Face Value

The opening improvisation boldly deserves the title of stately chamber jazz - a bit of darkness, guitar bow and more linearly phrasing piano from the keyboard. The second story starts from the position of a cooled ballad, and ends in the fumes of fulsome, dynamic jazz. The musicians cooperate in style, and all the elements of their playing seem to fit together perfectly. From the third story, the emotions start to grow. The guitar sends out a few post-rock barbs, the cooled piano catches the rhythmic claw of free jazz, as does the melodic, flirtatious, and yet cocky saxophone. However, it is most interesting when slowed down, when the pianist proposes an intriguing exposition supported by guitar ornaments.

In the fourth part, the artists add a handful of new elements to the whole picture - an ambient background, resonant phrases inside piano and a painful timbre of the brass. The dark narrative, built with long brush strokes, first rolls out an intimate arsenal, then cleverly escapes into dynamic free jazz. The saxophonist notes great moments here, taking responsibility for the shape of the entire improvisation on his shoulders. The fifth story is once again woven very collectively and goes from an intimate, calm opening to an intense, post-jazz development. And again the saxophonist deserves many warm words. The final story is strongly nervy and saturated with intriguing danceability. Light, quick, without a single unnecessary sound. There is a large melody in it, an almost rock density and a nostalgic, rather slowly progressing finale.

And I must say it’s both a wonderful engaging album, which marvellously darts, twists, and broods… Let's hope there is more to come from Transition Unit!.

It seems as if we are dealing with a double bass at the beginning of ‘Idea Assumption’, the opening of ‘Face Value’, but it is really Serries, busy with his bow. The beginning of a strikingly abstract piece, certainly in comparison with the music on ‘Canonical Discource’. Pinheiro scatters his notes around, while we hear Lencastre, now on tenor sax, fill in the gaps. A recalcitrant piece, this rather short opener. ‘Grasping’ then initially sounds very melodious, with elongated movements by Lencastre and well-placed notes by Pinheiro and further on Serries and it is remarkable how the abstraction enters here later on and completely pushes away that melody. It is downright stormy in ‘A Western Decorative Pattern’, Lencastre finally tears the peace to shreds with his tenor sax, forming beautiful duets with Pinheiro, while Serries keeps the whole thing going. In the duet between Pinheiro and Serries, further on, things become calmer, but no less abstract. ‘Face Value’ is a very exciting piece, especially because of the rather dark, minimalist piano touches and the gritty sound of Serries. Extremely subdued sounds initially in ‘A Theme of Myth’, somewhat casual. However, the tension quickly rises again, especially because of the powerful movements of Lencastre and Pinheiro. We end this album with ‘The Utopian Dadaist’, an almost clownishly jumpy piece, with beautiful rhythmic patterns, in perfect coherence.