Navy muso builds momentum in lockdown
One of Navy’s top musicians is celebrating the release of his second solo saxophone album.
CAPTION: The cover of Leading Seaman Gary Honor’s latest album Momentum, which will be released tomorrow.
Leading Seaman Gary Honor has served full-time in the Navy Band twice over 14 years.
His record label Trippin ‘n’ Rhythm Records approached him in late 2019 with an invitation to collaborate and write new material with multi-instrumentalist Skinny Hightower.
“Naturally I jumped at the chance,” Leading Seaman Honor said.
“It was an amazing experience and I was certainly pushed to my limits by Skinny. He’s a production powerhouse and I learned a lot.”
As the world went into lockdown, Leading Seaman Honor began to use whatever time he had spare to record ideas and, before long, had collaboratively written more than 30 tracks.
“It’s hard to know when you have enough material, but eventually we closed in on the final product and could clearly see which of those were going to make the 13-track album,” he said.
The album, momentum, comprises 13 tracks of smooth jazz, including the recently released singles Summer Cool and Bang Bang Bang. The album features a world-class cast of chart-topping musicians, including Chieli Minucci, Steve Oliver and current Billboard No.1 jazz trumpet player Lin Rountree.
Leading Seaman Honor enjoyed the whole process of creating such a personal album.
“This album really represents who I am as a sax player, composer and performer. I loved every moment of it,” he said.
The project took nearly two years to complete as Leading Seaman Honor juggled production with a busy Navy Band schedule.
Posting from Sydney to Melbourne and back, deployment on Operation COVID-19 Assist, and undertaking a new content production role within the Band HQ team have enabled Leading Seaman Honor to achieve a great deal in both military and civilian spheres.
“Finding the time to finish this album has been challenging but I’m really proud of this body of work,” he said.
“Navy work and life can be busy, but I don’t like to sit idle for long.”
Leading Seaman Honor said his experiences impacted on his role as a Navy musician.
“Engaging in projects like this really helps me become a more mature musician,” he said.
“I rely heavily on my own experience and intuition when producing media content for the Navy Band, and working with the best in the world has really informed some of my decision-making in the creative process.
“I look forward to what comes next and there’s plenty of things I’d love to try. I just want to keep up the momentum.”
The album, released tomorrow, is available from all leading music retailers.
More information on Leading Seaman Honor and his music can be found at www.garyhonor.com or you can listen to his music on the socials.
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