Sei Miguel: Salvation Modes

Here, Portuguese trumpeter, composer Sei Miguel delves into his stockpile of older compositions that were seldom performed or recorded. And his customary, eccentric mode of operations is structured in an enticingly bizarre approach to jazz and jazz improvisation. On this release comprised of three extended tracks, the artist employs two quartets and a ten-piece ensemble as he crafts his attack with odd sound-sculpting metrics, minimalism, avant-space music, and paints liquescent hues atop placid rhythmic persuasions.

"Fermata" is the shortest piece on the album at 9:40 and features a strange alignment of instruments, evidenced by Andre Goncalves' Hammond manipulation, Cesar Burago's percussion and radio interference and Margarida Garcia playing or using something identified solely as, twin. With Miguel's terse horn statements, the presentation intimates an otherworldly and slowly moving epic that could loosely pass for mechanical implements during a fabrication cycle.

Burago's radio waves inject some blissful white noise underpinnings amid his asymmetrical tapping maneuvers using small percussion instruments. The band dishes out variable microtonal processes but Miguel eventually adds bluesy choruses into the mix, sparking a touch of realism along the way. Nonetheless, citing the avant-garde spectrum may be the easy way out when trying to categorize Miguel's artistry. Regardless, he's in a class of his own and possesses a distinctive pen. Sit back, relax, and let the music escort your senses to parts unknown.