Jazz Articles about Mário Costa

About Mário Costa

Album Review

Portuguese double-bassist Miguel Ângelo is a busy guy. He leads a quartet, with which he has released three records, as well as the trio he appears with here. He is also a member of several other small groups and has, fairly uniquely, released a record of solo double bass--the splendidly titled I Think I'm Going To Eat Dessert (Creative Sources Recordings, 2017). It is more engaging that you might imagine and establishes beyond doubt that we are hanging with a ...

Album Review

Hugo Carvalhais: Ascetica

Read "Ascetica" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 18, 2023

Venerable Portuguese bassist Hugo Carvalhais' “Ascetica" is a mesmerizing journey into the depths of progressive jazz, offering a soundscape which is vast and immersive, crafted with meticulous attention to detail. Carvalhais and his ensemble, create a polygonal musical environment through a blend of electronic manipulations, ambient soundscapes, springy synth riffs, and forceful sax soloing, often raising the temperature and broadening the scope. With blossoming jazz improvisations amid pulsating rock motifs, they occasionally generate fluctuating time signatures and slippery phrasings.

Album Review

Mazam: Pilgrimage

Read "Pilgrimage" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
September 9, 2022

The format of Pilgrimage by the Portuguese quartet Mazam gives listeners the option of skipping any track they do not enjoy. The ensemble gives us fifteen shortish pieces (only three longer than five minutes) to sample, digest, and savor. This is the quartet's second release following Land (Carimbo Porta-Jazz, 2020). The musicians come together with experience in other influential groups. Saxophonist João Mortágua performs in the fusion ensemble Axes, Diogo Alexandre Bock Ensemble, and leads his own band. Pianist Carlos ...

Album Review

Mário Costa with Marc Ducret & Benoit Delbeq: Oxy Patina

Read "Oxy Patina" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 28, 2019

Nascent Portuguese drummer Mario Costa fronts a wily and power-packed supergroup with the addition of French musicians Marc Ducret and keyboardist Benoit Delbecq on this audiophile quality album that could also be useful for demoing high-end stereo equipment. More importantly, the kaleidoscopic disposition of this trio spans pensive intricacies, booming cadenzas, otherworldly spatial effects, swirling ostinatos and deep grooves, entrenched in a continual progression of unanticipated moves. Costa occasionally stretches out but often peppers the soloists via ...

Radio & Podcasts

The New Album From Mario Costa And A Dip Into The Archive

by Bob Osborne
September 13, 2018

On this show new cutting edge jazz together with classic and contemporary sounds from the archives. The featured album is the latest release on Clean Feed from Portuguese drummer Mario Costa playing live at the 26th Festival de Jazz na Praca da Erva, in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, in July 2017, along with French musicians Marc Ducret (guitar) and Benoit Delbecq (keyboards). The three musicians present an exciting new take on the jazz trio, creating an impressive and ...