Label: Habitable Records, 2021

Personnel - Javier Subatin: guitar; Demian Cabaud: bass; Pedro Melo Alves: drums. Guests - João Mortágua: alto saxophone; Samuel Gapp: piano; Ricardo Jacinto: cello.

Javier Subatin, a versatile Argentinian guitarist based in Lisbon, gathered with fellow countryman bassist Demian Cabaud and Portuguese drummer Pedro Melo Alves for a stimulating new album. Guest performers appear on six of the 12 tracks.

The central pieces on this record - Subatin’s ‘Mountain’ compositions - are interspersed with more abstract collective improvisations that can go from avant-garde settings with constant restless motions (“Birds”) and controlled tension (“Shadows”) to slightly eerie episodes with a percussive emphasis (“Caves”).

The opener, “Mountain#1”, is among my favorites, showing the trio in absolute command of multiple meter signatures. Before the final straight-to-the-gut rock muscularity limned by Alves’ drum work, there’s a strident improvisation by Subatin. He makes an impact by engaging in rhythmic ideas that shifts chromatically.

The polyrhythmic “Mountain#3” brings us discernible, emotionally charged harmonic movements in 13/8 before opting for a symmetric jazz rock groove with hints of funk. This is celebrated by the enthusiastic interplay between Subatin and guest pianist Samuel Gapp.

Also featuring an ostinato-driven passage in 13, “Mountain #5” is atmospherically drafted for freedom but also includes thoroughly composed parts. The tension grows and the peak is reached halfway, during the bandleader’s revved-up soloing process. Yet, all ends pacifically with the bowed bass orienting us toward a circular trajectory.

Diversity is an asset here, and if “Mountain#4” blossoms like a folk dance and shows signs of fusion, then “Mountain#2” suggests chamber classical music with appropriate counterpoint, for which much contributes the cellist Ricardo Jacinto. By contrast, “Mountain#6”, which starts breezily in seven, features the suppleness of altoist João Mortágua and a solo dissertation by Cabaud in a well-paced ride. As a conclusion, all guests take part in “Solo#5”, a melodic and beautifully textured piece with a flowing sense of pop song.

The contemporary aural descriptions of these ‘mountains’ make us want to climb them to the top. Moreover, the telepathic camaraderie between the musicians is noticeable and the ambitious musical experiment wins.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Mountain#1 ► 05 - Mountain#3 ► 10 - Mountain#6

Label: Self released, 2020

Personnel - Javier Subatin: guitar; Pedro Moreira: tenor saxophone; João Paulo Esteves da Silva: piano; André Rosinha: double bass; Diogo Alexandre: drums.

Argentine guitarist/composer Javier Subatin is currently based in Lisbon, where he’s been very active in the last three years - the guitarist released two records and just put together the Composers & Improvisers Community Project, a global community of independent musicians whose main plan is to fight the hardships brought by the covid-19 crisis through Patreon. His sophomore album, Variaciones, is seen as a natural extension of the 2018 debut CD, Autotelic, a duo collaboration with Portuguese pianist João Paulo Esteves da Silva plus guests. Besides the pianist, whose intricate work fits hand in glove with Subatin’s solution of composed and improvised segments, this new work features saxophonist Pedro Moreira, bassist André Rosinha and drummer Diogo Alexandre.

“Solo#3”, which opens the record, comes flavored with the subtlety of classical music and the strength of contemporary jazz. The integration between piano and guitar is rock-hard, and before the guitarist steps forward - his exquisite fingerpicking draws sharp reactions from Alexandre behind the drum kit - there’s a passage filled with polyrhythmic haziness in which the instruments dance with unabashed freedom.

Bookending the four ‘variaciones’, we have the continual motion of “Prelude”, whose up-to-date fugue-like behavior prepares the way for what’s coming next, and the softly tempered “Postlude”, which closes out the album in a more reflective mode.

As architecturally sound essays conceived with synergy, discipline and creativity, these variations look to connect the dots between different styles and techniques by relying on a refined sonic palate. “Variaciones#1” denotes Jarrett-esque folk influences in the melody and a strong Latin current running underneath. The drums stand out during the fragmented rhythmic passage that leads to improvisations by Subatin - crammed with inside/outside incursions - and Silva, who populates his clear diction with groove and a few motifs.

Less buoyant than its predecessor, “Variaciones#2” adopts a more serious semblance as it provides just the right amount of tension, intrigue and spark. The magnetism of Moreira’s saxophone is put on display prior to a tranquil and abstract middle passage where piano and guitar circulate freely. Odd meter is often spotted throughout the journey, and if here we have a guitar pattern in nine at the base, the next pair of pieces: “Variaciones#3” and “Variaciones#4” are no exception in this respect. The former, delivered in seven, also boasts compact unisons and a streamlined harmonic progression; while the latter, intricately constructed with quiet and uptempo sections where different tempos come and go, takes the shape of an unpredictable oddity. It’s impossible not to notice an ecstatic chapter where a fast-paced rock meets a hip Latin-American groove.

Subatin has here a compositionally strong work.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Solo #3 ► 04 - Variaciones#2 ► 06 - Variaciones#4