Label: Outside in Music, 2021
Personnel - André Carvalho: double bass; José Soares: alto saxophone; André Matos: guitar.
Guest - João Almeida : trumpet
André Carvalho, a clever composer and sturdy bassist originally from Lisbon, has been based in New York for seven years now. After getting critical acclaim with his previous album, The Garden of Earthly Delights, he blazes a new trail in a record mostly performed in the trio format - alongside saxophonist José Soares and NY-based guitarist André Matos, and with guest appearances by trumpeter João Almeida. Comprising 12 tracks, Lost in Translation channels the bassist’s interest for untranslatable words, an inspiration for the sounds and moods conveyed on the album.
“Luftmensch” (meaning dreamer in Yiddish) and “Kilig” (a Tagalog word related to when something romantic or idealistic occurs) set the tone as the group creates certain ambiances that walk the tightrope between modern composition and spontaneous exploration. The former number invests in tranquility but doesn’t stop from searching via nuanced ostinatos, texture-minded guitar work with polyphonic intention, saxophone trills, and impeccably synced movements. In turn, the latter selection has its peaceful tones disturbed by Matos’ wired clustered chords while the bowed bass and the saxophone perform side by side.
This conscious avant-garde setting is extended to “Goya”, which explores further oblique angles and leans harder into jagged edges through distorted guitar and the interaction between Soares and Almeida. Their horns join forces again on “Karelu”, a piece brimming with melodic exclamations and whose static foundational overture is reshaped into a definitive celebratory dance. The ruggedness that comes from Matos’ electronic effects are turned into chiming and ringing tones on “Resfebar”, which he fills with excellent guitar voicings. This composition displays a strong central melodic idea to express the mixture of anxiety and anticipation (of a traveler) that the Swedish word in question refers to. Also based on a Swedish word, “Mangata” embraces a more defined song format as it uses folk and modern classical tinges to depict the road-like reflection of the moon in the water.
Carvalho employs his poignant, well-developed arco sound here, which also entirely shapes “Boketto” and introduces “Uitwaaien”. The latter flows with a nice, levitating pulse before being slightly rockified by monstrous bass plucks in its final section.
Although not every track touches us deeply, Carvalho’s new trio has its own musical vernacular, binding sounds with a cultivated purpose and non-obvious directions.
B+
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Kilig ► 07 - Karelu ► 11 - Resfebar