Press Reviews & Comments

“Lovely thematic and melodic ideas”

“Creative thoughtful pieces from an inventive writer, adventurous both harmonically and in structure”

“Brian’s considerable harmonic invention and skill as a pianist”

Sound On Sound Magazine

“Interesting sounds and arrangements”

Second Avenue Magazine

“Wonderfully out of sync with everyone else”

Melody Maker

A man with curly hair, glasses, and a beard is sitting at a piano, looking at a sheet music book.
Brian George Hanson playing drums on stage
A man wearing glasses, seated at a music workstation with a keyboard, computer monitor with 'AdLibOrchestra' logo, studio speakers, and various audio equipment.
Miniature figurines of people standing and walking on a white surface, with a painted background.

Members of the AdLibOrchestra take a short break from the studio

24 Edited Sample
AdLibOrchestra

The plan was to go to art school but I got diverted and spent 20 odd years playing the drums and keyboards in jazz and rock bands, touring, recording, writing. I played in the UK, Europe and around the world and recorded an iconic album with jazz/rock group Catapilla. This experience was hugely influential - the improvisatory nature of the compositions and the free flowing adventurous performances set me on a musical adventure that continues today. I realise now how all those years sitting at the back of the stage behind my drums, playing, watching and listening, have contributed to my understanding of the creative process.

Painting became my second career, oils, watercolour, digital media, everything from portraiture to imaginary landscape. Some of my artworks are incorporated in videos I have created to accompany songs.

Apart from individual song releases I have been commissioned to write for various projects including audio/visual presentations and in 2022, by the conceptual artist Lorrain Mailer to write and record  a new work as part of an art installation.

The 14 minute piece, in three sections, was premiered in Kent on Maundy Thursday when the exhibition was opened by The Archbishop Of Canterbury. I love writing and recording music - I’ve found my true home in the recording studio.

AdLibOrchestra recordings are available on all major streaming platforms - including Spotify - link below

Clicking on this link takes you to my songs on Spotify

In 2022 The Ad Lib Orchestra was commissioned by the conceptual artist Lorrain Mailer to write and record  a new work, “24” as part of an art installation.

I am currently re-mixing and mastering this music and will be releasing it on streaming platforms shortly - meanwhile here’s an edited sample

Paintings

A digitally created artwork featuring a winding road with a car, colorful 3D text, a cityscape with buildings, and a group of people at a race track, with multiple inset copies of the same scene.

I have created plenty of artworks over the years - here’s a small sample

Fun, Fun, Fun


pastel, watercolour, ink and digital - one of a series of prints inspired by song titles

An imaginary painting of a river flowing between icy blue mountains with a boat in the water.
An oil painting of a landscape at Labranda in Turkey, with two tall trees in the foreground, overlooking a village with scattered buildings and green foliage, under a cloudy sky.

The Cliffs Of Glass


oil on canvas

Labranda, Turkey


oil on canvas - featured in “Oil Painting Workshop” by Aggy Boshoff, published by Dorling Kindersley

The Bridge Of Size
The Harvest

The Bridge Of Size


watercolour and ink - one of the “great misunderstandings of the world” series

An elderly man with white hair, glasses, and a mustache standing with his hands in his pockets in an art gallery. He is wearing a navy blue sweater and white pants, with a name badge hanging around his neck. Behind him are several framed landscape paintings and an easel displaying a painting of a rural scene with a small building and a blue sky. A sign reads "STAND 7 BRIAN HANSON."

The Harvest


oil on canvas - exhibited at The Royal Academy in 2009

Me


making an exhibition of myself