Jun 6 2018
The motion is where it’s at on the latest from drummer João Lencastre’s Communion 3
The motion is where it’s at on the latest from drummer João Lencastre. Whether it’s a series of free improvisations or a rendition of Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman,” Lencastre creates rhythmic flurries that are positively captivating. It’s a very in the moment kind of thing. The pieces of Movements in Freedom don’t ever evince a sense of shape or cohesion… except in the present moment, when everything feels interconnected and everything sounds like it falls into its right place.
Pianist Jacob Sacks is the melodic flame lit by Lencastre’s spark, and the light it produces is lively and gorgeous and enchanting. Bassist Eivind Opsvik has long displayed a talent for adding color and tones to the melody while providing texture to the rhythm. In the trio format, and on an album so wide open for improvisation, he’s really able to shine with an abundance of activity and still have plenty of room for nuance and subtlety. And most of these pieces are improvisations, which really makes the cohesion-in-the-moment trait so much more impressive. All of that space to move around in and wander, a sense of the limitless horizon, and yet the trio remains insanely focused on the motion of the moment.
The rhythmic flurries are symbolic of the album’s strength, but when silence permeates a pieces, as it does on “Walk on Clouds,” the music is no less enchanting. It’s just a different type of conjuring performed by the trio. Opsvik adding bass arco plays no small part in the music’s spellbinding nature.
I really enjoyed Lencastre’s 2014 release What Is This All About? (on Auand Records). It had a boozy demeanor, loose and unfocused in the best of ways, where the music’s unpredictability informed both the motion and melody. Then, too, like on his newest, Lencastre has a way on drums of giving a whisper the force of a shout. It is the way the calm before the storm contains an electricity as highly charged as when the sky comes pouring down, but delivered with a soothing calm that draws you right in to the center of things.
A seriously beautiful album.
Your album personnel: João Lencastre (drums), Jacob Sacks (piano) and Eivind Opsvik (bass).
Released on Clean Feed Records.
Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Music from Lisbon, Portugal.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic
And definitely check out Lencastre’s 2014 release What Is The All About? It features an entirely different line-up. Sacks is on piano, but the ensemble also has David Binney, Phil Grenadier, André Matos, Thomas Morgan, Sara Serpa and more.
Dec 24 2019
Now up: September’s Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations
And here we go. Let’s do some catch-up on notifications about my latest Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations posting on The Bandcamp Daily. This monthly installment covers albums for September 2019. There’s ten primary recommendations in total, plus some bonus recommendations, to boot. There’s been no let-up on the deluge of new music in 2019, so if you were thinking about maybe settling into a prior month’s purchases, forget about it… you’ve got more excellent new music to discover. I have been saying this same thing nearly every month, and every month it is true. On that note, let’s begin.
Follow this LINK to read those recommendations and listen to music from each album.
Check out past recommendations by running through my contributor archives.
Have fun going through the list!
Cheers.
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By davesumner • Announcement - Music • 0 • Tags: Anupam Shobhakar, Bandcamp articles, Ben van Gelder, Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations, Clean Feed Records, Firehouse 12 Records, Gondwana Records label, Guillermo Klein, Husmo HAV, João Lencastre, Joel Harrison, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, Led Bib, Matthew Halsall, Nakama Records, PMG Recordings, RareNoise Records, Reinier Baas, Ropeadope Records, Self-Produced, Sunnyside Records, Svetlost, Taylor Ho Bynum, The Big Yes!, Whirlwind Records, Øra Fonogram