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João Valinho / Luís Vicente / Salvoandrea Lucifora / Marcelo dos Reis: Light Machina
by John Sharpe
For discerning listeners, the presence on an album of the Portuguese double act of trumpeter Luís Vicente and guitarist Marcelo dos Reis is a near guarantee of excellence. They've appeared on a whole series of top drawer releases including Points (Multikulti Project, 2019), Chamber 4 (FMR, 2015) and For Sale (Clean Feed, 2015). To that roster can be added Light Machina, where they join countryman drummer João Valinho and Sicilian trombonist Salvoandrea Lucifora, in a freely improvised concert from Coimbra ...
read moreIkizukuri + Susana Santos Silva: Suicide Underground Orchid
by John Sharpe
For its second album, the power trio Ikizukuri, comprising German saxophonist Julius Gabriel, Portuguese electric bassist Gonçalo Almeida and drummer Gustavo Costa, joins forces with trumpeter Susana Santos Silva for a brash 40-minute thrash blending free jazz, noise, metal and electronics. While the band's name refers to a gruesome strand of Japanese cuisine which entails seafood so fresh it is still alive, the shock and vitality are happily the only ingredients which inform the music. The album ...
read moreVicente / Brice / Sanders: Unnavigable Tributaries
by John Sharpe
One of the UK's premier rhythm sections meeting with the adventurous Portuguese trumpeter Luis Vicente results in some classy unfettered mischief on Unnavigable Tributaries. Bassist Olie Brice and drummer Mark Sanders indulge in the masterful interplay that has buoyed up the likes of the Riverloam Trio with Polish saxophonist Mikolaj Trzaska and their trinity with ICP stalwart saxophonist Tobias Delius. Vicente exhibits the same canny command he has shown in dates such as Points (Multikulti Project, 2019),Chamber 4 (FMR, 2015) ...
read moreMarcelo Dos Reis: Points
by John Sharpe
Points unites four partners in crime, who may be familiar from excellent albums such as Chamber 4 (FMR, 2015) and For Sale (Clean Feed, 2015). But though there are many interconnections between the Portuguese threesome of guitarist Marcelo dos Reis, drummer Marco Franco and trumpeter Luis Vicente, and French cellist Valentin Ceccaldi, this is their first time on record in this particular combination. As on the above mentioned releases, they specialize in an all out improv which nonetheless touches on ...
read moreAxel Dörner/Agustí Fernández/Ramon Prats: Venusik
by Mark Corroto
The command must have been “make it new," and the trio of Axel Dörner (trumpet & electronics), Agustí Fernández (piano), and Ramon Prats (drums & percussion) wholeheartedly agreed. Venusik is one of several recordings made under the Spontaneous Music Tribune Series for the parent label Multikulti Project. The newness focuses on original music and, maybe better yet, original sounds. With this trio, “original" is interpreted to mean unpredictable. Dörner's trumpet plus electronics are often mistaken for a machine ...
read moreHoTS: Numbers
by Mark Sullivan
Poland's HoTS quintet makes its own mark on European modern jazz, led by composer/guitarist Mikołaj Poncyljusz. The band takes its name from the title of their first album, Harmony of The Spheres, and the Pythagorean mathematics referenced there continue in the numerical titles given to all but one of the tracks on Numbers. Opener “#26" shows a band in the Blue Note hard bop tradition, the twin horns of trumpeter Radosław Nowak and tenor saxophonist Bartosz Tkacz leading the way ...
read moreOlie Brice Quintet: Immune to Clockwork
by John Eyles
For some time, bassist Olie Brice has been a highly-regarded member of the London improvising community, so it is a genuine pleasure to welcome Immune to Clockwork, his debut album as a leader. Many ingredients combine to mark out effective band leaders from the less successful ones; on this showing, Brice ticks enough boxes to indicate that he is well suited to the role. Firstly, a leader must have the knack of selecting band personnel who combine together effectively; that ...
read moreHera: Where My Complete Beloved Is
by Eyal Hareuveni
It may be symbolic that the albums of the innovative Polish ensemble Hera are released by the label Multikulti. After all, the label's name follows Don Cherry's all-embracing vision of a new world music, a vision where distant and foreign traditions enrich each other, artificial genre distinctions and geographical boundaries are blurred, and stereotypical divisions between high and low, and ancient and modern art are unknown. Headed by composer and reed player Wacław Zimpel, Hera takes Cherry's concept even further ...
read moreUndivided: Moves Between Clouds: Live in Warsaw
by Eyal Hareuveni
Polish composer/clarinetist Wacław Zimpel is one of the most promising musicians from the European continent. He leads the pan-European-American quintet Undivided, collaborates regularly with key musicians from the Chicago scene such as Ken Vandermark, Tim Daisy and Dave Rempis, and is a member of other local outfits. On Univided's Moves Between Clouds: Live in Warsaw, Zimpel demonstrates a unique sonic aesthetic and musical vision. His compositions are multilayered, possess strong thematic structures and feature an expansive compositional ...
read moreRobert Kusiolek / Anton Sjarov / Ksawery Wojcinski / Klaus Kugel: Nuntium
by Eyal Hareuveni
Polish-born/German-resident , composer/accordionist Robert Kusiolek has created an arresting concept of sounds, themes and patterns for his debut as a leader. Nuntium features minimal improvisation that draws from modern contemporary and avant-garde aesthetics, as well as jazz and folk and ethnic traditions. All seven cinematic improvisations feature a clear architecture and stress intimate and receptive interplay without sacrificing individual articulation. “Chapter 1" begins with Klaus Kugel' spare, soothing, resonant percussive sounds, but soon violinist Anton Sjarov's playing ...
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