jazz / experimental
When I think about improvisation ensembles, a stereotype always comes to my mind... It’s a group with a "name + improvisers orchestra" and a work based, almost exclusively, on the contemporary academic music. Please, don’t get me wrong, I had the opportunity to listen to a lot of recordings from groups that follow this characteristics and still do a relevant work, but this saturation ended up forming a kind of "pattern" that have to be followed. However, this isn't - definitely - the case of SPIO (São Paulo Improvisers in Orchestra), which is great!!! The work of this group - at least in this recording - is much more comparable with a modern jazz big band than with a contemporary academic ensemble, which is a pretty good surprise!!!
With curatorship of Daniel Carrera - who also works on the event series called 'Improvise!', which carries big names of free music to São Paulo - this group recorded 'Conduction BR # 5' at the release of Lawrence Butch Morris' WoorkBook called 'The Art Of Conduction', at Trackers - a very important São Paulo's venue for underground music. All its four tracks are very interesting and bring musical memories from Miles Davies' Bitches Brew, John Coltrane's Ascention, Anthony Braxton's free jazz works and of course the Sun Ra Arkestra.
The Morris's methodology demonstrates that any kind of music, being it free jazz or academic, could be conducted and not directed by its conductor, because s/he literally "plays" the orchestra with some codes and other pre-agreements made with the musicians. This work is a real proof that Morris's methodology can be used in any aesthetic and, for me, is absolutely gratifying to see a group of contemporary/experimental music presenting such creative and "accessible" songs - even in consciously or unconsciously way - at their first record!!! I imagined myself in a venue listening to this kind of music during all night!!! Believe it or not, this was the image that didn't left my head during the whole listening of this album...
Glauber
With curatorship of Daniel Carrera - who also works on the event series called 'Improvise!', which carries big names of free music to São Paulo - this group recorded 'Conduction BR # 5' at the release of Lawrence Butch Morris' WoorkBook called 'The Art Of Conduction', at Trackers - a very important São Paulo's venue for underground music. All its four tracks are very interesting and bring musical memories from Miles Davies' Bitches Brew, John Coltrane's Ascention, Anthony Braxton's free jazz works and of course the Sun Ra Arkestra.
The Morris's methodology demonstrates that any kind of music, being it free jazz or academic, could be conducted and not directed by its conductor, because s/he literally "plays" the orchestra with some codes and other pre-agreements made with the musicians. This work is a real proof that Morris's methodology can be used in any aesthetic and, for me, is absolutely gratifying to see a group of contemporary/experimental music presenting such creative and "accessible" songs - even in consciously or unconsciously way - at their first record!!! I imagined myself in a venue listening to this kind of music during all night!!! Believe it or not, this was the image that didn't left my head during the whole listening of this album...
Glauber
