No Place to Fall

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 2021-03-17
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
Editor's info:
Having previously worked together with Joe McPhee and Kent Kessler, this album distills the Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado and NY drummer/percussionist Chris Corsano to a concentrated sax and drum duo of earnest and edgy playing, bending jazz, free and blues idioms to their will with magnificent technique and power, both clearly elated in their meeting.

freejazzblog.org * * * *:
Readers of this blog need no introduction to the work of Portuguese sax player Rodrigo Amado and Chris Corsano. Their collaboration in a quartet with sax and pocket trumpet player Joe McPhee and double bass player Kent Kessler won 5 stars reviews on the blog (This Is Our Language, Not Two, 2012, and A History of Nothing, Trost, 2018). No Place to Fall is a studio recording of Amado - focusing on tenor sax - and Corsano from July 2014 at Manouche Studios, Lisbon. It is a released as limited edition of 175 red shelled cassettes and 500 discs plus download option.

The title of this album captures faithfully the urgent and restless atmosphere of this meeting. Amado and Corsano soar instantly into dense, turbulent stratosphere like there is no tomorrow. Both play with boundless energy, relying on their deep understanding of the art of the moment and super-fast instincts. They fill the room with their busy, muscular and conversational interplay, rarely settling on a fixed pulse or a theme, always pushing forward and sounding as a much bigger unit already on the opening piece “Announcement”.

Amado and Corsano begin the following “Don’t Take It Too Bad” with a leisured mode and some fractured, bluesy undercurrents, but soon surf again on another powerful wave. Amado's delivery here is full of charisma, alternating freely between a singing tone and investigating complex rhythmic patterns. He begins the title track with a series of Ayler-ian calls, cries squeaks but soon Corsano rolls in and challenges him to fly higher and faster, as if even a brief stop would guarantee a downward fall for both of them. “Into the Valley” feeds on the tough yet ecstatic climax of the title piece but explores a sparse theme while Amado and Corsano keep searching for different perspectives and modes that would serve best this fleeting theme, including playful, instant-shifting rhythmic games. The last “We'll Be Here In The Morning” suggests a completely different course, openly emotional and quite lyrical. Amado sings his heart out in a gentle, warm voice while Corsano colors his singing voice with sensitive, minimalist touches until both dance around each other.

Do yourselves a favor and take this sonic pill of positive, uplifting energy. You are guaranteed to thank Amado and Corsano later.
By Eyal Hareuveni

All About Jazz * * * * 1/2:
Did you know that besides his talents as a saxophonist and composer, Rodrigo Amado is also a professional photographer? His camera captures an instant in time and preserves it for eternity. Now compare his photographs' frozen moments against the seemingly perpetual motion that is this free jazz set with drummer Chris Corsano. This juxtaposition of static and dynamic calls to mind the Chinese Yin and Yang symbol, or how opposites can actually be complementary, connected and interdependent. But then again, we are investigating jazz here.

Amado and Corsano have recorded together, This Is Our Language (Not Two Records, 2015) and A History of Nothing (Trost Records, 2018), in a quartet setting with Joe McPhee and Kent Kessler. Even though this disc was recorded between the above sessions, it feels as if the previous quartet recordings act as prologue, and blessing for this session.

Amado certainly displays his admiration for Joe McPhee's music here, especially his early recordings, and even McPhee's duo Dream Defenders (MNÓAD, 2012) with Corsano. The disc (also available as a cassette and download) opens with thunderous room clearing "Announcement." Both musicians exhaust themselves with wave upon wave of energy music, as if to declare, "who is with us?" Not that the pair dial back their vigor, but "Don't Take It Too Bad" enters in sotto voice. Amado's tenor plies breathy notes against quiet tom-tom drumming in a piece that builds momentum by trading off each other's energy. If Amado's photography captures a static image, Corsano's drumming is the converse. He is in constant motion, like if Paal Nilssen-Love was fused with Elvin Jones. The title track is squeezed out with blurts and blasts of notes that draw inspiration from both early tenor titans and 1960s free players. By the time Corsano enters with this rumbling attack, the pair have ignited a forest fire of sound. "Still with us?" they ask, then deliver two more tracks, the final "We'll Be Here In The Morning," a bone-tired bluesy psalm. It is certainly worth the wait.
By MARK CORROTO

muzycy:
Rodrigo Amado: Tenor Saxophone
Chris Corsano - Drums

utwory:
01. Announcement
02. Don’t Take It Too Bad
03. No Place To Fall
04. Into The Valley
05. We’ll Be Here In The Morning

nagrano: Recorded by Joaquim Monte at Manouche Studios, Lisbon, July 14th, 2014.

more info: www.astralspiritsrecords.com