Cloud at rest

Cloud at rest

Sousa + Pinheiro + Ferrandini

"Cloud at rest" is the long-awaited debut record from the trio formed in 2016 by Pedro Alves Sousa on tenor saxophone, Rodrigo Pinheiro on piano and Gabriel Ferrandini on drums and percussion. The music is the result of a five days residency at the Goethe-Institut Lisbon in 2019,  where the band tried to find a different approach to its playing in order to distance themselves from the fast and highly energetic music normally associated with them. This record shows a different perspective of their music: more introspective, with dense atmospheres and always tense.

Musicians

Pedro Alves Sousa (tenor saxophone)
Rodrigo Pinheiro (piano)
Gabriel Ferrandini (drums and percussion)

Credits

All music by Pedro Alves Sousa, Rodrigo Pinheiro and Gabriel Ferrandini
Recorded by Rodrigo Pinheiro at Goethe Institut on the 25th to 29th of November 2019, Lisboa
Mixed by Rodrigo Pinheiro, Pedro Alves Sousa and Gabriel Ferrandini
Mastered by Rodrigo Pinheiro
Graphic design by Ana Baliza
Inside Photo by Pedro Alfacinha
Cover image exploding nugget of gold painted by Francis Bacon with clouds on the background painted by Caravaggio
Produced by Pedro Alves Sousa, Rodrigo Pinheiro and Gabriel Ferrandini
Executive Producer: Phonogram Unit
Thanks to Goethe-Institut Portugal and special thanks to Julia Klein for making possible the recording

Release date
Oct. 7, 2022
Label
Phonogram Unit - PU12CD
Disc format
CD

Reviews

The ultimate effect of these pieces combines the perpetuity of great architecture with the shorthand communication of a friend, a dance between the instantaneous and the eternal. It’s a genuinely open event in the art of improvisation, a rich stream of dialogue in a fluid language.

The final improvisation lasts almost ten minutes and sums up the album wonderfully with various creative methods. The beginning refers to the tenor, flowing freely with a smile on his lips. The black keys build suspense, and the cymbals and other metals of the drum kit create the nerve of life. The story now takes the form of a piano and drums duo that catches the free jazz bug quite quickly. They rush forward and don't care about the consequences. The tenor returns to calm the stage situation. First, he sends a few phrases all alone, and then he takes the drums in another duet tango. Compulsive, circulating breathing builds both emotions and incredible quality here. The swinging dance makes waiting for the pianist's return more pleasant. And the last one adds to the fire. The tenor is full of emotions, the rest ruffles the feathers equally spectacularly.

Alves Sousa, Pinheiro and Ferrandini are high caliber improvisers, instrumentalists who know how to work music without a network, in real time, asserting their instrumental expressiveness while working on an active listening, with attention to the other and to the music that is happening. In this new “Cloud at Rest” we once again confirm the creativity of these musicians from the Lisbon scene.