"We have heard the Lisbon double bassist João Madeira several times in the galaxy of Rodrigues father and son, Ernesto, the violist, and Guilherme, the cellist, as in this superb pearl, Chaos, CD published by Creative Sources. We also find him in No Strings Attached and Hoya on the same label, always with Ernesto Rodrigues, but also Hernani Faustino, Daniel Levin...

Last year, 4DARecords, João's label, had published an excellent successful trio of the violinist Carlos Zingaro and the percussionist Sofia Borges with this singular double bass player: Trismariz. Convinced by their exchanges and sharing a whole philosophy of improvisation and a sonic and emotional territory as a truly extensible common denominator, Zingaro and Madeira came together to deliver this beautiful encounter, worthy of, and even more so than, the associations of this violinist, a pioneer of contemporary improvisation, with double bassists such as Joëlle Léandre, Kent Carter, Simon H. Fell, and cellists Fred Lonberg-Holm and Peggy Lee.

For those who remain unconvinced by the artistry of this Portuguese violinist, simply immerse yourself in this fabulous document of an extraordinary solo performance by Carlos Zingaro: Live at Mosteiro De Santa Clara A Velha (Cipsela). It's as good as it gets, along with Phil Wachsmann, Malcolm Goldstein, and Harald Kimmig. And I love this Arcada Pendular (pendulum arch), the movement of the bow guided by a magic pendulum, that of Philémon Cyclône in search of treasures buried across the strings, searching in the middle of a lunar terrain, siliceous or granitic, dry as a stick in the distant and low shadow of the Pyramids at sunset.

Surfaces covered with micro-mushrooms and multicolored mosses as can be seen on the cover of the digipack, work of Carlos... under which invisible magnetic attractions guide the dance steps of these two tightrope walkers of the violin and the double bass, the small and the large of this family of instruments of violins which are only associated at their finest within their siblings: violin, viola, cello, and double bass.

Music of research, of multiform and moving instrumental actions that resemble exploration, of expressive gestures, of sonic introspections that distance themselves, each at its own pace, come together in angular, spiral, moiré, or fractured counterpoints, or contradict each other, each running off on its own, pretending not to care about the other's concerns, but bringing them a subtle question, an oblique energy, or the conclusion that is long overdue.

It is not a question of technical unpacking, but rather a spread out in a graphic panorama, striated, undulatory, abstract and expressionist as much as pointillist or impressionist... cubist, tachist, Turner, Delaunay, Kandinsky, Klee, de Kooning, Pollock, Richter, Frankenthaler, or my friend the designer André Dael and his imaginary landscapes.

It is deeply sincere while using multiple techniques of bow rubbing, harmonics, string and woody vibrations, skidding, percussion, diffractions, amalgams, frenzies, ecstasies or meditations, reflections, paranormal telepathic moments. The suggested imagination goes beyond the faculty of imagination and the notion of dialogue by the grace of their inner simplicity open to the present moment and their rebellious playful inclinations.

Beyond this notion of dialogue, we sail and wander in the ocean of automatic writing, the limbo of waking dreams, and that insatiable curiosity that is never quite satisfied with an apparent success, preferring risk, the unknown, clearing the way...

To be placed on a shelf alongside the duos of Barre Phillips and Malcolm Goldstein, Philipp Wachsmann and Teppo Hauta-Aho, or the String Trio of Harald Kimmig, Alfred Zimmerlin, and Daniel Studer."-Vincent Martial, Orynx Improv and Sounds