Year: 2006
Record Label: European Echoes (distributed by Clean-Feed)
Style: Free Jazz / Avante Garde
Review: Distributed by the established modern/free-jazz Lisbon based record label Clean-Feed, this effort looms as the inaugural debut for European Echoes, initiated by Clean Feed recording artist Rodrigo Amado.
Bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love are globally recognized improvisers as their past and ongoing legacies are well-known within appropriate music circles. But the menu here is devised by the trio’s bustling momentum, as they generally pursue music steeped within the fast lane. Tenor and baritone saxophonist Rodrigo Amado slices, dices and renders buzzing lines while occasionally blurting out a few attractive melodies along the way. No doubt, the band aims its sights high, where Nilssen-Love and Kessler generate a rather frothy undercurrent to coincide with a few quiet moments. The trio periodically veers off into duet phrasings and sub-plots. And on the sixteen-minute piece titled “Pandora’s Box,” the artists lay down a buoyant groove, accelerated by a push-pull mindset.
Amado weaves in and out with soaring intensity during many of these passages that showcase the band’s climatically-oriented sense of the dynamic. In sum, this album sets an optimistic paradigm for what lies ahead. The Portuguese jazz scene has taken another giant step, evidenced by this hard-hitting set, notably substantiated by the musicians’ undeniable camaraderie and creative synergies.
Record Label Website: http://www.cleanfeed-records.com
Reviewed by:
Glenn Astarita
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