As an adjunct to his Another Timbre label, producer Simon Reynell has begun to release recordings on his Byways sub-label. These are live performances, issued to help provide a general documentation of the state of improvisation in England, making no special claims as to "greatness" or "importance", more like snapshots of a scene.

Which, of course, doesn't preclude finding some very fine items and "Scrub" is one such. Dumont (on percussion) and Milton (violin) abide in a quiet, though very active mode. The music stays in the area initially circumscribed, investigating intently, scratching away like furious termites for some 20 minutes before an "alarm bell" sound ushers in a second phase of gentle cymbal washes and softly plucked then more harshly sawn violin. This in turn settles into a small bed of muted bells, barely-there drones and assorted chatter. I found the performance to get more engaging as it progressed, always a good thing, ending succinctly after about a half hour. That's it, no more, no less. Knowing the background of the release, one tends to place oneself in the position of audience member for the set as opposed to listening to an "official" release. This listener would have left the venue quite satisfied. Strong recording.