The Squid's Ear Magazine


Lai, Clara (Lai / Reviriego / Roca): Corpos (Phonogram Unit)

The debut album from pianist Clara Lai's Barcelona-based trio with Alex Reviriego on double bass and Oriol Roca on drums, Lai's background in classical and jazz improvisation felt in the precision of her playing as the trio explores collective construction and structural improvisation, coaxing active and contemplative moments among uniquely experimental approaches.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Clara Lai-piano

Alex Reviriego-double bass

Oriol Roca-drums


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Label: Phonogram Unit
Catalog ID: PU16CD
Squidco Product Code: 34187

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Rosazul, in Barcelona, Spain, on April 11th and 12th, 2022, by Jan Valls.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Corpos is the first album by the Barcelona-based trio, formed by pianist Clara Lai, double bassist Àlex Reviriego and drummer Oriol Roca, recorded at Rosazul Studio in Barcelona on April, 2022.

The music of this album explores collective construction in trio format, visiting different sound zones, compositional possibilities and improvisational languages. Music that is energetic but also contemplative, aleatoric, some noise and silence, coexist with melodic sketches.

Pieces as sound bodies that find unity through embracing their diversity."-Phonogram Unit



"It's a great start to make your debut trio album a winner, and that's the case with this album by Clara Lai on piano, Alex Reviriego on double bass, and Oriol Roca on drums.

We already met Lai on José Lencastre's Common Ground album from last year, and are not yet familiar with her other recently released albums. She is trained in classical piano and has a bachelor in jazz improvisation. With her new trio she creates music that is fresh, inventive and entertaining. Reviriego and Roca are also from Barcelona, and have been reviewed in several ensembles over the past years.

Lai's music is one of structural improvisation, sculpting sonic patterns out of the fog of ideas, making them concrete and real, before they disappear again in their original background. It is a music of creative surprise, intimate like poetry at times, introverted, disciplined freedom. Both Reviriego and Roca co-create the sound, and grasp the intentions and voice of the piece perfectly.

The first tracks are more compact and focused on exquisite and intense interaction. Only on the second part of "Corpo III" does this also lead to an increase in power and volume, and a more extroverted approach, the pivotal centre of the album. The last two tracks are longer exploratory pieces with great space for both bass and drums to demonstrate the power of some extended techniques to create a unique sonic atmosphere.

Don't miss it."-Stef Gijssels, The Free Jazz Collective
Get additional information at The Free Jazz Collective


Artist Biographies

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."

-Clara Lai Website (https://claralai.com/)
5/1/2024

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

Alex Reviriego is a Spanish double bassist known for the groups Memoria Uno with Agusti Fernandez, Phicus, Pindio, Völga, and Alguns Homes Bons.

-Squidco 5/1/2024

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

"Oriol Roca (Barcelona, 1979) didn't always know he wanted to be a musician, let alone a percussionist. There was always music at home, though. He remembers listening to classical music recordings with his grandfather at a very early age and playing Beatles tunes on a beat up guitar along with his father and brother when he was in primary school. Drums came later. So did improvised music.

In The Netherlands, where he graduated at The Royal Conservatory in 2006, he learnt a few important things about himself: that he would only play the music he really wanted to play and that he could only make music with people he liked. So far he's been able to live up to those principles. With Barcelona as his base camp Oriol is one of the most prolific musicians of his generation. He appears in over eighty albums and has played in a large variety of contexts: jazz bands, improvised music groups, singer-songwriters, projects rooted in folklore, others in the avantgarde tradition. The one thing they share is that they all involve people who trust each other as artists and do whatever they do in the most honest manner possible.

His melodic playing and his versatility allowed him to build strong bounds with a large number of outstanding musicians from the jazz-improv and contemporary European scene such as Alexandra Grimal, Noël Akchoté, Chris Corsano, Brice Soniano, Erik Vermeulen, Manolo Cabras, Paolo Angeli, Giovanni di Domenico, Lynn Cassiers, Laurent Blondieu, Ferran Fages, Damo Suzuki, David Mengual, Joachim Badenhorst, Ben Sluijs, Riccardo Luppi, David Soler, Paul Lytton, Masa Kamaguchi, Augusto Pirodda, Tom Chant, Marco Mezquida, Jan Bang, Etienne Lecomte, Jeroen van Herzeele, Agustí Fernández or Jozef Dumoulin.

Oriol Roca débuted as leader with the album 'Mar' (el NEGOCITO Records 2017) a record of high emotional intensity, sometimes serene and at others volcanic, where north is always the melody, accompained by Giovanni di Domenico on piano, and Manolo Cabras on double bass.

Parallel to his activity as a drummer, he is also a composer and sound designer. In his works he aims to create unique aural experiences that challenge audiences, often using spatial techniques and elements of spontaneity, including improvisation and making it a collaborative and interdisciplinary work . He creates his own sound designs and compositions using a combination of foley, electronics, field recordings and live instruments. He works across all forms including theatre, contemporary dance and installation, as well as composing works for other musicians or performing himself. His music has been premiered at festivals and theatres in Poland, Norway, Spain, Italy and France.

A few notes on his taste: Oriol has great memories of opening once for Henry Threadgill, he loves listening to Frederic Mompou's records, admires Paal-Nilssen Love's energy and was very sad to learn Paul Motian passed away. He even confesses that he nicked one of his signature snare patterns from Björk's beautiful "Hyperballad"".

-Oriol Roca Website (https://oriolrocamusic.com/about/)
5/1/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Corpo colectivo 04:17

2. Corpo I 04:51

3. Corpo II 02:21

4. Corpo III 09:12

5. Decreciente | Creciente 09:50

6. Corpos em rede 08:47

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Jazz
Collective Free Improvsation
Trio Recordings
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
New in Improvised Music
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Phonogram Unit.


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