What is THE HUB? Why are they so weird? Some say bassist Tim Dahl was dropped on his head when he was a baby. Others say it happended on numerous occasions. Regardless, he is composing some truly original and exciting music. Part of the NY underground "Dirty Jazz" scene, THE HUB is a truly modern hybrid of Jazz, Metal, Hip-Hop and Punk. The band skips between these diverse genres with stunning speed and fluidity never once sounding like a fusion act. These are three studios musicians who are bent on speaking the language of music that they have internalized in all its beautiful diversity and craziness. I caught up with the band when I was in New York recently and was especially taken with dan Magay's continuing evolution on alto saxphone. The native Californian has recently moved to New York but the pace of the city hasn't changed his laid back persona. noThe vitality and exhiliration of New York, however, has brought out more of the daring Eric Dolphy-like riffs he tears out, red-faced on the verge of exploding. He was experimenting with a wah-pedal and other effects, which promise to further aggrandize and color the band's music. When THE HUB passed through Prague six months ago on their "Vandalism" tour, the drummer, Sean Noonan, had a broken right hand from a fistfight. He had to play all the shows one-handed, further baffling incredulous audiences. Hopefully, if he curbs his pugilist Irish instincts, we'll see him unbound and bashing, in his preferred state where he doesn't so much play the drums as much as he becomes one with them, sweating and breathing the beats. THE HUB leaves the audience with a wide range of emotions. Some leave aghast at the level of noise that this "jazz band" actually puts out. Others are thrilled by the cuttingedge sound that the band brings from the Brooklyn underground scene. But one thing's always from sure: no one is bored.
