Hubert Zemler

An adventurous drummer from Poland, Hubert Zemler plays everything from sparse, arid soundscapes to hypnotic, locked-in rhythms influenced by jazz, Krautrock, African traditions, and much more. The classically trained musician has received acclaim for his solo percussion concerts, as documented on recordings such as Moped (2011). He has additionally participated in several avant-rock, free improvisation, and new music ensembles, in addition to recording albums with Gyan Riley, Debashish Bhattacharya, Felix Kubin, and many others. Zemler was born in Warsaw in 1980. He studied at the Karol Szymanowski National Academy of Music and the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy, learning classical percussion as well as jazz improvisation. During the 2000s, he recorded with Polish jazz artists like Wojciech Staroniewicz and Marcin Olak, and formed the trios Horny Trees and Kapacitron. He won the bronze medal at the Delphic Games in South Korea in 2009, and a recording of one of his solo percussion concerts, Moped, was issued by Lado ABC in 2011. Gostak & Doshes, featuring guest vibraphonist Miłosz Pękala, was released by Bôłt Records in 2014. Zemler collaborated with Evan Ziporyn, Wacław Zimpel, and Gyan Riley for the 2015 release Green Light. He also worked with Zimpel as part of his To Tu Orchestra, and the trio LAM. Zemler's solo album Pupation of Dissonance, including an arrangement of Steve Reich's "Music for Pieces of Wood," appeared in 2016. He ventured into groove-based experimental electronic music in 2017, producing a cassette under the name Melatony. In 2018, he worked with pianist Szabolcs Esztényi on an album titled Kreatura, and collaborated with slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya and double bassist Wojciech Traczyk for the full-length JOY!Guru. Zemler and German eccentric Felix Kubin formed the duo CEL, issuing a self-titled album on Bureau B in 2020. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi