"Sometimes referred to as an eccentric Renaissance man, his personal and professional mission statement has been all about 'Harmonizing Nature, Art and Science,' TM. His music, talk CD's and artwork, are his humble singular attempts to do just that." So, now you know Gary Walker's "mission statement", we can begin to put the music on this album into context.
Gary Walker is a, primarily, a drummer and he has played in several bands through his career. However, he also plays other instruments, composes songs, sings, writes poetry and is an artist (he painted the two cover art oil paintings for Nurture Your Nature, as part of the 'concept' for this CD). Indeed, "Cathedrals" is a reading of one of his poems, with some minimalist church organ sounds in the background.
If this introduction gives you the impression to expect the unexpected, then you'd not be entirely wrong. Whilst the music on the album is, in general, good; it is very varied – an eclectic selection might be a better description – and is never "progressive". No, when it is rock – and it not always is – then it is "standard" rock. What has happened on Nurture Your Nature is that Gary Walker has put together his favourite music, by writing in its different styles (with the exception of Chopin's Nocturne of course), then put it together onto the album, which actually has more of the feel of a series of tunes playing on an iPod on shuffle. If you have an eclectic musical taste, then your own iPod could come up with a similar selection of 12 compositions. Nothing wrong with that, of course, except that Nurture Your Nature doesn't have an album "feel", despite Gary Walker's declaration that it is a "concept" with a beginning to end story line.
Looking at the compositions individually, there's some fine music to be heard, aside from Chopin's glorious "Nocturne" of course. "Try a Different Dance" has some excellent keyboard-led moments during its nearly-11 minute length, but its distinct sections give it the feel of two songs bolted together, rather than of one long progressive rock composition. "Take a Ride" has good pace, it's a good rock song. "Distant Forests" is extremely pretty: an instrumental with acoustic guitar and violin; it has a Spanish classical flavour. "Secrets of the Heart" is nearly folk-rock, and is pleasant and the closing number, "The Other Side" is a good "soft-rock" song. On the downside, I really didn't enjoy the long "Right by my Side", which was weak even before Gary's drum solo – sorry, Gary, not on disc, please!
If you're of equal mind with Gary Walker, wanting to be one with nature and enjoy its many delights as part of a holistic approach to life, then you may well want to check out his website and give this disc a try: it's not a world-beater, but neither is it gash.
Track Listing:-
1) Cafe Monmarte (0:59)
2) Bonjour (1:51)
3) Wake Up! (4:03)
4) Try a Different Dance (10:48)
5) Take a Ride (2:57)
6) Distant Forests (3:22)
7) Right by my Side (10:13)
8) Secrets of the Heart (6:14)
9) Cathedrals (5:18)
10) Nocturne #1, Bb m, by F. Chopin (6:16)
11) Questions (7:29)
12) The Other Side (3:24)
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