Label: Robalo Music, 2021

Personnel - Paulo Santo: vibraphone; João Mortágua: alto and soprano saxophone; Luís Cunha: trumpet; Francisco Brito: bass; João Lopes Pereira: drums.

The album Águeda finds the Portuguese vibist Paulo Santo paying tribute to his maternal grandmother while working in challenging territory. He is seen at the helm of an aesthetically rigorous quintet that includes João Mortágua on alto and soprano saxophones, Luís Cunha on trumpet, Francisco Brito on double bass and João Lopes Pereira on drums.

Nicely programmed, this well-rounded set of contemporary music captivates the listeners with magnetic atmospheres. The group’s cohesive palette of sounds starts to gain expression with the opening track, “As She Swings, As a Po(o)p Song”, where the trumpet kicks off unaccompanied, and then welcomes the saxophone into the folk melody . This is before the rhythm section lays down an unaggressive, groovy tapestry that invites Santo and Mortágua to expose their soloing resourcefulness.

Admirable tone drawings are rendered in “Tomate Com Óculos”, a post-bop stunner inspired by Santo's dog and where the horn players and the bandleader alternate statements over an arresting odd-meter groove. “Hover It”, in five, is another airy piece that touts relaxation, with the men in the frontline cooly blowing in unison. However, it was “Wishing” - a tone poem slowed to a crawl - that impressed me the most with its hypnotic, haunting and ethereal reflections of light.

Santo’s musings are never overpowering, even when it comes to slightly brisker settings. “Freefall” follows a colorful framework in which a Bobby Hutcherson-fueled post-bop mutates into an avant-gardish ambiance à-la Dave Holland Quintet, whereas “Pow” has Santo free to flow everywhere with proper shadings when sax and trumpet are concurrently active in the conversation. He also projects his mallet playing forward when required. The album closes out with the waltzing pop-song pulse of “The First Time I Sang You”.

Águeda is full of inspiring chops and agreeable moods. That fact will certainly contribute to put Paulo Santo on the map as a bandleader.