British pioneer free drummer Tony Oxley mentored Welsh drummer Steve Hubback at the jazz school of his hometown, Barry. In 1982, Oxley’s last year managing the jazz school, the school organized the TreForest festival in South Wales that August. Hubback, known today as a blacksmith who makes hand-crafted gongs and cymbals, his compact drum sets, and his sound sculptures, already had a compact kit – 14” bass drum, orchestral piccolo snare drum, 10” Ulio hi-hat, and iceball, which was invented by Andrea Centazzo.
Hubback met Peter Brötzmann at the festival. Brötzmann liked Hubback’s playing and his small drum kit, saying that it felt different, more Asian than European. Brötzmann and Hubback played one set at the festival, which was recorded on cassette, and only played again in Aarhus. Swedish producer Jörgen Sangsta (who runs the Urania Studios in Gothenburg) kept the cassette all these years. Swedish guitarist Jörgen Cremonese (of the art-rock band Exit North) digitized it, Centazzo enhanced its sound, and Trevor Taylor (who has recorded with Hubback) released the resurrected recording on his FMR Label.
The sound is, as expected, rough, but the music is brutal and super intense. It lasts only 19 minutes, but a few improvisers can survive such a fiery, consuming storm on stage. Hubback proves himself as a worthy partner to the one-and-only Brötzmann, who keeps pushing more and more towards cathartic climaxes. The audience appreciated this wild, stimulating performance.
Eyal Hareuveni
Peter Brötzmann (reeds), Steve Hubback (drums)
