Pedro Melo Alves

A resumé as well as a remembrance, Conundrum Vol. 1 is a selection from the bi-monthly duet concerts Pedro Melo Alves hosted in Lisbon between 2019 and 2023, matching his percussion and electronics with local and international improvisers. It collects notable performances and is an indication as to how Alves’ refined style reacts or extends varied stimulus. Moving among soundtracks, improv, electronics, rock and Jazz, Alves has built up percussion sophistication that can be applied to partners of every stripe. Highlights pinpoint this.

For instance when matching wits with the turntables and sampler of German Ignaz Schick the programming and reconstituted vinyl flanges are met with measured bass drum thumps, cymbal scratches, wooden box resonations and emphasized snare beats, They counter Schick’s turn to distant, deconstructed sonics. As tough as he is facing programming, Alves’ response to acoustic patterns from Polish pianist Marta Warelis includes subdued timbres. Hollow percussion pops and rolls intersect cunningly with understated keyboard jiggles and clanks and vibrating bell ringing constructs a backdrop that outlines the concluding  piano emphasis.

Adaptation to vocalization is also treated in varied  fashions. The bedlam-like squeals and speaking in tongues gargles deconstructed by voltage vibrations let loose by Taiwanese-American Audrey Chen is burlesqued with sophisticated press rolls. Alternately he mixes paradiddles and backbeats to cut through electronic overlays, metallic buzzes and fragmented vocalese as a response to Turk Ece Canlı’s or local Gil Dionísio electronic programming and tongue and mouth jiu-jitsu. However the lyric soprano tessitura of Portuguese Sarea Serpa’s balladic stretches are doubled with subtle cowbell clumps and drum rumbles to emphasize melody. This sensitivity to lyricism without neglecting a groove is further affiliated as his measured strokes accompany Portuguese bassist Carlos Bica’s tender slides up and down the strings.

Taking the title’s play on words one step further, each track demonstrates Alves’ skill in solving any musical riddle without overemphasizing techniques. It also makes a compelling addendum to his notable group work.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. January 14th, 2022 2. November 11th, 2022 3. September 29th, 2022 4. February 22nd, 2019 5. December 20th, 2023 6. April 12th, 2023 7. February 11th, 2019 8. May 13th, 2022 9. July 9th, 2022 10. March 4th, 2022 11. February 12th, 2019 12. October 19th, 2023

Personnel: Pedro Melo Alves (drums, percussion, electronics – all tracks); with João Barradas (accordion, MIDI accordion – track 1); Audrey Chen (voice, electronics – track 2): Ignaz Schick (turntables, sampler, electronics – track 3): Nuno Rebelo (guitar – track 4): Marta Warelis (piano – track 5): Violeta Garcia (cello, electronics – track 6): Jacqueline Kerrod (harp – track 7): Carlos Barreto (bass – track 8): Sara Serpa (voice track 9): Rafael Toral (electronic, acoustic feedback, modified amplifier, electrode oscillator -track 10): Grilo (prepared piano – track 11): Gil Dionísio (voice, electronics – track 12): Ece Canlı (voice, electronics – track 13)