Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Per Gärdin / Travassos / Marco Franco: Oblique (trio)

4

Per Gärdin / Travassos / Marco Franco: Oblique (trio)

By

View read count
Per Gärdin / Travassos / Marco Franco: Oblique (trio)
You've come to expect a music review to direct you to pay close attention to a particular passage or solo in a recording. But what if a commentator suggested the best manner to appreciate a recording was to dissipate one's attention and dissolve it into the ether? How would you then experience the music? Would it be through touch, taste, or sight? Certainly not through smell.

The trio of Per Gärdin, Travassos, and Marco Franco want you to consider the possibility that we all possess a sixth sense, an inexplicable awareness beyond normal perception. Their album was recorded during a flurry of music making by Swedish saxophonist Per Gärdin in Portugal, which produced History of The Lisbon Chaplaincy (Creative Sources, 2017) and Oblique Mirrors (ibn Musik, 2015).

The suggestion of a sixth sense, or ESP, is a clue as to what the trio's scheme is on this recording. Spontaneous improvisation, yes. But they also give the impression this music exists apart from its analog wave or conversion into a stream of numbers. Gardin's saxophone glides as it keeps an almost constant chatter of energy throughout. Travassos keeps a smoldering cauldron of electronics from boiling over, as Franco is occupied with the business of herding a collection of percussive sounds. The energy center of the music is well guarded, as perception of it is oblique. The trio is juggling some musical spheres here, keeping an illusory dream aloft throughout. At least, that is what is imagined.

Track Listing

Warped; Wry; Cracked; Askew.

Personnel

Per Gärdin: alto saxophone, soprano saxophones; Travassos: electronics; Marco Franco: drums, percussion.

Album information

Title: Oblique (trio) | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Ibn Musik

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.