FAIL BETTER Marcelo dos Reis, Luis Vicente: OWT [Vinyl 1LP]

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 2016-09-27
kontynent: Europa
kraj: Portugalia
opakowanie: kartonowe etui
opis:
Editor's info:
Mesmerizing electric free improvisation from the Portugese quintet of Marcelo Dos Reis on guitar, Luis Vicente on trumpet, Joao Guimaraes on sax, Jose Miguel Pereira on double bass, and Joao Pais Filipe on drums, recording live at Salao Brazil in Coimbra, Portugal in 2014.

Limited edition of 300 copies.

freejazzblog.org - ocena * * * *:
In their debut liner notes, Fail Better! described themselves as “a collaborative group born out of pre-existing projects that brought together part of the members of this quintet (The Nap, Frame Trio and Guimarães/Pais duo).” Because the musicians seem busy with so many different projects, I wasn’t sure if we’d hear from them again for another 3-5 years. So I was both surprised and delighted to see a new album up for grabs on the review list, and digitally jumped at the chance to review. The Portuguese scene has, for years now, cranked out exceptional experimental, genreless music. Fail Better! falls somewhere in the category of improvised jazz rock, but the group doesn’t create fusion or crossover music. Instead, Fail Better! moves in waves of sound, and the whole album effortlessly floats along, as each player dips in and out of the stream (to keep with the watery metaphors).

The group is a superb assembly of improvising musicians: Luís Vicente (trumpet), João Guimarães (alto saxophone), Marcelo dos Reis (electric guitar), José Miguel Pereira (double bass), and João Pais Filipe (drums). As with their debut album, Zero Sum, OWT was recorded live in Coimbra, this time in 2014.

If anything, Fail Better! has found a way to up the ante on their collaboration. I thought Zero Sum had a heavy, dark beauty to it. On OWT, they’ve brightened the sound a bit by adding a lot of space. For example, “Sidereal” has dos Reis and Filipe layering pulsing drones beneath Vicente and Guimarães’s more insistent improvisations, creating a tension between the rhythm section’s trance-like groove and the jazzier trumpet and sax lines. “In Between” goes in a slightly more introspective direction, with Vincente on muted trumpet. “Circular Measure,” which features Filipe’s trademark gongs, is a possible standout, as dos Reis, Vicente, and Guimarães play jagged, contrasting lines like sine waves over Pereira and Filipe’s subtle funk. As a single example of what makes the group exceptional, the clashing improvisation of “Circular Measure” highlights the strong connections between all the players; on multiple listens you can concentrate on hearing the shape of the whole or simply focus on any one player.

OWT closes with the ten-minute “Stellar,” a wonderfully ethereal conclusion. Again, there’s that feeling of space (in a non-celestial sense) with Filipe’s percussive playing intertwining beautifully with both Pereira’s arco work and dos Reis’s clanging electric guitar. Guimarães plays so comfortably in this space, I really could listen to him all day (do check out his octet album Zero for a more composed but similar take on this sound). And Vicente’s playing is just incredible, as always. One final note, the cover, by NoBusiness house designer Oskaras Anosovas, is gorgeous and appropriately celestial.
By Lee Rice Epstein

All About Jazz - ocena * * * 1/2:
Taking Samuel Beckett's exhortation from Worstward Ho as a moniker—and a highly appropriate credo for improvisers to aspire to—Portuguese co-operative ensemble Fail Better! proffer their second release, following Zero Sum (JACC, 2014), as a limited edition LP on the Lithuanian NoBusiness label. Of the five proponents, likely the most familiar will be trumpeter Luis Vicente and guitarist Marcelo Dos Reis, both increasingly visible on the European scene and previously heard in fine style on the excellent Chamber 4 (FMR, 2015). Their countrymen alto saxophonist João Guimarães, bassist José Miguel Pereira and drummer João Pais Filipe complete the unchanged lineup which trades in spontaneous constructs full of quiet intensity but with a lyrical center.

As with the aforementioned disc, a collective ethos prevails as the participants focus on the overall effect rather than individual glory. Consequently the two horns frequently intertwine echoing each other's phrases, with Guimarães sharing Vicente's predominantly tuneful disposition, although not his sputters and growls. Dos Reis veers between a ringing consonant undertow and insistent rhythmic patterns which ground the improvisations. It's those occasionally surfacing fragments of melody and tempo which serve to keep the invention accessible.

A favored gambit is to contrast fast rhythm against slower horns to create a timeless drifting feel. "Former Times" establishes the template, whereby Vicente's muted murmurings are mirrored by Guimarães' alto saxophone to generate a languid mood, but pitched against Filipe's faster paced cymbal chatter and Pereira's rapid sawing bass, which conjures an underlying tension. With its powerful groove, stuttered trumpet imprecations, and electric guitar posturing, the incantatory stew of "Circular Measure" resembles something from Miles Davis' electric era, while on "Stellar" the droney atmosphere and distant whinnying trumpet bring a more ambient spirit to the fore.
By JOHN SHARPE

citizenjazz.com:
Pour de nombreux observateurs du jazz européen, le nom de Marcelo Dos Reis est apparu en 2013, lors de la première sortie du quintet Fail Better ! Sur le label de Coimbra, Jacc Records. Symbolique de la vivacité de la scène lusitanienne, l’orchestre agglutinait en une seule entité quelques formations pré-existantes, comme pour mieux se serrer les coudes, dans une atmosphère qui emprunte beaucoup aux ambiances du rock progressif, excluant néanmoins les codes syntaxiques. C’est ainsi qu’aux côtés du guitariste on retrouve Luis Vicente ; ils se connaissent bien, puisque de Fail Better ! jusqu’à Chamber 4, leurs collaborations sont multiples. Une complicité que le trompettiste étend au saxophoniste João Guimarães avec qui il tresse des structures solides sur lesquelles le guitariste peut tranquillement déambuler.

OWT est un champ d’expérience qui offre un espace délimité par les sons des soufflants. Fail Better !, qui reprend une citation attribuée à Beckett et chère à Joëlle Léandre [1] fait briller Vincente et Guimarães sans étouffer le collectif et permet même à Dos Reis de montrer sa maîtrise de la guitare électrique, lui qu’on a souvent connu en acoustique sur son label Cipsela [2]. Vicente impressionne, marquant de son talent, en quelques souffles lointains, la polyphonie mystique de « Stellar ». Mieux, il orne chaque ouverture possible, même les plus diaphanes. Ainsi, dans « Sidereal » la guitare au son clair et minutieux s’insinue avec l’aide d’une base rythmique sobre et efficace. José Miguel Pereira à la contrebasse est le rouage aussi imperceptible qu’indispensable qui donne du relief à ces morceaux en perpétuelle extension. Quant au batteur, João Pais Filipe, il alterne une partition de percussionniste extrêmement musicale et la prise en main d’un jeu naturellement rocailleux, à l’instar de « Circular Measure ».

Ce titre est l’exemple même que rien n’est définitif avec le quintet : chacun développe un biotope propre, et celui-ci est de loin le plus libertaire, au delà de sa longueur. La guitare est alcaline, souterraine aussi. C’est elle qui vient en soutien des feulements de la trompette, soutenue par un battement régulier, entêtant, qu’on pourrait attribuer à quelque nostalgie jazz-rock n’étaient ses brisures très modernes, mais surtout la montée en puissance de l’alto, qui joue le rôle de l’accélérateur de particule. C’est à ce moment que le discret Pereira prend toute son importance : son archet épaissit la masse sonore jusqu’à ce qu’elle déborde du cadre, avec une jubilation évidente et tout à fait communicative. On attend avec impatience le prochain essai !
par Franpi Barriaux

muzycy:
Marcelo dos Reis: electric guitar
Luís Vicente: trumpet
João Guimarães: alto saxophone
José Miguel Pereira: double bass
João Pais Filipe: drums

utwory:
Side A:
1. Former Times
2. Sidereal
3. In Between

Side B:
1. Circular Measure
2. Stellar

wydano: 2016
nagrano: Recorded Live by José Martins on 26th April 2014 at Salão Brazil in Coimbra
more info: www.nobusinessrecords.com