Trespass Trio featuring Susana Santos Silva: Live in Oslo

Adding Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva to Swedish saxophonist Martin Kuchen's Trespass Trio for the 2018 Blowout Festival in Oslo, Norway was "a no-brainer." The inclusion of her trumpet, which features in ensembles led by Mats Gustafsson, Fred Frith, and Torbjörn Zetterberg, to name but a few, requires little or no thought. It is as if the four previous Clean Feed releases by the Trespass Trio, The Spirit Of Pitești (2017), Human Encore (2013), Bruder Beda (2012), and "---was there to illuminate the night sky..." (2009) would have gained an extra star rating with her presence.

Proof of that argument may be found in the five tracks presented here, all of which are compositions from the trio's previous releases. "A Desert On Fire, A Forest" opens the performance with Norwegian bassist Per Zanussi's doleful pulled notes which instigate a two horn (baritone saxophone and trumpet) dirge-like lament. Anyone following Küchen's objectives for this trio, knows of his campaign against injustice, war, and racism. Partnered with Santos Silva, his message is stronger than ever. Again Zanussi opens "The Spirit of Pitesti," this time with bowed bass. While Raymond Strid works cymbals and mallets, the two horns whisper ineffable weeping sounds. The trio is a reminder of the social justice music of Charles Mingus with "Sound & Ruins," which mixes a blues feel with brass cries from the sanctified church.

The trio changes pace with "A Different Koko," a palate cleansing bit of disembodied bebop. It shares only the frenetic pace of Charlie Parker's "Koko," which was based on the changes of Ray Noble's hit "Cherokee." Like Parker, the trio performs some organized anarchy with Küchen honking duck calls on his sopranino saxophone while Santos Silva pushes her trumpet to the edges of sound with slurred biting notes. The finale, "In Tears" is a luscious requiem with excellent soloing by Santos Silva and Küchen over the gentle mallet work of Strid and the pizzicato of Zanussi's bass.