An exquisite album of chamber-oriented free improvisation that naturally merges contemporary and jazz forms while underpinned by swinging grooves, each player expressing passion and abstraction to create unique sonic combinations, from Jose Lencastre on alto saxophone, Carlos Zingaro on violin, Clara Lai on piano, Goncalo Almeida on double bass and Joao Sousa on drums.
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Sample The Album:
Jose Lencastre-alto saxophone
Carlos Zingaro-violin
Clara Lai-piano
Goncalo Almeida-double bass
Joao Sousa-drums
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Label: Phonogram Unit
Catalog ID: PU10CD
Squidco Product Code: 34183
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Namouche Studios in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 20th, 2021, by Joaquim Monte, assisted by Bernardo Pastor Centeno.
"Phonogram Unit is a Lisbon musicians' label that over the past two years [published July 5, 2022] has released a series of often brilliant recordings, notable for their thoughtful conception, recording quality and design as well as frequently excellent musical results. The two latest releases from the label present special groups, both cross-generational, taking what may be diametrically opposed approaches to collective improvisation, one simultaneous, the other synchronous.
[...]
Saxophonist José Lencastre's Common Ground (it may be both album title and band name) is a similarly multi-generational quintet, but with an avowedly different aim: "the musicians are looking to find unity in language and sound within their different approaches and backgrounds."
I am always slightly astonished when a five-member band that includes a saxophone, a drum kit and a grand and/or electric piano conjoined with a violin and a string bass manages to interact constantly, quietly and subtly, but Common Ground, true to its name, manages to do just that, the result of numerous choices, individual and collective, including Lencastre bringing his alto rather than his tenor, pianist Clara Lai playing pianos in a way that is almost miraculously subtle and elusive, and drummer João Sousa largely avoiding rolls and, even more so, cymbals, which can eat the high frequencies of other instruments and bury the leftovers. Violinist Carlos Zingaro and bassist Gonçalo Almeida are both masters of presence, and all are aided by Namouche Studios's acoustics and master engineer Joaquim Monte who has sensitively recorded hundreds of sessions of free improvisation. He is a crucial and essential member of the Lisbon free music scene that has exploded in the past 20 years.
Common Ground's achievement is one of transparency, evident everywhere here most stunningly when it combines with tremendous lyric intensity, a longing toward expression. It can be heard from the outset in the alien, quavering, bowed pitches of Zingaro and Almeida, dovetailing with Lencastre's pure alto tones on "Revolutionary Periods", in the highly selective placement of Lai's electric piano tones on "Unbroken Flow", and the entire group's passionate and somehow quiet momentum climaxing in the extraordinary keening, lyric, turbulent forward movement of the final "Common Ground" (it's also a track title), achieving a kind of romantic tension that can rival Scriabin. [...]"-Stuart Broomer, The Free Jazz Collective
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Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Jose Lencastre "José Lencastre, also known as Zé Lencastre, is a Lisbon, Portugal saxophonist, composer and arranger. He studied at the Hot Clube de Portugal, Chichester College of Arts(England), and Eastman Community Music School ( Rochester, NY). He Has played several festivals and venues in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Eslovakia, Hungary, Brasil, Morroco. TSUKI - Looking For Principles In Others (2006)/// TSUKI - I Wish That Mountain Had An Eye (2007)///TSUKI - Sea Snail (2009) ///THE MOST WANTED- The Most Wanted EP (2008) ///CACIQUE97 - Colectânea Novos Talentos Fnac (2007) - EP (2007) - Cacique97 (2009) ///BA MBO - Colectânea Intolerant? Me? (2008) ///POTLATCH - Live at Fabrica (2009) ///THE GRASSPOPPERS - DUB INNA WEEK (2010)/// SOCIAL SMOKERS - MAGNETIC POETRY (2011)/// THE GRASSPOPPERS - LOVERS ROCK INNA WEEK (2011)/// COOLTOUR - COOLTOUR (2012) He has also appeared as a guest musician recorded with Gnu, Gazua, Philharmonic Weed, Tiago Gomes&Tó Trips, Tércio Borges & os Democratas do Samba, André Sampaio e os Afromandiga, etc. He currently resides in Recife, PE - Brazil." ^ Hide Bio for Jose Lencastre • Show Bio for Carlos Zingaro "Carlos Zíngaro (or Carlos "Zíngaro" Alves, born 1948 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a Portuguese violinist and electronic musician active in free improvisation. He studied classical music in Lisbon and began working with a number of leading improvisers in the mid-1970s, becoming one of the European top improvisers presently. He has worked with such musicians as Richard Teitelbaum, Joëlle Léandre, Peter Kowald, Barre Phillips, Daunik Lazro, Derek Bailey, Jon Rose, Ken Vandermark, Ken Filiano, Rodrigo Amado, Ned Rothenberg, Rüdiger Carl, Dominique Regef, Evan Parker, Annick Nozati, Theo Jörgensmann and Paul Lovens. Zíngaro has performed at new and improvised music festivals in Europe, Asia, and North America, produced several film scores, and collaborated with dance companies. He is also a prolific illustrator and comics author." ^ Hide Bio for Carlos Zingaro • Show Bio for Clara Lai Clara Lai: "Pianist and composer. Interested in exploring subtle bridges between improvisation and composition. She studied classical piano with a specialization in contemporary repertoire and also obtained a bachelor degree in jazz piano. She resides in Barcelona, where she participates in different jazz, improvised and experimental music projects." ^ Hide Bio for Clara Lai • Show Bio for Goncalo Almeida "Gonçalo Almeida born in 1978 Lisbon, Portugal. Lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where he followed studies at Rotterdams Conservatorium, having studied with Heyn van Geyn, Stefan Lievestro, Marius Beets and Peter Leerdman, finishing his master degree in 2008. Plays in a variety of projects that go from modern jazz, freejazz, jazzcore and free improvisation music, having shared the stage with improvisers such has Chris Speed, Carlos Zíngaro, Wilbert de Joode, Martin van Duynhoven, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Rodrigo Amado, Tobias Klein, Jasper Stadhouders among others. Also has been working in collaboration with multi media such as video artists, modern dancers, poets, and theater makers. In the main projects that he is involved as double bass player, he has a deep input as a composer." ^ Hide Bio for Goncalo Almeida • Show Bio for Joao Sousa João Sousa, aka Drum Par, Johnny Dynamite, Verme, is a Portuguese drummer. He is known for the groups A-nimal, Cardíaco, Cicuta, Deslize, O Poema (A)Corda, Parpar, and Uivo Zebra. ^ Hide Bio for Joao Sousa
12/6/2023
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12/6/2023
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
12/6/2023
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
12/6/2023
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
12/6/2023
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. Revolutionary Periods 11:00
2. Unbroken Flow 9:00
3. Nature Of Reality 4:44
4. Insprirational Souls 7:05
5. Common Ground 11:14
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Jazz
Chamber Jazz
Collective Free Improvsation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Quintet Recordings
New in Improvised Music
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