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The Attic—Rodrigo Amado / Gonçalo Almeida / Onno Govaert: Love Ghosts
by John Sharpe
Portuguese tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado has steadily become one of the premier players in the European free jazz arena, having banked the experience that comes through working with the likes of multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, trumpeter Peter Evans and pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, reaping a rich dividend. Just how can be readily heard on Love Ghosts, the third release by the co-operative trio The Attic, where he is joined by fellow countryman bassist Gonçalo Almeida and Dutch drummer Onno Govaert, a ...
Continue ReadingRodrigo Amado: Refraction Solo
by Mark Corroto
Are you familiar with Pablo Picasso's found art sculpture “Bull's Head"? It was created in 1942 from bicycle handlebars and a bike's saddle. Picasso was walking down the street and spotted the discarded items, and in a flash joined the two, creating an obvious depiction of a bull's head. That same spontaneous moment of creation informs the music from Rodrigo Amado's Refraction Solo. Like Picasso, the musician is a trained and highly skilled artist. Amado leads or is ...
Continue ReadingThe Attic: Love Ghosts
by Troy Dostert
Portuguese tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado maintains a busy recording schedule, involving dates with heavy-hitters like Joe McPhee, Alexander von Schlippenbach and Peter Evans, in addition to his own lineups, which do not always generate the same kind of buzz. One of his relatively under-recognized groups is The Attic, an outfit which includes bassist Gonçalo Almeida and drummer Onno Govaert. Their Summer Bummer (NoBusiness, 2019) was a superb live recording, putting the focus squarely on Amado, who is an excellent colleague ...
Continue ReadingUllman/Swell Quartet, The Attic Frank Carlberg & Josh Sinton
by Maurice Hogue
Improvisers abound in this episode. Portugal's Rodrigo Amado & The Attic, Bernardo Tinoco & Tom Maciel, Joao Lencastre's quartet, and Pedro Alves Sousa and friends lead the way, while the Chilean band Nichunimu makes its debut with a startling use of electronics. Baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton's back with a new release by his Predicate Quartet, more from Stephen Gauci, Gebhard Ullmann &Steve Swell are joined by bassist Hilliard Greene and drummer Barry Altschul stir the pot with their new We're ...
Continue ReadingRodrigo Amado Northern Liberties: We Are Electric
by John Sharpe
Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado hits the jackpot with the debut by his Northern Liberties quartet. He's found gifted collaborators in the Norwegian threesome of trumpeter Thomas Johansson, drummer Gard Nilssen and bassist Jon Rune Strøm. Amado's preferred domain is muscular free jazz. It's territory he's thoroughly explored with his Motion Trio, supplemented by guests like trumpeter Peter Evans and pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, and with his This Is Our Language band with Joe McPhee. While the Scandinavian ...
Continue ReadingRodrigo Amado Northern Liberties: We Are Electric
by Mark Corroto
The predicament with modern albums is that an album is often more than just one album. With the advent of streaming music, and compact discs before it, music expands beyond the unit we traditionally designated as side one or side two of an LP. A perfect example of this concept is We Are Electric by the Portuguese-Norwegian collaboration Rodrigo Amado Northern Liberties. Three of the four tracks here could easily be considered a freestanding LP side and, if that were ...
Continue ReadingRodrigo Amado Northern Liberties: We Are Electric
by Troy Dostert
By all accounts, 2021 was a very good year for Rodrigo Amado. One of the leading lights of the Portuguese avant-garde, the indefatigable tenor saxophonist first released The Field (NoBusiness), featuring his Motion Trio (with cellist Miguel Mira and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini) alongside guest pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, and Let the Free Be Men (Trost), with his now-frequent collaborators saxophonist Joe McPhee, bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Chris Corsano. But if these two albums come to overshadow We Are Electric, ...
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