The paths of trombonist Paul Rutherford and bassist Paul Rogers have crossed often, but their duo recordings are very limited. Rogues presents a complete performance (minus a couple of minutes in order to fit on one CD) from November 1988 and was released eight years later by the British free improv label Emanem. The concert took place in a Birmingham pub: glasses, coughing, and cash register sounds surface when the intensity level of the music falls down. Since the players always remain on top of these intrusions, the resulting atmosphere actually works for the music: it puts the listener back into the room. The concert began with a 40 minute duet. The second set started with ten-minute solos and another 20-minute duet. Rutherford runs the whole specter of his instrument, exploiting all its connotations, from comedy to drama. But Rogers is the surprise here. He adopted that night a slightly jazzy style. Halfway in "Rogues 1" he locked into a bass riff, enjoying it, staying there for a couple of minutes to let the trombonist build a solo before taking it apart. His sparse use of the bow during the duets gave more intensity to these moments, especially in the last couple minutes of "Rogues 2." His solo is marred by pub noises and tape hiss at the beginning, but it doesn't matter: his impersonation of a classical bassist gradually going mad makes up for it.