Harafè

Quintetto Harafè

Angelo Olivieri (tromba), Alípio Carvalho Neto (sassofoni), Ezio Peccheneda (chitarre), Roberto Raciti (contrabbasso), Federico Ughi (batteria).

Il quintetto Harafè nasce dalla collaborazione tra il trombettista Angelo Olivieri ed il sassofonista Alípio Carvalho Neto, due musicisti che hanno suscitato l’attenzione di pubblico e critica per le capacità di innovazione dimostrate nell’ambito del jazz e della musica improvvisata, accompagnate da un profondo rispetto della tradizione. L’incontro musicale tra i due avviene tra Lisbona e Roma e si concretizza ad Agosto 2008 quando viene registrata una session di musica improvvisata che porterà alla realizzazione di un CD in produzione per jèi (collana di jazz e musica improvvisata delle edizioni Terre Sommerse). Il CD, realizzato in collaborazione con l’associazione culturale Giazzè sarà sul mercato nel 2009. Alla registrazione prendono parte il chitarrista Ezio Peccheneda, il contrabbassista Roberto Raciti e il batterista Federico Ughi, musicista romano trasferitosi a New York dove ha lavorato con musicisti del calibro di William Parker e Daniel Carter.
Il sound del gruppo è fortemente caratterizzato dalle trame generate dalle linee melodiche di Olivieri intrecciate con le pirotecniche evoluzioni del sassofono di Neto, impreziosite dalla sapienza armonica di Peccheneda, dal groove di Raciti e dal drumming creativo di Ughi. Il risultato è una musica dal forte impatto e di grande energia.

Rodrigo Amado Trio + Alipio C Neto

PAURA The Construction of Fear

PAURA The Construction of Fear (Creative Sources) Alípio C Neto / Dennis González / Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues / Mark Sanders

Saído na passagem de 2008 para 2009, o novo disco encabeçado por Alípio C Neto apanha-nos de surpresa, mesmo considerando que este desfecho já estava anunciado. Se o nível de qualidade não está longe do do anterior "The Perfume Comes Before the Flower" (ou seja, bem lá em cima), este é o título em que o saxofonista luso-brasileiro se entrega finalmente de corpo inteiro às práticas "avant-garde" que o seu trajecto mais recente ia prometendo. Distanciando-se das referências bop ouvidas com os grupos Wishful Thinking e IMI Kollektief, Neto entra aqui num território de cruzamentos entre o free jazz, as novas tendências da livre-improvisação e a música contemporânea que funciona não tanto pelos pontos em comum que as três vertentes possam ter, mas pelos contrastes jogados a preceito que os respectivos factores identificatórios, em termos de recursos e linguagens, encerram. A este nível, a inclusão de Dennis González neste quinteto, se podia parecer estranha antes de ouvir a música, funciona excelentemente. Vindo do universo free bop, o trompetista do Texas ora intervém na colectiva fabricação / organização de som (um achado, as sequências em que fala enquanto toca o seu instrumento na peça mais longa do disco, "Fear 2: Void and Voices"), ora faz aquilo que dele se espera, a oportuna introdução de planos melódicos e idiomáticos, embora sempre breves ou de carácter fragmentário.Os Rodrigues, pai e filho, constituem o eixo do que aqui se ouve, num trabalho de exploração intuitiva das capacidades da viola e do violoncelo, continuamente aplicando técnicas extensivas e remetendo-nos para alguma composição erudita actual. O inventivo e versátil baterista britânico Mark Sanders coloca-se entre as estratégias de actuação da dupla de cordofones e da dupla de sopros, somando-se aos primeiros para trabalhar texturas ou dando lastro aos segundos para os momentos mais orgânicos e intensos. Nesse sentido, é um garante de equilíbrio e a cola que junta todas as peças. O mentor desta sessão, por sua vez, é o que parece totalmente apostado em tornar esta proposta musical mais "figurativa" (por oposição a "abstracta"), incidindo as suas intervenções no timbre e no fraseio distintivo do jazz, com muita liberdade de movimentos, mas também de forma objectiva. O resultado desafia os exclusivismos estéticos a que vamos assistindo, o que é bastante positivo, e consegue excitar-nos os tímpanos. Bravo!

Rui Eduardo Paes

http://rep.no.sapo.pt/criticas_novas.htm

Video Wishful Thinking

singularity trio

Singularity Trio

SINGULARITY TRIO

Alípio C Neto – saxofones

Masa Kamaguchi – contrabaixo

Clarence Becton – bateria

Assisti ao segundo concerto do novo projecto do saxofonista e compositor luso-brasileiro Alípio C Neto, SINGULARITY, no Hot Clube de Portugal, em Lisboa, ontem (25 de Maio) à volta da meia-noite. Prezo-me de conhecer bem o trabalho de ACN, pelo que não foi de estranhar ter ido ao encontro de um grupo que, mal se formou, já apresenta um som maduro e trabalhado, com tudo colocado no devido lugar, mesmo (ou sobretudo) num tipo de manifestação artística em que as decisões são tomadas no instante em que várias opções se deparam no caminho. Nessa medida, o trio, dentro da diversidade idiossincrática dos seus membros, falou a uma só voz, com Alípio a dar espaço para solos, duetos e triangulações, num vai-vem entre a forma e a abstracção, com deambulações largas por um vasto conjunto de sinais identitários do jazz, com passagem pelo bop, free, jazz de câmara e blues cubista, tudo envolto em progressão swing mutante. Foi desse modo que o trio conseguiu fundir o devir temporal que vem de tempos distantes da historia do jazz para o momento presente, integrar tudo numa só corrente de expressão multipolar, abrindo novas amplitudes de visão futura – tudo condensado no instante em que a música brota a partir da escrita e da composição instantânea por via da improvisação em trio. Um prazer, ouvir Alípio C Neto a discursar solto e seguro no saxofone soprano curvo, instrumento que lhe tem permitido acrescentar agilidade e fantasia ao seu som mais potente e robusto de tenor. Tem dado bons frutos a atenção que ACN tem dispensado ao soprano neste último ano de intenso trabalho de descoberta e invenção sonora. Bem secundado esteve pelo contrabaixista japonês Masa Kamaguchi, conhecido pelas gravações que tem feito para a editora Fresh Sound, com o pessoal da downtown de Nova Iorque, do Jazz Composers Collective, e também com Alex Harding e com o veterano Ahmed Abdullah, o que dá bem a ideia da versatilidade e ductilidade do músico. Kamagushi mostrou ser um contrabaixista criativo, de timbre suave e leve, tão bom a acompanhar e a marcar o tempo, como a colorir e a preencher espaços, além de ter assinado dois ou três solos de grande invenção, numa espécie de jogo de arte marcial com o contrabaixo. Num mar de contrabaixistas que são, tantas e tantas vezes, ou imitadores de William Parker ou clones uns dos outros, é bom encontrar alguém personalizado como Masa Kamagushi. Perfeito para fechar o triângulo, o baterista norte-americano Clarence Becton. Impressionante na sabedoria dos seus 74 anos, na humildade de quem, tendo vivido e trabalhado com grandes vultos do passado (só para dar uma ideia, Thelonious Monk, Mal Waldron, Joe Henderson e Henry Grimes), transporta consigo a capacidade única de se (nos) maravilhar com a simplicidade de um som com a conta, o peso e a medida que o contexto e a situação requeriam em cada momento. Nem mais, nem menos. Novo projecto, bem interessante, por sinal, este que o saxofonista Alípio C Neto pôs em movimento e que se quer ver mais vezes e a rodar por aí, como hoje (25 de Maio) à noite (21h30), na Fábrica Braço de Prata, em Lisboa. Se com um ensaio apenas foi o que se ouviu, com mais trabalho e fluidificação de procedimentos, todo o potencial oculto virá por certo ao de cima.

By Eduardo Chagas

Jazz e Arredores

http://jazzearredores.blogspot.com/search?q=alipio+c+neto

Quem disse que a cultura é incompatível com o futebol?

The Perfume Comes Before The Flower

The Perfume Comes Before The Flower


One of the most promising aspects of the Lisbon-based Clean Feed label is their penchant for bringing together hometown heroes and improvisers from elsewhere, notably the United States. Brazil-born tenorman Alipio C. Neto, also of the IMI Kollektief, joins forces with Downtown New Yorkers, drummer Michael T.A. Thompson, tubaist Ben Stapp and trumpeter Herb Robertson, and globetrotting bassist Ken Filiano for a set of hard-driving freebop and rangy group improvisations.
The first cut brings together what are ostensibly two different tunes, "The Perfume Comes Before" and "Early News." The first part of that equation has Neto and Filiano providing a husky and delicate bottom figure while Robertson skates atop, his own fat sound broken into pulpit-pounding shards. There's a brief unison rejoinder before Filiano's furious horsehairs coax Neto into grounding his boot heels and stitching together a solo of heady contrasts. He has a soft, breathy tone and an introverted sense of pacing, mostly holding back the fireworks despite the ensemble's tendency to splay out. One doesn't really think of "caution" coupled with a big, fat tenor sound and meaty group improvisation, but Neto's working of phrases in "Early News" is not unlike the delicacy out of the gate you'd hear from Marzette Watts or a young Joe McPhee. When he does stretch out, as on "The Pure Experience," his merger of tuneful phrases and burnished yawp has an uncanny resemblance to Sam Rivers.
"The Will/Nissarama" starts with a pizzicato bass recital before the front line enters with a multipart nursery rhyme, turned dark with Robertson's nasty chortle and snide growls. Neto's choice of frontline partner is interesting, for Robertson's brashness and frequent extroverted smears are in direct contrast to the pensive ferocity of the leader's tenor. Goaded into calculated yelps and false-fingered buzz, one feels like he's just barely keeping his exuberance corked. Neto's writing isn't merely of blowing vehicles; approaching territory explored by Dewey Redman, "The Flower" is texturally diverse (Robertson doubles here on a musette-like instrument). Stapp fleshes out the low end, marching in tandem with Filiano as pinched reed exhortations bubble up from the depths. The trumpeter is at his most stately here, his bravura in neat opposition to the dusky landscape Neto has formed. "Aboio" grows naturally out of "Flower," delineated by brighter colors and a more pronounced rhythm – yet still indebted to its free seed. It'll be interesting to see how Neto grows as a composer and soloist; a power-trio and its unfettered view of the helm is my vote for the latter.


By Clifford Allen
http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/

The Perfume Comes Before The Flower

The Perfume Comes Before The Flower (Clean Feed, 2007) ****

Here's another stunning free jazz album. Trumpeter Herb Robertson and bass player Ken Filiano are obviously well-known names, saxophonist Alipio C Neto is probably less known, although he's one of the driving forces behind the IMI Kollektief and Wishful Thinking. Neto is a Brazilian who moved to Portugal to have a doctorate in literature, yet who stayed in the country and started seriously engaging himself in music. The quartet is completed by Michael TA Thompson on drums, and Ben Stap joins on tuba on three of the five tracks. Apparently Neto's credo is that "music must always be transcendental", and that's clear from the very first sounds of the record. High tempo drumming introduces very slow sax tones and arco bass, with absolutely frantic trumpet soloing by Robertson, creating a feeling of wide expanses and deep emotional contrasts, and then suddenly all sounds converge into a totally unexpected unisono melody that shifts a few seconds later into Filiano's well-known incredibly precise and adventurous bowing, with an hesitant, yet strong sax solo by Neto, and he is absolutely excellent in his playing: raw yet soft and warm-toned at the same time. Then the sax becomes the frantic voice, while Robertson takes over the slow background on trumpet. It's clever, it's fun, it's ingenious. "The Will - Nasarana" starts with a long bass solo, and when you think it's high time to turn up the volume, the three other musicians start playing a joyful abstract melody, which shifts into free bop of the best kind, with both horn players demonstrating their best skills. And I must say that on many records Robertson goes beyond what I find bearable, but not here : his playing is more accessible than we've heard in many years, and it is truly great. The most beautiful track however is "The Flower - Aboio", which is a slow, minor key, bluesy composition, starting with layers of similar sounds by all musicians, evolving into a tear-drenched, funeral-march-like mood, with all instruments wailing and weeping, incredibly intense, incredibly sad, incredibly beautiful. Bengt Berger's "Bitter Funeral Beer" comes to mind when listening to this song, and that's a great compliment. Stap's inclusion on this track is a stroke of genius, because the dark tones, even when playing in the upper register add an intensity and coloring which moves the song to even greater heights. The fourth track is a structured free jazz work-out where all musicians let loose the tension and go for it, and the last one continues in the same vein, but adding a lightly dancing joy to the music. Again, a great record, because of the great musicianship, but also because of the great balance between compositions and improvization. Get it!

By Stef

Free Jazz Album Reviews

The Perfume Comes Before the Flower

Alguns discos (Whishful Thinking, Snug as a Gun…) e vários grupos depois (Wishful Thinking, IMI Kollektief, e DIGGIN’), a certa altura percebia-se que devia estar prestes a nascer o opus magnum da ainda breve carreira discográfica de Alípio Carvalho Neto. E aí está, The Perfume Comes Before the Flower, disco de 2007 (Clean Feed), nascido para o mundo com a força das coisas ingentes e com a urgência de afirmar um som maduro, articulado e processado através de uma linguagem musical moderna e com ideias assertivas, algo que poucos improvisadores, do jazz e de fora dele, podem reclamar para si com inteira propriedade. The Perfume Comes Before the Flower é fruto de decisões claras (e clarividentes), de muita prática quotidiana, estudo, trabalho e meditação. E talento. Que aqui existe a rodos, visto que para além do saxofonista, participam no quarteto americano de Alípio C Neto, quatro dos melhores improvisadores da actualidade, de Nova Iorque e de todo o mundo: o trompetista Herb Robertson, o contrabaixista Ken Filiano, e o baterista Michael T. A. Thompson, creditando-se do tubista californiano Ben Stapp em três das cinco faixas do disco (1. the perfume comes before - early news; 2. the will – nissarana; 3. the flower – aboio; 4. the pure experience – sertão; 5. la réalité - dancing cosmologies). Pessoalmente, tive o privilégio de ter escutado este disco ainda em cru, acabado de chegar de Nova Iorque onde tinha sido gravado. De imediato me impressionou a força do quarteto, a concentração expositiva e o bem tricotado das composições, propositadamente flexíveis nas juntas para deixar entrar e sair a torrente da improvisação. Sou de há anos um apreciador do som de saxofone tenor de Alípio. Gosto das suas tonalidades quentes, “tropicais sem serem tropicalistas”, como disse um dia em entrevista, das arestas por limar, do poder do som cru, que se dá tão bem no desenho de uma melodia – e Alípio sabe escrever uma melodia! – como no reforço das complexas estruturas harmónicas, ou nos solos, reveladores de aromas e essências intemporais, património genético onde reconheço vestígios de Fank Lowe, Pharoah Sanders ou John Gilmore. Difícil, se não mesmo impossível, se torna fazer sobressair individualidades do seio da banda, unidade perfeita na diversidade que encerra, que assim se mostra nos tempos de entrada e de saída, fulminante no ataque, sem medo de arriscar tudo na improvisação, na garra com que se atiram à luta, na atitude criativa, solidez, balanço, variação dinâmica, com o à vontade próprio duma working band muito rodada (que não teve tempo nem propósito de o ser, pois foi chegar, mostrar as composições, trocar uma ideias e gravar), cujos processos criativos flúem com assinalável eficácia e naturalidade. Que dizer, que ainda não tivesse sido dito, sobre o sopro luminoso e coruscante de Herb Roberston; a fantasia e a precisão de Ken Filiano, no pizicatto como no arco; a espessura e a densidade da tuba de Ben Stapp, o drumming incomparável de T. A. Thompson... O drive colectivo é potente e descontraído, cheio de manha e sabedoria, particularmente assinalável quando os quatro (ou cinco) se lançam declive abaixo, velocidade nas curvas apertadas e nas rampas sinuosas, para, chegados ao fundo, descomprimir e iniciar nova subida até ao cume mais alto, ficando-se sem saber se o perfume chega antes da flor, como o título sugere, ou se é a flor, que viçosa, nasce primeiro e exala esta irresistível fragrância. O que importa é que, chegado o termo da jornada, apetece aspirar de novo e partir para outra aventura nesta fantástica montanha russa de sons, cores e aromas. Melhor que tudo é ouvir e deixar-se maravilhar e comover ante tamanha “oferta”. Dito isto, The Perfume Comes Before the Flower é um disco muito bom, de intenso prazer físico e emocional.


By Eduardo Chagas

Jazz e Arredores

http://jazzearredores.blogspot.com/search?q=alipio+c+neto

The Perfume Comes Before The Flower

The Perfume Comes Before The Flower
Year: 2007
Record Label: Clean Feed
Style: Free Jazz / Avante Garde
Musicians:
Alípio C. Neto (tenor sax), Ben Stapp (tuba), Herb Robertson (trumpet), Ken Filiano (bass), Michael T. A. Thompson (drums)

Brazilian saxophonist/composer Alipio C. Neto has been working the Portuguese free-jazz scene for a few years now, but performs with three prominent New York-based jazz acolytes on this vibrant new outing. Layered, boisterous and operating from a nicely in-your-face impetus, the music spans avant-garde New Orleans second line jazz (featuring tubaist Ben Stapp) amid frenetic and kaleidoscopic movements. Here, Neto and trumpeter Herb Robertson’s plaintive cries ride atop semi-structured arrangements and garrulous, group-centric free improvisational maneuvers.
Sparks are flying everywhere throughout। The ensemble generally engages in climactic theme and story-building exercises as they inject a sense of drama into works that are often framed by powerhouse drummer Michael T.A. Thompson’s asymmetrical beats. Featuring regimented horns-led choruses and elements of pathos and wit, the musicians even fuse some off-kilter world music motifs into the mix. Then in other regions of this disc they abide by a jittery and somewhat neurotic gait via animated phrasings and periodic moments of angst. On “la réalité - dancing cosmologies,” Stapp’s pumping tuba lines accelerate a jagged, New Orleans brass band motif, marked by Neto and Robertson’s torrid solo spots. Either way, Neto casts a worldly spell during the preponderance of this most intriguing set.


By Glenn Astarita
Jazz Review
http://www.jazzreview.com/cd/review-19414.html

Wishful Thinking

2007's Top Recordings

Stuart Broomer Musicworks, Point of Departure, Signal to Noise, Toronto Life
2007's Top Recordings

New Releases

• Anthony Braxton: 12+1tet 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 (Firehouse 12)
• Derek Bailey: Standards (Tzadik)
• Connie Crothers: Music Is a Place (New Artists)
• Bruce Eisenbeil Sextet: Inner Constellation (Nemu)
• His Name Is Alive: Sweet Earth Flower: A Tribute to Marion Brown (High Two)
• Steve Lehman: Quintet On Meaning (Pi)
• Phil Minton Quartet: Slur (Emanem)
  Roscoe Mitchell: Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2, & 3 (ECM)
• Alipio C. Neto: The Perfume Comes Before the Flower (Clean Feed)
• Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton: Zafiro (Maya)
  
  By Stuart Broomer, 16 Dec 2007.
  http://www.jazzhouse.org/jwiki/bin/view/TopTens/StuartBroomer

The Perfume Comes Before the Flower

The Perfume Comes Before the Flower

Alípio C. Neto

Personel: Alípio C. Neto (ts), Ben Stapp (tba), Herb Robertson (t), Ken Filiano (b), Michael T. A. Thompson (d)

In just the last few years of working and living in Lisbon, Brazilian saxophonist and composer Alípio Neto has flowered, if you will, as an important force in free jazz. “The Perfume Comes Before the Flower” is evidence that his influence now extends way beyond the borders of Portuguese jazz scene. With partners such as New Yorkers Herb Robertson (trumpet and cornet with mutes, flutes), Ken Filiano (double bass), Michael T.A. Thompson (soundrhythium percussionist), and, on three tracks, young tubist Ben Stapp, Neto now has concocted one of the most exciting releases of the year. Working in the cracks between the traditions of hard bop and free jazz, and two approaches, composition and improvisation, Neto -- the leader of the transnational bands IMI Kollektief and Wishful Thinking, both documented on Clean Feed -- makes music of associations: pitch and texture, drive and detail, strict organization and near chaos. As though to emphasize this dictotomy, the pieces even have two titles a piece. As in perfume coming before the flower, you listen and wonder what must have come before in these sounds. You will never know for sure, such is the mixing of materials and references here. Superb and fundamental. Abstract and concrete. Rich and stark. But stunning at every turn.

By http://www.cleanfeed-records.com/disco2.asp?intID=223

The Perfume Comes Before the Flower

Del saxofonista brasileño, afincado en portugal, alipio c neto (la c es por carvalho) tenía referencias por su participación en la gozosa variable geometry orchestra o por unas grabaciones en plan jam junto a otros colegas de la escena lusa -los tambien saxofonistas attias y moimême-, tres suecos -entre ellos el contrabajista torbjörn zetterberg- y dos representantes de la escena española -baldo martinez al contrabajo y nirankar khalsa , batería-, sesiones que estan disponibles en descarga en la ya recomendada http://freemusic.podomatic.com/. un conocimiento ligero que toma cuerpo con un disco de los que podrian calificarse como "revelación" del año "the perfume comes before the flower" (clean feed). uno de esos discos curiosos en los que el cuarteto resulta ser un quinteto pues amen de alipio aparecen, un siempre esplendido herb robertson a la trompeta; un doblete formado por el contrabajo de ken filiano y la tuba de ben stap mas la batería de michael t.a. thompson. ¿no encaja mas con la denominación quintet o la de group que con quartet?. una propuesta con miras en la new thig primeriza. muy shepp.

By artal

o zurret d´artal

http://o-zurret.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html

Variable Geometry Orchestra

This is the Creative Sources release number 100. An historic goal reached by such a small label, therefore worth of a serious celebration. That’s why Ernesto Rodrigues prepared this triple CD featuring the VGO, a marauding multi-timbral collective comprising several among the finest Portuguese (and not only that) avant-garde artists, all able to grace our ears with their ability of performing impromptu. Among the many, Sei Miguel, Fala Mariam, Johannes Krieger, Nuno Rebelo, Carlos Santos, Rafael Toral, Alípio C. Neto. Rodrigues himself describes the conducting procedures as “balancing the sound masses that travel in the acoustic space, dictating the construction of the real-time composition, and thus revealing the organized juxtaposition of specific instruments as mobile sound groups”. The five lengthy tracks were recorded live (in Lisbon and Barreiro) in different settings - art galleries to festivals to jazz stores. Rather than swallowing an impossible “regular” review, take a look at the notes that this writer jotted down in reaction to the sounds heard, just to have vague indications of what’s contained in this boiler.

By Maximo Ricci, Touching Extremes.

Listen to the Radio Program: EL OJO SONORO: Club de Jazz (5/12/2007) Parte 1

EL OJO SONORO: Club de Jazz (5/12/2007) Parte 1

Primera parte del Club de Jazz del 5 de Diciembre de 2007. Solos de percusión con ruido de puertas. Esa es la propuesta del segundo de los programas de Un mes con Ramón López. En esta primera hora escuchamos además el encuentro entre Richard Galliano (acordeón) y Gary Burton (vibráfono). Roberto Barahona ofrece en el PuroJazz un segundo capítulo de música del sello Clean Feed dedicado a la música del saxofonista brasileño Alipio C. Neto. Se edita unas grabaciones inéditas entre el pianista Tete Montoliu y el contrabajista Javier Colina de 1995. Alberto Varela nos lleva a Nueva York de la mano del saxo tenor Jorge Anders. También escuchamos un fragmento del concierto que el trío E.S.T. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) ofreció en Hamburgo el 22 de Noviembre de 2006. Este programa lo puedes escuchar en Alta Calidad en:http://www.elclubdejazz.com/envivo/


By Carlos Pérez Cruz
Club de Jazz

Wishful Thinking

Wishful Thinking





Personel: Alex Maguire (p), Alípio C. Neto (ts), Johannes Krieger (t), Ricardo Freitas (b), Rui Gonçalves (d)



To begin with - and we always begin listening a record by reading its title and the names of the tracks -, a glance to the cover of this disc informs us of a situation of conflict. The international outfit formed by Alípio Carvalho Neto (Brazil), Johannes Krieger (Germany), Alex Maguire (United Kingdom), Ricardo Freitas (Portugal) and Rui Gonçalves (Portugal) calls itself Wishful Thinking, the mental capacity to project our most ambitious desires. But the title of the CD is not so positive: "Wishful Thinking" tell us that music, since its inception when human beings were more close to nature and the animal kingdom, is a privileged way (because it needs no words) to express pain, frustration, rage and sadness. Truth is there's an inner logic in this apparent paradox, because it's precisely our melancholy that enables us to think about perfect societies of milk and honey. The music played by this quintet is the conciliation of the two forces that drive human conscience: one makes us look forward, the other pushes us to protest, and lament, and shout in anger. So, there's tears ("Urs's Epitaph - Der Hirt", Alípio's tribute to a departed friend) and laughter (Maguire's "Buffalo Bill") here, and that's fine. Good hard bop with a funky electric bass and a wild piano going from the stride tradition to God knows where, that's what you have here. Take it.

Track list:


1. Hina's Fate (Alípio C Neto)


2. John's Fragment (Alex Maguire)


3. Zombra (Ricardo Freitas)


4.Buffalo Bill (Alex Maguire)


5. 443 (Johannes Krieger)


6. Urs's Epitaph - DER HIRT (Alípio C Neto) in memoriam Urs Zuber


7. Eléctrico 28 (Alípio C Neto)


8. Bundawar (Johannes Krieger)


9. Ao lunaj (Ricardo Freitas)


10. Shi Jing (Alípio C Neto)

By http://www.cleanfeed-records.com/disco2.asp?intID=207

The Perfume Comes Before The Flower

The perfume Comes Before The Flower

A record label can have a special impact on a style, witness the Lisbon-based Clean Feed's developing relationship to free jazz. It's the label's specialty, largely as practiced in New York and environs, though with special attention to Portuguese musicians, sometimes in trans-Atlantic collaboration. The people at Clean Feed seem to be practicing an exalted selectivity about musicians and groupings that's resulting in some excellent recordings. These three recent CDs by tenor saxophonists present high levels of organization and committed invention, along with a rich humanity of sound and a shared capacity to surprise.

Alipio C Neto is a Brazilian, resident in Portugal. He has recorded in a couple of groups (IMI Kollektief and Wishful Thinking), but this is his debut as leader. Supported by trumpeter Herb Robertson (whose darting, varied lines act as a foil to Neto's substantial centrality), bassist Ken Filiano, drummer Michael T.A. Thompson and, on three of five tracks, tubaist Ben Stapp, Neto distinguishes himself as both player and composer, with an elegiac nobility of vision that is his defining characteristic. Track one first juxtaposes rapid drumming and improvised trumpet splatters against low tenor blasts; a later theme pitches rapid bass bowing against the horns' held tones. When Neto finally solos, he's a radical melodist, creating a continuum of abrasions and graces, building from great low blasts through sudden upper-range skitters and hollow-voiced mid-range lines. Like the first, each of Neto`s compositions contain multiple themes that are welded together by the ensemble, often creating a feeling suspended between through-composition and collective improvisation. Clearly every player here is engaged by Neto's intensity of purpose, and the results sound like a working band.

By Stuart Broomer

Snug As A Gun

Snug As A Gun





Malgré son nom, ce quintette semble avoir bien peu en commun avec la formation légendaire dirigée par Willem Breuker: on ne retrouve pas tellement ce côté ironique et quelque peu fanfaron (fanfaresque?) typiquement hollandais dans ce jazz moderne solide et dynamique. Un saxophoniste brésilien (Alipio C. Neto), un trompettiste français (Jean-Marc Charmier), une vibraphoniste belge (Els Vandeweyer), un tandem rythmique portugais (le contrebassiste Joao Hasselberg et le batteur Rui Gonçalves) et un titre emprunté à un poète irlandais: voici un groupe international que réunit un même amour de l'improvisation et d'une pulsation élémentaire, fondation rythmique de plus d'un solo débridé. Le quintette livre un post-bop énergique, un peu à la façon du nouveau jazz scandinave, illustré avec éclat dès l'ouverture, Proof Boum Boum, où se distingue Charmier. Avec une section rythmique très active, Vandeweyer trouve toutefois quelque espace pour ponctuer la performance de commentaires percussifs, et ses solos sont admirablement structurés. Sur Hitching, l'accordéon de Charmier apporte une touche rafraîchissante, tout comme lors de la huitième pièce, Thierry Na Caatinga, qui intègre intelligemment à une pièce particulièrement groovy le chanteur et percussioniste Paulo Matrico. Neto est un saxophoniste au jeu rude et coriace, parfait pour ce type de session, et il s'affirme comme le leader naturel du groupe (il a aussi un album intéressant sous son nom chez Clean Feed baptisé The Perfume Comes Before the Flower).


By Félix-Antoine Hamel, Jazz Viking review, Montréal, Québec.


http://jazzviking.blogspot.com/

Snug As A Gun

Snug As A Gun

IMI Kollektief

Personel: Alípio C. Neto (ts), Els Vandeweyer (vib), Jean-Marc Charmier (t), João Hasselberg (b), Rui Gonçalves (d),

If you still think jazz is an American music, think again. This is jazz indeed, and none of the artists involved was born on the United States. A Brazilian, tenor saxophonist Alípio Carvalho Neto, a Belgium, vibraphonist Elsa Vandeweyer, a French, trumpeter Jean-Marc Charmier, and two Portuguese, bassist João Hasselberg and drummer Rui Gonçalves (with another Brazilian on one track, zabumbist and singer Paulo Matricó), play this New World turned All World music, and they do it with drive and purpose. And no, this is not a proof of the so called American Imperialism or a consequence of the economical Global Age we’re living in – simply put, there’s no boundaries for creative music. “Snug As a Gun” is not an experimental record, but the sax can be polyphonic and the vibes deal with free harmonics more than you would expect from something under the jazz banner. With the rhythm section grooving and swinging like hell on the back, compositions (themes by all IMI members) functions only as the margins for a improvisational work that likes to go through secondary water courses, zig-zaging along the way. There’s an Afro-Brazilian flavor in this music, of course (have you ever listened to a Brazilian musician who wouldn’t sound, well, Brazilian?), but these sounds are universal and could have been imagined and played by anyone around the planet. Or almost anyone, namely all those who feel that inovation, and the development of a distinct identity, doesn’t imply a disrespect of the tradition. The IMI Kollectief takes the history of jazz, without renegating anything, and builds from it. “Ancient to the future”, that’s what this music is.

Track list

1. Proof Boum Boum


2. Frevo Sonoris Causa


3. Snug as a Gun


4. Fucked Up


5. Hitching


6. Manhanhão


7. The Hole in My Sole


8. Thierry na Caatinga


9. ZEDAVIS


10. Pão De Deus


By http://www.cleanfeed-records.com/disco2.asp?intID=187