Cyanobacteria, Carl Ludwig Hübsch

"Here’s a duo called Cyanobacteria, consisting of Francesco Gregoretti (drums) and Renato Gricco (double bass), teaming up one day in September 2016 with Carl Ludwig Hübsch, a well-known improviser playing the tuba. The duo has a similar background, even if I only heard of Gregoretti before. The five tracks span fifty-two minutes and form an on-going exploration of ideas, textures and all of that within the world of improvisation. It is a meeting of like-minded people, with one foot in a more traditional field of the genre and one firmly planted in something newer. You can recognize each of the instruments pretty easily here, in all of these pieces, but at times they also sound like something completely different; especially the tuba has a dual role in this. Unlike some of the other releases on Toxo Records, this isn’t as loud and noisy but with amplification and feedback, there are occasional hints towards that. There is some fine interaction between the players, leaving room for the other to act and react, and none of the players seems to downplay their own role in the overall sound. It is most of the time the sum of three equal parts playing the music and throughout it works very fine. It is mostly an intense listening experience, which doesn’t allow any loss of concentration. Not on behalf of the players, nor the listeners."