together with a wonderfully relaxed confidence and the freedom to explore to their hearts’ content.

I realise this disc has been out for a few months but I’ve only just been able to get my hands on one.