Rodrigo Amado / Chris Corsano: The Healing

Imagine the blank canvas that tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado and drummer Chris Corsano set out to fill in this live recording from Lisbon, Portugal's ZDB in September 2016. Between them, they have nearly three hundred recordings and three times as many performances—an arsenal of sounds, textures, and ideas ready for deployment. Their orbits often intersect: Amado leading his Motion Trio, The Attic, The Bridge and collaborating with Luís Lopes, Alexander von Schlippenbach, among others; Corsano sharing stages and studios with Dave Rempis, Zoh Amba, Paul Flaherty and more.

Their shared history includes work in a quartet with saxophonist Joe McPhee and bassist Kent Kessler, resulting in This Is Our Language (Not Two Records, 2015), A History of Nothing (Trost Records, 2018) and Let The Free Be Men (Trost, 2021). As a duo, their first outing was the studio session No Place To Fall (Astral Spirits/Monofonus Press, 2019), recorded in 2014.

This live set builds on the same painterly techniques they have refined over the years, using color, line and texture to fill their musical canvas. Amado's tenor tone is rooted in the instrument's deep history, shifting seamlessly from robust, earthy resonance to piercing upper-register cries. Corsano's approach is both propulsive and conversational, layering rhythms and accents in a constant, inventive dialogue.

The performance opens with "A Healing Day," a 24-minute journey that traverses extremes—from ferocious, ripping attacks to moments of meditative stillness. Every transition feels organic, as if the shifts in intensity are dictated by a shared instinct. The remaining three pieces, while shorter, match the opener in energy and invention. "The Cry" begins on the knife's edge, with Amado's upper-register explorations dancing over Corsano's bell work and understated pulse before both push the piece into a muscular surge. "Griot" opens with Corsano's kaleidoscopic percussion, inviting Amado's full-throated tenor to join in splashes of vibrant color. The closing miniature, "Release Is in the Mind," distills their interplay into a concise burst—an exclamation point to the set.

What emerges across these four pieces is not simply a concert, but a work of art created in real time: two master improvisers splattering, shading and layering sound until the blank canvas is transformed into something vivid, unrepeatable and entirely alive.

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