Look for US Fall Tour with A Who’s Who of Great Musicians
GODFREY TOWNSEND is the new guitarist for the Yardbirds. A favorite in the Classic Rock World, Godfrey has played with a range of greats from John Entwistle to Jack Bruce.
In fact Eric Clapton’s guitar technician, Lee Dickson commented to John Entwistle, “Hey John, come listen to this guy…he’s got Clapton down better than Clapton!” Entwistle replied, “You twit!…that’s MY guitar player!”
Godfrey Townsend joins a lineup with innovative and legendary musicians— notably, of course the Yardbirds’ leader/drummer/singer/co-founder Jim McCarty, bassist Kenny Aaronson (Bob Dylan, Hall & Oates, Billy Idol, Derringer, Joan Jett), singer/harpist/percussionist Myke Scavone (Ram Jam, The Doughboys), and lead singer/guitarist John Idan (who is on their 2003 CD “Birdland” album which features guest appearances from both Steve Vai and Slash).
Godfrey plays guitar, keyboards, sings, and is the music director of countless live performers, most notably his own “Clapton is God-frey” show and the Happy Together tour.
A favorite in New York City’s Max’s Kansas City and the China Club scenes, Godfrey’s been the guy that got famous rockers on stage to jam with the bands. After a stint in Las Vegas working with Mitch Ryder, Spencer Davis, and Joey Molland of Badfinger, he was recruited by John Entwistle of The Who, with whom he performed a half dozen tours, a studio album, and a live album. Godfrey went on to play with Alan Parsons, Todd Rundgren, Ann Wilson of Heart, Jack Bruce, Mark Farner, Christopher Cross, Flo and Eddie, and Dave Mason.
Since the Yardbirds’ birth from 1963 to 1968, and then its 2003 reformation, the group has been known for its incredible guitarists. In addition to Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, plus rhythm guitarist/bassist Chris Dreja have contributed to the band’s history.
Jim McCarty continues to lead this innovative British rock band that provides the crucial link between British R&B, Psychedelic Rock, and Heavy Metal, while pioneering the use of innovations like fuzztone, feedback and distortion. The drummer/singer/songwriter is responsible for its haunting sound.
The Yardbirds are exclusively represented TCI (Talent Consultants International) for booking concerts. Stay tuned for an announcement soon of U.S. Tour dates for this November.
Goldmine Magazine stated, “the band’s hallmark of top-notch musicianship remains. There are no passengers in this band.”
Gary Husband is frequenting lately very often the MoonJune Universe. The extraordinarily talented British drummer / pianist / keyboardist / composer is celebrated for his high level association with world class jazz, fusion and rock icons and legends such as Allan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Gary Moore, Robin Trower, Billy Cobham, and he is lately recording and performing with MoonJune Records recording artists such as Beledo, Dewa Budjana, Dusan Jevtovic, Mark Wingfield, Asaf Sirkis and Jason Smith. Gary Husband will appear for these second time in Japan as a very special guest with the British progressive jazz-rock institution Soft Machine, on July 28th and 29th in Tokyo and on July 31st in Osaka, with John Etheridge on guitar, Theo Travis on sax/flute, Roy Babbington on bass and John Marshall on drums. During the same visit to Japan, maestro Gary Husband will perform there solo concerts; in Yokohama on July 26th, in Osaka on July 30th and in Nagoya on August 1st.
“A Meeting Of Spirits In Japan Tour” is not only the promotion of Gary’s latest album on the English record label Edition, but also celebration of the music of John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth and his own music.
I am encouraging You to hear this truly amazing album, and buying on BandCamp You are supporting directly both the artist and his independent record label.
“A Meting Of Spirits” is available in CD and Download format on: www.garyhusbandmusic.bandcamp.com
CDs are £9.99 +shipping (shipped from UK)
Instant download is £8.20 (FLAC/WAV/ALAC, MP3-320 formats)
“A Meting Of Spirits” is released on Edition Records, UK: www.editionrecords.com
“Gary Husband is a musician of many talents – his instruments are piano, in-piano percussion, voice and bell – and has been at the forefront of the international jazz scene for many years. He is that rare breed: a musician equally fluent in expression, and internationally lauded, on two instruments, in this case, drums and keyboard. Even more singular is his ability to bring together the fruits of a career that have included classical training, improvisational versatility and long experience on the pop, rock, funk and blues circuits into a distinctive and influential musical personality.” – Grady Harp, Amazon
“A Meeting Of Spirits succeeds as an interpretational and at times, impressionistic representation of the music of McLaughlin, the undeniable maestro of jazz. It also serves as a timely reminder of the massive contribution that McLaughlin has made to music, whilst all the while Husband effortlessly exudes a prodigious talent of his own. – Roger Farbey, All About Jazz
“What’s most remarkable is how Husband’s own pieces mesh with McLaughlin’s, creating a common ground that reflects of a deeper understanding of McLaughlin’s vast vernacular, along with Husband’s own evolving language and virtuosic pianism. McLaughlin has never sounded so dark, so abstract or so contextually unfettered. But equally, Husband finds the line that threads through McLaughlin’s stylistically diverse career, making A Meeting of Spirits an innovative tribute that’s reverential but always speaks with its own voice.” – John Kelman, All About Jazz
Gary Husband has been at the forefront of the international jazz scene for many years. He is that rare breed: a musician equally fluent in expression, and internationally lauded, on two instruments, in this case, drums and keyboard. Even more singular is his ability to bring together the fruits of a career that have included classical training, improvisational versatility and long experience on the pop, rock, funk and blues circuits into a distinctive and influential musical personality.
Gary’s latest album, and his first for Edition, A Meeting of Spirits is an innovative re-interpretation of the music of legendary guitarist, bandleader and composer John McLaughlin that in many ways demonstrates the totality of Husband’s multifaceted talent. In “…dissecting, reforming and freshly presenting…” the music of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Husband – a long time collaborator with McLaughlin – pays personal and intimate homage to the iconic guitarist while showcasing his own highly distinctive creativity and personal expression.
And McLaughlin returns the compliment, summing up this beautiful work: “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 own compositions. I am honoured. This is a recording that is full of surprises; and the fact that I have difficulty in recognizing 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.”
While the album is a tribute to McLaughlin’s music, it’s no slavish copy. As arranger and composer Michael Gibbs suggests: “I’m not sure that the word interpretations is the right one for these performances – they go so much further – not even close to what the industry calls covers – so individual are they.”
Gary’s now thirteen-year-long involvement with John McLaughlin (and the band The 4th Dimension) has sat alongside tenures with Billy Cobham (most recently in Cobham’s Spectrum 40 band), regular projects with Hamburg’s NDR Big Band, further touring or recording commitments with artists such as Lenny White, Didier Lockwood, Joachim Kuhn and Enrico Rava, in addition to activity in the legendary ground-breaking over three-decades-long association he shared with the late Allan Holdsworth. But despite these fruitful encounters, it’s with this personal and rewarding project that we are placed directly in touch with just how significantly – as an arranger, composer and multi-instrumentalist – Gary Husband has evolved. Of this – the second of his two “Interpretations Of” piano albums – he says “I’m proudest, to date, of this album … actually of both these works.”
GARY HUSBAND performing with SOFT MACHINE in 2018
JULY 28 – Tokyo, Japan (Billboard Live) – 2 show (piano/keyboards)
JULY 29 – Tokyo, Japan (Billboard Live) – 2 show (piano/keyboards)
JULY 31 – Osaka, Japan (Billboard Live) – 2 show (piano/keyboards)
OCTOBER 16, Tue – Toronto, ON (Mod Club) – (drums)
OCTOBER 17, Wed – Buffalo, NY (The Tralf) – (drums)
OCTOBER 18, Thu – Cleveland, OH (Beachland Music Hall) – (drums)
OCTOBER 19, Fri – Indianapolis, IN (Irving Theater) – (drums)
OCTOBER 21, Sun – Chicago (Reggie’s, Progtober Fest) – (drums)
OCTOBER 22, Mon – Milwaukee, WI (Shank Hall) – (drums)
OCTOBER 23, Tue – St. Paul, MN (The Turf) – (drums)
Electric Violinist & Singer Joe Deninzon Amplifies Muse’s Passionate Song
HYSTERIA is a Wagnerian/Queen-esque cover of Muse’s 2003 hit. The song is going to be on the upcoming Stratospheerius album, GUILTY OF INNOCENCE, out September 29 on Melodic Revolution Records, the leading North American progressive rock record label.
The Video was Directed by musician Dave Milone (of Radio 4), the video for HYSTERIA features a dramatic performance of the band punctuated with explosions. Deninzon says the explosions represent “Someone who has had enough! Feeling hopeless frustration with the current state of the world, breaking out of a bad relationship, or someone held back from their dreams and ambitions, a prisoner in their mind or in a literal sense…or both!”
Joe is a huge Muse and Queen fan, and pays tribute to both bands in their version of this song, “The original was so perfect that we wanted to reimagine the song entirely!” The single features singer Melanie Mitrano, the first time Stratospheerius has ever had an operatic soprano guesting on any of their recordings.
Fusing influences by artists as diverse as Tool, Tom Morello, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Jack Bruce, Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius are contenders for being the biggest deal in prog that you’ve never heard! Writes Cleveland.com’s Peter Chakerian, “He may not be a ‘household name’ (yet) but he’s kind of a big deal.” Adds Progressive Rock Central’s Angel Romero, the group “combines solid songwriting and tradition with extraordinary electric violin work and the sounds of the future.”
Special guests on GUILTY OF INNOCENCE include guitarist Alex Skolnick (Testament, TSO), keyboardist Rave Tesar (Renaissance), and vocalist/guitarist Randy McStine (The Fringe, Stu Hamm).
For updates on digital store links such as iTunes, Amazon, visit both the Melodic Revolution Records and Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius’ Facebook and YouTube pages.
An Evening For Jack, the new charity tribute to Jack Bruce to take place in London on 25 October, include his former Cream colleague Ginger Baker, his 1980s collaborator and drumming great Billy Cobham and ex-Genesis guitar virtuoso Steve Hackett. Other major names will be announced for the bill in due course.
Ginger Baker.
The concert, at the 02 Shepherds Bush Empire, will take place on the second anniversary of the great bassist, singer and songwriter’s passing. Musical direction and curation of An Evening For Jack will be by Bruce’s co-writer in Cream and elsewhere across many decades, Pete Brown, and Jack’s son and musician Malcolm Bruce. All proceeds raised will go to Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and Jack’s favourite local charity, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH).
Scottish singer-songwriter Eddi Reader and widely-travelled rock guitarist Bernie Marsden are also confirmed for the line-up. Other members of the Bruce family will take part, including Jack’s granddaughter, singer Maya Sage and his nephew and bassist Iain ‘Nico’ Bruce, along with Ginger’s son and drummer, Kofi Baker.
The show will feature numerous other musicians who worked with Jack over the course of his 55-year career. These include drummer Dennis Chambers (Santana, Parliament, Funkadelic, John McLaughlin), bassist Jeff Berlin, drummer Corky Laing (Mountain and the 1970s blues-rock power trio West, Bruce & Laing), guitarist ‘Clem’ Clempson (Colosseum, Humble Pie), vocalist Gary ‘Mudbone’ Cooper (Parliament, Funkadelic) and guitarist Chris Spedding.
Malcolm Bruce, exclusively describing to uDiscover how the evening will be configured, says it will be “a chronological journey through Jack’s musical career. We’re also going to tip a hat to his formative influences, [such as] Scottish folk music — that’s where Eddi Reader comes in — and we’re going to look at some be-bop, maybe some trad jazz, and a few of the classical influences. Jack always loved Ravel and Messiaen.”
The set list will then move into Bruce’s early work in such groups as the Graham Bond Organisation, which also featured Baker, and through into his best-known period with Cream. It will then dig deep into albums from his solo catalogue, such as Songs From A Tailor, Things We Like, Harmony Row and later releases, as well as acknowledging the many collaborative groups in which he played.
Last year’s Sunshine Of Your Love concert at London’s Roundhouse starred Ginger Baker, Phil Manzanera, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Hugh Cornwell, Uli Jon Roth, Mark King of Level 42, Vernon Reid of Living Colour and many others. Within three weeks of the event, it had raised over £30,000 for EACH.
Of the upcoming tribute, Malcolm Bruce tells us: “Rather than me going ‘What song should come next?,’ the story kind of writes itself. It’s like channeling Jack, in a way. It has an arc. It’s like a family and friends type thing, but very tightly produced.”
Tickets for An Evening For Jack can be purchased here.
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