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All Music Guide:
Starting out as the bassist and lead vocalist for English hard rockers Trapeze (which evolved from British soulsters the News) in 1969, Glenn Hughes achieved his greatest fame as the bass player of Deep Purple from 1974 until the group split in 1976. Hughes subsequently reconvened Trapeze (with no records resulting) and issued his solo debut, Play Me Out, in 1978. His next effort, recorded with guitarist Pat Thrall under the name Hughes/Thrall, appeared in 1983, and worked in the supergroup Phenomena in 1985. Hughes then joined Black Sabbath as lead singer for 1986's The Seventh Star, departing after that album and eventually surfacing with -- of all artists -- the techno/house group the KLF, performing on their 1991 single "America -- What Time Is Love?." In 1993, Mike Varney's Shrapnel label issued the new Hughes solo album Blues, on which he played bass and sang with an array of guest guitarists. A string of solo releases followed through the '90s, including 1995's Burning Japan Live, 1997's Addiction (which addressed some of the personal problems that had kept Hughes out of recording for most of the latter half of the '80s), and 1999's The Way It Is. Mid-2000 saw the release of Return to Crystal Karma and Feel. The bluesy Building the Machine hit the shelves in 2001 while 2002's Hughes Turner Project coupled the bassist with another Deep Purple alumni, Joe Lynn Turner. Songs in the Key of Rock appeared in 2003, followed by Soul Mover in 2005.
Wikipedia:
Hughes Turner Project (HTP) was a musical project formed in the 2001 by bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (formerly of Deep Purple, Trapeze and Black Sabbath) and guitarist/vocalist Joe Lynn Turner (formerly of Deep Purple, Rainbow and Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force).
History [edit]
Long time friends Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner had first planned to release an album together in 1989, the two got together and wrote some demos, but nothing ended up being released from these sessions.
In 2000 Hughes toured Japan with Turner, followed by joint appearances during the Voices of Classic Rock tour in 2001. During this time the two decided to start work on a new collaboration.
First album [edit]
The duo released their first album in February 2002, it was simply called HTP. The album featured Hughes’ regular guitarist JJ Marsh, who contributed to much of the song-writing. There were also contributions drummer Shane Galaas and keyboardist Vince DiCola as well as guest guitarists John Sykes, Paul Gilbert and Akira Kajiyama.
The album featured the hard rock and AOR sounds that both Hughes and Turner had been known for, as well as a slight funk edge, brought in by Hughes’ bass lines, and exemplified in such tracks as "Sister Midnight" and "Better Man."
The pair hit the road for a Japanese tour, joined by native musicians Akira Kajiyama, Toshio Egawa and Yoshihiro Kudo. Their set-lists consisting of tracks from the HTP album as well as various numbers from their past bands including Deep Purple, Rainbow and Black Sabbath songs. Their shows at Shibuya Club Quattro in Tokyo were recorded for a live album which was released in August 2002, titled Live In Tokyo.
Hughes Turner Project continued their tour in Russia and Europe, this time joined by guitarist JJ Marsh keyboardist Joakim Svalberg and drummer Tomas Broman.
After the conclusion of the tour the Hughes Turner Project took a short break, during which Hughes released his solo album Songs In The Key Of Rock and Turner released JLT.
Second album [edit]
In April 2003 the two got together to start work on a follow up to the first album. The pair were joined again by guitarist JJ Marsh, drummer Shane Galaas and keyboardist Ed Roth, who had worked with Hughes on many of his solo albums. Special guests included Steve Vai, Jeff Kollman and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.
The follow-up album, simply titled HTP 2 was released in September 2003 and was stylistically in a similar vein to the first record.
In early 2004 Hughes Turner Project again hit the road starting in Japan and then moving on to Russia and Europe. They were joined by the same musicians as the first HTP tour, except on the European leg where keyboardist Kjell Haraldsson replaced Joakim Svalberg.
After the conclusion of the tour the pair decided to put the Hughes Turner Project on an indefinite hiatus so they could focus more on their solo careers.
Michael Men Project [edit]
Although the Hughes Turner Project had drawn to a close the pair travelled to Moscow in September 2004 to record vocals for an album composed and organised by Moscow’s deputy mayor Mikhail Men.
Men, who is also a professional musician had written the majority of the material for the project in the 1980s and after meeting the pair on their Russian tour had requested their services for the album. Hughes and Turner’s vocals were arranged in a similar way to the HTP albums and both contributed the majority of the lyrics.
The album, entitled Made In Moscow was released in July 2005 in Russia only and to date has not been made available outside of the country.
