Luís Lopes Lisbon Berlin Trio: The Line

Guitarist Luís Lopes posted the following quote on his Facebook page, "art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." With that as his mission statement, the question arises: can one listen to his music with a sympathetic ear? Or more importantly, is discomfort the motivation and ultimately the goal?



Lopes' approach, like that of Derek Bailey and Sonny Sharrock, is a sort of unbalancing take on the electric guitar. Like Bailey, he has written a new language (his own) for playing, and like Sharrock he can conjure tidal waves of noise. This is on display in solo performances and with his Humanization 4tet with Rodrigo Amado, Afterfall with Joe Giardullo and in trio with Adam Lane.

With his Lisbon Berlin Trio of bassist Robert Landfermann and drummer Christian Lillinger, he can realize a vision of jazz that ties together noise, rocked-out time sequences, and free improvisation. This disc follows their self-titled 2011 Clean Feed debut.

From their inception, this band applies unease with collective aplomb. The Line opens with the dirge-like bowing of Landfermann's bass and the scratching of cymbals. This "Dark Suite (Prologue)" forewarns of a rough road ahead. Next comes the footslog opening to "Vertigo" that transmogrifies into a rock-laden surge of energy. The thunder of Landfermann's bass is the background for a Lopes/Lillinger duel on "Mother Snake," that heightens with each melodic change. The music has a premonition it may implode (maybe explode) at any moment. The edge this trio develops is unmistakable and intoxicating. Disturbing here is good, or maybe this music comforts?