Linae

"Linea" is an incredibly strong album, one that you can listen hundreds of time without getting bored (I'm not yet there, but close enough I think). The playing of all three musicians is beyond excellent, but I think the biggest challenge and success is Pinheiro's piano-playing, who manages - as the only harmonic instrument - to provide the solid foundation for the trumpet and the drums to excel in their art by moving all in the same direction without any guardrails and in total freedom. The trio journeys through very contrasting territories: highly energetic and dynamic, quiet and meditative, even tender moments, agitated and persistent, intense and gentle.

These gifted improvisers know also to balance between assertive individual solos and when to step aside, how to gravitate the music into hyperactive, collective improvisation, and how to trigger the others with detailed offers and colorful playing, all throughout the immediate, shapeshifting spirit of Linae. The most beautiful «Desvio padrão» captures this trio alternating between minimalist and fragmented to urgent and powerful modes, always rich with nuanced ideas. The restless, conversational interplay of «Roar» and «Pyroclastic» highlights the way these improvisers keep feeding each other with challenging ideas.

Linae is an excellent album from a trio that just begins to explore its great potential.

Linae , from the trio João Almeida, Rodrigo Pinheiro and Vasco Furtado is a trio that swings between eruptive moments and more introspective passages. The trumpet, piano, drums configuration is quite unusual but exudes a certain charm. The stamps go together wonderfully. The swift and very direct playing of the trumpeter finds an ideal counterpoint in Pinheiro's versatile piano. The absence of a double bass is compensated by the formidable left hand of the pianist who searches the harmonies. Furtado is, as usual, always fair, stepping aside in places, leaving the field open to his companions to better emerge and accompany, at other times, their proposals. Here too a very nice meeting.

In the beautiful “Desvio Padrão”, with a demure atmosphere, Almeida's clear trumpet proposes melodic fragments that soon fade away to later transform into something different, supported by the serene lines of the piano and the drums, always pregnant with details, a statement that gradually disappears. unveiling and gaining body. “Roar”, perhaps the pinnacle of the album, exudes a Milesian scent, both for its melodic sophistication and for the dialogues between trumpet and piano, spurred on at every moment by the drums, which seem to intend to pull the piece in another direction. “Pyroclastic” is serenely introduced by the piano, until the entry of the other instruments, with the agitation rising from a lively three-way interaction. Everything settles down again in the final section, with a repetitive motif exposed by the piano. [...] “Linae” is a demanding yet immensely rewarding album.