Gonçalo Almeida/Rodrigo Amado/Marco Franco – The Attic – CD

NoBusiness Records

Portugal’s avant-jazz scene continues to surprise and delight. Recorded in the loft space at SMUP, a pioneering arts venue in the Lisbon satellite of Paredes, “The Attic” brings together three of the country’s finest improvising musicians: bassist Gonçalo Almeida, tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, and drummer Marco Franco. Amado’s star is on the rise, following 2015’s excellent “This Is Our Language” with Joe McPhee, Kent Kessler and Chris Corsano, and last year’s superb offering from his own Motion Trio. He’s a generous collaborator, and “The Attic” is as much Almeida and Franco’s show, with the bassist’s elegant and powerful playing often setting the scene.

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