Label: NoBusiness Records, 2026

Personnel - Rodrigo Amado: tenor and alto saxophone, bird water whistle; Joe McPhee: tenor saxophone; Kent Kessler: bass; Chris Corsano: drums.

Wailers marks the fourth installment by Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado’s This Is Our Language Quartet, whose long-developed musical empathy is evident throughout. Joe McPhee, on tenor, forms a compelling frontline with Amado—both granted ample solo space—while the rhythm section is in capable hands, with Kent Kessler on bass and Chris Corsano on drums, merging their voices within a broad, unrestrained harmonic landscape.

The title track—named after a poem by Amiri Baraka—opens with explosive force, plunging the quartet into a delirious cacophony from the outset, driven by a powerful bass surge and frenetic drumming. With inventive interplay and striking energy, Amado and McPhee weave playful staccatos into fully articulated phrases, diverging, reconnecting, and ultimately converging in a shared language.

“Hot Folk” features Corsano’s vibrant work across toms and cymbals, while Kessler’s tense arco passages gradually give way to a fuller, rounded pizzicato. McPhee’s restless, knotty tenor lines intensify the piece before it unexpectedly settles into a lyrical, ballad-like passage—reminiscent of an improvised jazz standard—once Amado joins in. Together, they shape melodies over understated cymbals and sparse bass motion. On “Violet Souls”, meditative saxophone lines float above a dark, nearly thunderous rhythmic foundation built from taut arco textures and agitated drumming, culminating in a burst of avant-garde energy.

Amado opens “Theory of Mind II (for Joe)”—a trio tribute to McPhee—with bird water whistle before shifting to saxophone, developing a motif-rich and expressive narrative across its full range. “Subterranean Night Color” offers a compelling drum improvisation alongside chamber-like passages rendered with atmospheric, painterly gestures. They are complemented by forceful saxophone explorations and solo drums. The album closes with “Blue Blowers”, centered on a clearly defined motif, its narrative loose and free, with enough latitude for the most whimsical idea to emerge and sound natural over the swinging motions.

Amado and his peers often keep the listener on edge, their relentless searching continually uncovering moments of genuine discovery.