Vitor Pereira: Electric Chamber

Vitor Pereira is a Portugese guitarist and composer who moved to London in 2004. He was subsequently associated with the city's F-IRE collective and label, which in 2011 released his debut album, Doors, made with a quintet. Pereira's fourth quintet album, Jung, was recorded in April 2021 and is due for release in early October 2022. More about it in a moment.

Also recorded in April 2021, and due for release alongside Jung, is the debut EP (at 24:27 a substantial one), Electric Chamber, from Pereira's newly formed chamber jazz quartet. Pereira's bandmates are cellist Rupert Gillett and two members of his quintet, tenor saxophonist Alam Nathoo and drummer Adam Teixeira. On the four tracks, Pereira makes his first sustained foray into pieces combining through-composed and improvised sections. It is striking work. The nondescript titles— "Chamber 1," "2," "3" and "4"—suggest a sequence of arid conservatoire abstractions, but in happy reality the music is lyrical, luminous and, despite the small ensemble and apparent absence of overdubbing, filmic in effect. ("Chamber 3" is featured on the YouTube clip below).

The quintet album, Jung, on which cellist Gillett is replaced by double bassist Mick Coady and alto saxophonist Nathoo is joined by tenor saxophonist Chris Williams, is similar in character but not quite as successful. What gives Electric Chamber a slight edge is the slimmed down lineup, which encourages the seemingly self-effacing Pereira to become more prominent, and the way the nature of the material highlights his considerable talent as an arranger.

Pereira was a late starter as a musician, only taking up the guitar at age sixteen, and his emergence has taken time to gather pace, too. But with these two releases, his trajectory feels like it is on the up.