Gonçalo Almeida - Monólogos a Dois (2021 A New Wave of Jazz)

I am not sure if with the double bass there are various types, like with the guitar, but none is mentioned on the cover or the fact if this is a mono recording. The latter probably not. It was recorded in the spacious surrounding of the old church in Oud-Charlois, which is a part of Rotterdam and home to a few great concerts, some of these involving the church organ housed there. Goncalo Almeida stuck to his bass. We know him for his one-off collaboration with Rutger Zuydervelt (see Vital Weekly 1000) and various releases with the Spinifex Quartet. The liner notes inform me of a whole world I probably knew existed, but someone I don’t know much about.

The world of free jazz, solo bass players and so on. It makes an interesting read, as it was done with Guy Peters, but after I was done with it, I didn’t return to it any more and decided to play the record again, no longer disturbed by historical information. I found the music quite refreshing. Almeida uses various techniques, the bow, plucking the strings, maybe a bit of the body of the instrument, but in all twelve of these pieces, the double bass remains a recognizable constant presence. It is within these pieces that he shows a great variety of approaches, from melodic, to abstract, from melancholically inclined to a menacing drone. 

From a very big sound (and I don’t mean spacious in the sense that the church plays a role in that; just a massive sound by itself, not too difficult one could think with this low humming instrument) to very small and delicate. It is never aggressive or noisy, Almeida remains a respectful player, with a fine ear for the smaller things happening between the notes, yet not overplaying the whole of silence. Far from it, actually. Like the Serries record, one of delicate beauty; a different kind of delicacy, however. Vital Weekly – The Netherlands

1. Monólogos a Dois I 08:30

2. Monólogos a Dois II 02:21

3. Monólogos a Dois III 01:35

4. Monólogos a Dois IV 03:06

5. Monólogos a Dois V 03:08

6. Monólogos a Dois VI 03:24

7. Monólogos a Dois VII 05:20

8. Monólogos a Dois VIII 02:22

9. Monólogos a Dois IX 03:21

10. Monólogos a Dois X 03:16

11. Monólogos a Dois XI 05:41

12. Monólogos a Dois XII 01:59

Gonçalo Almeida - Double bass

Performed & recorded at the Old Church in Oud-Charlois, Rotterdam (The Netherlands) on 11th July 2020

All music by Gonçalo Almeida

Recorded & mixed by Gonçalo Almeida

Mastered at the Sunny Side Inc. Studio, Anderlecht (Belgium)

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Albatre - The Fall of the Damned (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2018)

Albatre are back for some more «display of urgent bass and sax noise, frantic but meticulous drumming and abrupt moodshifts», but this self-description doesn’t say it all. Something changed in this Rotterdambased band formed by two Portuguese, Gonçalo Almeida and Hugo Costa, and a German, Philipp Ernsting, since the release of “A Descent Into Maesltrom”. They’re still crossing post-Ornette Coleman free jazz with metal and punk, but now the music is more essential and minimalist, with everything reduced to the bone. And yet, the doom factor is enhanced as never before. The riffs are slowly (sometimes very, very slowly) repeated until you get hypnotized, a bit like Otomo Yoshihide’s band Ground Zero used to do, and when something different happens – colorful harmonic cloud formations and harsh noise fusing in strange ways – it’s like discovering a new planet. There’s aspects of jazzrock and of psychedelic and progressive rock going on, but what’s really important is the final impact on your stomach: the music strikes you there directly. With “The Fall of the Damned”, the jazzcore format goes to new territories.

Hugo Costa  alto sax & effects

Gonçalo Almeida  bass, keyboards & electronics

Philipp Ernsting  drums & electronics

Recorded and mixed by Albatre at Soundport, Rotterdam | Master by Bernardo Fesch at Gizmeister Studios, Lisbon

Produced by Albatre | Executive production Travassos for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos | Paintings by Rubens