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Lisbon Improvisation Players (Amado / Gonzalez / Goncalves/ Pedroso / Mitzlaff): Spiritualized (Clean Feed)


 

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Personnel:



Rodrigo Amado-alto, baritone saxophones

Dennis Gonzalez-trumpet

Pedro Goncalves-doublebass

Bruno Pedroso-drums

Ulrich Mitzlaff-cello


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UPC: 5609063000627

Label: Clean Feed
Catalog ID: CF062
Squidco Product Code: 6974

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2006
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardstock foldover

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Rodrigo Amado, the man who leads the band with a changing lineup - which he named Lisbon Improvisation Players, or LIP if you're in a hurry - likes double meanings. First of all, the one created with the letters L, I and P, alluding to the presence of a saxophone and giving sensual indications of just how this music is played: lips to perform and lips to seduce you. Then, there's the ambiguity of a jazz approach, something between hard bop and free, but totally improvised, with no structures, themes, or anything else previously prepared. Finally, the "think globally, act locally" duplicity implied by a project that has a particular city in its name but then includes musicians from other geographical origins. That was the case with Steve Adams and Ken Filiano in "Motion" - one Californian, the other a New Yorker - and now the same happens with Dennis González, a Texan of Mexican descent.

Speaking of double meanings, one usually expects the special guest to be part of the "front line", together with the bandleader. But in "Spiritualized", trumpeter González decided to position himself behind Amado, not for mere courtesy but to comment on what he does and also, to be in the middle between the soloist and the rhythm section (formed by bassist Pedro Gonçalves and drummer Bruno Pedroso) in order to react to what's happening globally. A sort of hierarchy of roles is established to focus our attention on the way everybody functions in the tricky machinery of this ensemble - in González's case, as an outsider who goes in to change parameters and directions, even when he seems to keep a low profile. But there's more: if, by its nature this is fire music, you'll be surprised with the way Rodrigo Amado deals with spaces and intervals, assuming that, to "let it go", he doesn't necessarily have to overblow his horn, and you'll be amazed by the gentleness of some of the trumpet lines, as well as with the chamber dimension lent to the proceedings by Ulrich Mitzlaff, a German experimental cello player who's lived in Lisbon for 11 years.

All this goes to show that this isn't just another jazz record, but something to discover little by little and to assimilate as the special art object it is, musically rich and open to our own subjectivity as active listeners; and with a spiritual aura that give us a clear perception of the real influence Dennis González had on these sessions - the same aura we find in his own records and in his paintings - which are all about "rising spirits" and "awareness", the exact titles of two tracks."-Clean Feed


Artist Biographies

"Portuguese saxophonist (alto, C melody, baritone, and tenor) Rodrigo Amado specializes in free-form, composition-in-the-moment jazz, and his various projects and trios have given him an international following. Born in Lisbon in 1964, Amado began studying the sax at the age of 17, briefly at the Hot Club Music School of Lisbon and with mentors Carlos Martins, Pedro Madaleno, and Jorge Reis, among other leading Portuguese jazz artists. With diverse musical interests, he explored how improvisation is handled in other genres, although his work with his various ensembles like the Lisbon Improvisation Players and the Motion Trio (with Miguel Mira and Gabriel Ferrandini) falls clearly under the umbrella of 21st century jazz, and he has been an in-demand studio player on numerous recorded projects. He started his own label, Clean Feed, in 2001, with brothers Pedro and Carlos Costa, before leaving the imprint in 2005 to start a second label, European Echoes. Also an accomplished professional photographer, Amado continues to be a bright light on the Portuguese and international improvisational jazz scene."

-All Music, Steve Leggett (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rodrigo-amado-mn0000249324/biography)
3/25/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Dennis González, often credited Dennis Gonzalez (born 1954) is a jazz trumpeter, artist, and educator from Texas.

González' primary musical instrument is the trumpet (including B♭, C, and pocket trumpets), though he has also played drums, flute, synthesizer, and baritone saxophone. Allmusic describes González as "[a] talented trumpeter who has recorded a consistently rewarding string of lesser-known dates," whose "playing falls between advanced hard bop and free jazz."

The Penguin Guide to Jazz notes that González' recordings during the 1980s for Silkheart Records represented "part of a determined effort to wrest creative initiative back from New York and the West Coast." The Penguin Guide further notes that one of González' greatest achievements is having coaxed saxophonist Charles Brackeen out of retirement during the late 1980s, and that by the early 1990s, González "more than ever before... seems the heir of Don Cherry." González was also instrumental in double bassist Henry Grimes' return to performing and recording. Grimes' November 2003 appearance on González' Nile River Suite was the bassist's first official recording in more than thirty-five years.

During the late 1970s, González started the Dallas Association for Avant-Garde and Neo Impressionistic Music, or daagnim, at the suggestion of Anthony Braxton and Art Lande. The daagnim organization, which functioned both as a group of musicians and as a record label, was based on and named after the AACM.

In 1978, González began working for Dallas radio station KERA-FM, where he hosted a music program, Miles Out. He worked with KERA for 21 years, but left after the station had largely shifted from music programming to a news and talk format.

For several years during the 1990s, González retired from jazz performance and recording. In 2001, he formed a trio, Yells at Eels, with his sons Aaron (double bass) and Stefan (drums, vibraphone). In 2010, the trio recorded with Ariel Pink, appearing on the song "Hot Body Rub" on the album Before Today, and on a vinyl EP, Ariel Pink With Added Pizzazz. González's most recent offering with Yells at Eels is a collaboration with Fort Worth experimental drone rock outfit Pinkish Black Vanishing Light in the Tunnel of Dreams released May of 2020."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Gonz%C3%A1lez)
3/25/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Bruno Pedroso was born in 1969. He began to study music in 1987. First particular title with established musicians on the national scene ( José Salgueiro, Henry de Sousa, Manuel Costa Reis ) and then attended at the Academy of Music Amateurs and Jazz School Hot Clube in Portugal .

At the end of the 90s, he started working as a freelancer, first with the pop band Heróis do Mar, later on with Mler if Dada, where he stayed for two years and recorded the second album.

In the 90th he began fulfilling his compulsory military service in the Army Light Orchestra. In this time, he was studying with jazz drummer Allan Dawson, a renowned educator, teacher during 18 years at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA and also studied with legends of jazz such as Clark Terry, Sir Roland Hanna, Rufus Reid, Bill Pierce.

Bruno Pedroso integrated the band Dulce Pontes, recording CDs " Lusitania " and "Ao vivo no Coliseu do Porto" . He was also a part of the group Plopoplot Pot ( led by musician and composer Nuno Rebelo ) and Idéfix ( Sergio Pelagio ), with whom he recorded the albums.

At the end of the first half of the decade, Bruno Pedroso was a part of the orchestra "Som do Mundo"led by Laurent Filipe. The effect of participation there was recording the CD with Carlos Martins at the concerts, both: nationally and abroad. He had the fortune to record with well-known singers like: Mary John, Elizabeth Campelo and Anabela,with the band Ritual Tejo, record a CD with the trio "Lugar da desordem", saxophonist Paulo Curado and visit Africa to play around at festivals with bassist Carlos Barretto, as well.

At the end of the decade, feeling the need of musical recycling,Bruno Pedroso remained a half a year in New York, studying at the school " Drummers Collective " There he had the opportunity to meet the most important drummers of the world jazz scene, as Jordi Rossi, Jim Chapin, Carl Allen, Leon Parker, Ralph Peterson Jr., Adam Nussbaum, Steve Berrios, Kim Plainfield, Bobby Sanabria.

Over the past decade, he continued his career as a teacher at the School of Jazz Luis Villas -Boas and in the JBJazz school and also continued his work as a freelancer playing with the various names of jazz, such as André Fernandes, Pedro Moreira, Nelson Cascais, Nuno Ferreira, Bernardo Moreira, Afonso Pais, Sassetti Bernardo, João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Felipe Melo, Marta Hugon, Zé Eduardo, Jacinta. He also invited to cooperation many foreign names, as: Julian Arguelles, Chris Cheek, Ken Filiano, Abe Rabade, Chris Higgins, Nicholas Payton, Reginald Veal, Aaron Goldberg, Phil Markowitz, Chris Kase, Avishai Cohen, Antonio Pharaoh, Peter Epstein, Bob Sands, Francois Theberge, Rick Margitza, John Ellis, Dave O'Higgins, Richard Galliano, Gregory Tardy, Perico Sambeat Jesus Santandreu, Ivan Paduart, Herb Geller, Sheila Jordan, Jesse Davis, Donald Harrison, Ben Monder and many, many others."

[Discogs Grou List: Abe Rábade Trío, Gonçalo Marques Trio, Idefix (3), Júlio Resende Trio, Kiko & The Jazz Refugees, Lisbon Improvisation Players, Luís Figueiredo Trio, Nelson Cascais Quintet, New West Quartet, Paulo Curado E O Lugar Da Desordem, Paulo Gomes Ensemble, Plopoplot Pot, Trio De Paulo Curado, Zé Eduardo Unit]

-JACC Records (https://www.jacc-records.com/en/musicians/bruno-pedroso)
3/25/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Ulrich Mitzlaff completed his cello studies in the seventies at Tübingen (Germany) with Professor Stefan Zarnescú. Since 1996 he lives at Lisbon, Portugal, where he works as cellist and composer of contemporary and experimental music, improvisation, free-jazz, conceptual composition and sound-art. He collaborates with various artists in multidisciplinary and electro-acoustic projects and he is member of the art-association "granular".

At the moment, he participates in music-projects like: the Duo Ulrich Mitzlaff / Miguel Mira, with a new and very surprising CD "Cellos" that was presented early springtime this year; Separados Frutos, an experimental music and spoken word formation with Nuno Rebelo, Vera Mantero and Manuel Guimarães; the Open Speech TRIO with Carlos Bechegas and Miguel Feraso Cabral; the Duo Carlos "Zingaro" / Ulrich Mitzlaff and the Fruit Music Quartet with Franziska Schroeder, Pedro Carneiro and Pedro Rebelo.

With Carlos "Zingaro" he was performing in many different constellations and formations that had a significant impact on his playing. The same is to say about his collaborations with Nuno Rebelo, Carlos Bechegas, Miguel Mira and Carlos Santos.

He was interpreting the original music composed by Nuno Rebelo in 2001 for "como rebolar alegremente sobre um vazio interior", choreography by Vera Mantero for the Ballet Gulbenkian, and in 2003 for "Silicone Não", choreography by Paulo Ribeiro for the Companhia Paulo Ribeiro. He was collaborating in 2000 and 2001 with Américo Rodrigues in his multi-dimensional piece "...como um relâmpago...".

He composed and presented live in 2008 the music for the choreography created by Romulus Neagu "The Invisibility of the Small Perceptions". With Romulus Neagu he works also in the duo "ImproFormance", an instant dance-performance.

In 2008 he created and interpreted the music for the documentary film by Miguel Clara Vasconcelos over the choreographic project of Romulus Neagu "The Invisibility of the Small Perceptions", and in 2009 he composed and interpreted the music for the dramatic short film by Miguel Clara Vasconcelos "Pedrinez". He interpreted the original music written by Paulo Curado for the animation film "Cândido" by "Zepe" - José Pedro Cavalheiro in 2007.

He participated in many international festivals like "Festival LEM Primavera" (Barcelona 2009), "Festival Portugal and the World" (Brussels 2007), "Metasonic LX" (Lisbon 2006), "Metasonic III" (Lisbon 2010), "Festival Músicas do Mundo" (Sines 2006), "Festival Alkantara" (Lisbon 2006), "Sonorities" festival of contemporary music (Belfast, Northern Ireland 2005), "CAMP 03 - international festival for electronic music, sound art and visual arts" (Tübingen, Germany 2003) and "CAMP 05" (Montemor-o-Novo 2005), "Encontros de Música Experimental- EME" (Setúbal 2000 and 2001), "Ó da Guarda" (Guarda 1999, 2005 and 2008) among many others.

He was playing in various concerts with Fried Dähn, Rodrigo Amado, Emídio Buchinho, Reinhold Friedl, Vitor Joaquim, Thomas Maos, Stefano de Bonis, Josep-Maria Balanyà, Bart Maris, Miguel Cardoso, Pedro Lopes, Hernâni Faustino, Stefano Zorzanello, Gregg Moore, Liba Villavecchia, Paulo Curado, Bertrand Gauguet, Miguel Leiria Pereira, Ernesto Rodrigues, Mark Whitecage, Phill Niblock and many others. He worked in the duo I/O with Carlos Santos (MAX/MSP) in the field of electro-acoustic improvisation and he was collaborating with the Lisbon Improvisation Players of Rodrigo Amado."

-Creative Sources (http://creativesourcesrec.com/artists/u_mitzlaff.html)
3/25/2024

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Track Listing:



1. Tensegrity

2. Dreams/Reflections

3. Awareness

4.Time - Rising Spirits

5. Meeting of Our Times

6. Spiritualized

Related Categories of Interest:

Clean Feed
Improvised Music
Jazz
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
November 2006

Search for other titles on the label:
Clean Feed.


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