Luís Lopes: Love Song

I would never arbitrarily dictate the when and how one should consume a particular recording. But, may I suggest that you only listen to the recording Love Song by Portuguese guitarist Frank Sinatra music Songs For Swingin' Lovers (Capitol, 1956) sessions, but more like the In the Wee Small Hours (Capitol, 1955) heartbroken lover. That is, if the inamorato were an improvising musician. Indeed, Lopes is just that.

He can usually be found at the corner of jazz and free improvisation, clothed with a punk perspective in the Humanization 4tet with Rodrigo Amado, Lisbon Berlin Trio, or his latest trio with Bruno Parrinha and Ricardo Jacinto. They recorded Garden (Clean Feed, 2016). His most powerful statement to date captures the raw, rough hewn nature of his live dates with Noise Solo (LPZ Records, 2013).

Where Noise Solo is all extroversion, Love Song is pure contemplation. He exchanges the feedback noise for a simpler, more fragile sound. His hollow body guitar, played without effects, works a stark venture into desolation. Simple notes ring out the emotions of loss in "The Sadness of The Inevitable End," "Ever Eternal Loneliness," and "Deepest Profound Obscurity." While much of the joy of music is celebration, there is much to uncover at the opposite end of the spectrum. Lopes does so with the same composure he displays when he is shredding his guitar. It just so happens that we find him here in a melancholy music making mood.