José Lencastre

Lazro/Zingaro/Papadimitriou/Bolcato
Periɸeria
Fou Records FR-CD 43

Nearly 30 years separate these improvised combo sessions, but the common thread is Portuguese violinist Carlos Zíngaro. Arguably the most prominent of the country’s few free musicians starting in the 1970s, the violinist has followed on that path ever since playing internationally with the likes of Joëlle Léandre and Evan Parker and is now able to interact with the younger generations of local free musicians. Each of these excellent sessions demonstrate this dichotomy Recorded in 1993 when the violinist was still a singular creative player in Portugal, Periɸeria is a festival set that matches him with alto and baritone saxophonist Daunik Lazro and bassist Jean Bolcato from France plus Greek pianist Sakis Papadimitriou, all of whom have as lengthy free music resumés as Zingaro. Flash forward to 2021 and the compatriots finding Common ground with the violinist are Lisbon based saxophonist José Lencastre, pianist Clara Lai, bassist Gonçalo Almeida and drummer João Sousa.

Building upwards at a leisurely pace from violin scratches and squeaks, high-pitched reed flutters and a popping bass line, the pianist doesn’t add keyboard clips and dark soundboard rumbles until the shape of the improvisation is defined with “Inner Earthquake”. At that point pumps and stops from both string players has moved the interaction up to allegro with Lazro’s shaking vibrations contrasting Zingaro’s more lyrical and formalist variations. Group sounds ascend to intensity on “. Preparations” the next track and very quickly as saxophone split tones become more assertive, the fiddler begins fragmenting his lines into broken octave glissandi. Bolcato’s vocal cries add to the calculated dissonance, with double bass string pressure, keyboard splashes and dissected saxophone slurps connect with a contrapuntal exposition below the violinist’s linear overlay. Debuting his larger horn, bottom scoops, snarls and reflux project join sul tasto fiddling, and irregular keyboard clunks to toughen the joint horizontal exposition as Zingaro teases the others alternating dulcet and dissonant textures at high pitches as the bassist strums measured stops below him. On the penultimate “Circuit”, breaking from the string blend, Zingaro shakes out sul ponticello slides which challenge any residual romanticism just as Lazro’s tone thins as flattement turns to near whines. On the final “Bleu médité’, the meditation expresses lyrical reed and violin textures simultaneously along with triple string stopping, a double bass thump, rigid piano accents and tough reed flutters so that the promise of the improvisation’s beginnings are realized along with its deconstruction.

More atmospheric but also more harmonized, the Lisbon studio session mates warm sax breaths with drum clip clops, drum ruffs and thick double bass vibrations before Zingaro’s multi-string stopping torques the program to a less expected route. By contrast, “Unbroken Flow”, the second selection brings out subtle swing as Lencastre’s melodic flutters head towards ballad form only to be stopped by Zingaro’s taut swipes and piano patterning. As pressure mounts as clipping piano patterns moves to pedal point reed bites intensify into swallowed slurs as the fiddler narrows his strokes to prod the others into more dissonant territory. Cymbal slaps, hard keyboard comping and shill, tongue stops join with Zingaro’s forceful chording to fragment the narrative as it moves into the title track. Almeida’s low-pitched thumps and Lai’s single note plinks provide the sonic ballast upon which Zingaro’s spiky fiddle strokes and Lencastre’s flowing trills engage in a contrapuntal challenge as to the final improvisation’s direction. Blending into a two-pronged arrangement, the upwards and downward slides from saxophone and violin demonstrate the dexterity involved in emphasizing harsh and harmonized tones just as Zingaro did with the other band many years previously.

At 73 Zingaro has lost none of his skill and swiftness. Displayed in the proper circumstance and with the right partners he helps make improvisations ample enough to express polychromatic textures that surprise as they evolve.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Periɸeria: 1. Embellie 2. Periferia 3. Inner Earthquake 4. Preparations 5. Barbaryton 6. Egnatia Road 7. Circuit 8. Bleu médité

Personnel: Periɸeria: Daunik Lazro (alto and baritone saxophones); Carlos Zíngaro (violin and electronics); Sakis Papadimitriou (piano) and Jean Bolcato (bass and voice)

Track Listing: Common: 1. Revolutionary Periods 2. Unbroken Flow 3. Nature of Reality 4. Inspirational Souls 5. Common Ground

Personnel: Common: José Lencastre (alto saxophone); Carlos Zíngaro (violin); Clara Lai (piano); Gonçalo Almeida (bass) and João Sousa (drums)