THE HUB, The Wardrobe, Leeds
Review in Jazzwise, UK May 2002

John Cratchley

The Hub is a trio which hails from downtown Brooklyn and consists of Dan Magay on alto saxophone, Tim Dahl on electric bass and Sean Noonan on drums. It is a band with an incredibly complex musical identity whose members play with the conviction and ferocity of men with a mission. Categorisation of their musical style is a distinctly incongruous and futile activity because said mission is to eliminate any such misplaced notion of genre conformity thus allowing us to savour instead the diversity that they eschew. Producing a concoction of their own devising that contains elements of jazz, punk, new wave, no wave, funk and freeform improvisation, they are an irresistible force and make for compelling listening. Conversant with, and happy to play in, any or all of these modes at any given time leads to music of great originality but miraculously with not a hint of confusion. Their musicianship and commitment is such that pieces flow with ease and logic through diffuse and often conflicting passages. Playing compositions from their CDs (Vandalism and Accident), the small but equally dedicated audience at Leeds followed every twist and turn with relish and the trio returned the compliment with a relentlessly intense performance.

Dan Magay has a conversational approach to the alto very akin to that of Eric Dolphy. Here the comparison ends for he is very much his own man and can run the gamut from fierce screams to lilting melody variously producing short, staccato bursts of pure energy or long, sinewy lines of bebop-like convolution. His tone is harsh and acerbic (not unlike Lee Konitz) but perfectly suited to quick changes of mood which The Hub¹s music engenders.

Tim Dahl is a bass player with prodigious chops and huge technique. He produces a range of sounds from the electric bass that put his playing firmly into the "how does he do that?" category. At home with pumping out heavy riffs, serpentine complexity or sheer grunge noise, most of the compositional credits come from him and he is overflowing with musical ideas. Indeed they can hardly be contained at times and erupt at will, usurping an already established musical thought in mid stream with a fresh approach that continually surprises the listener yet remains fully integrated within the overall structure (much like the technique adopted by John Zorn in Naked City).

Sean Noonan is a one-off and seems constantly to surprise himself every time he approaches the drum kit. So at one with his instrument is he that it feels like the kit is initiating and eliciting his participation, engaging him in a conversation of call and response. It is the kit that animates him rather than the other way around. This is a phenomenon to behold and produces a level of unpredictability and dramatic tension that is at the centre of the trio¹s music.

Acutely attuned to every nuance of each other¹s playing, The Hub never missed a beat either musically or emotionally and kept their audience totally engaged and on edge at one and the same time. No mean feat and a rare treat.

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