Subtle acoustic improvisation from a global set of improvisors--Yu Lin Humm on cello, Pedro Frazao on euphonium, Ryoko Imai on marimba, percussion, Andre Hencleeday on piano, Philippe Trovao on tenor saxophone, and Ernesto Rodrigues on viola--in an attentive and tension-filled single movement, each player adding and reacting as ideas percolate and subsume.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2019 Country: Portugal Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold Recorded live at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal, on December 15th, 2018, by Miguel Azguime.
"[...] Percolation by a new mixed sextet of Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Yu Lin Humm (cello), Philippe Trovão (tenor saxophone), Pedro Frazão (euphonium), Andre Hencleeday (piano) & Ryoko Imai (bass marimba, percussion): The sort of quietly layered articulation of the single movement recalls Stratus in some ways, but also involves new participation & a generally acoustic setting. (I say "generally," because I do believe that some lowercase mic'ing is at work.) Also, as with e.g. Suspensão, there's a focus on dynamic balance, here with various reduced forces active much of the time on until a full on bore ending that seems almost out of place.
Among the other musicians, Hencleeday is the only one I've mentioned here, and he's appeared in several contexts with Rodrigues, but Humm & Imai have also appeared in some larger ensembles (& have fine moments here, e.g. the marimba producing a hum that sounds almost electronic). Of the previously unknown performers, Trovão mostly plays a textural role on tenor, but apropos the previous paragraph, Frazão is quite prominent at times on euphonium: After some initially quiet scuffling & tinkling, he calls out strikingly against the texture, seeming to set the mood.... The ensemble tends to be careful & precise in its interactions in general, injecting a renewed tautness into the style, but I'm also not sure about the balance of the overall sextet, e.g. pairing piano with marimba.... Still, Percolation seems to point to some new ensemble ideas & articulations. Todd McComb (Medieval .org)