live at the casa da música, porto |VL2008-2

Is one hour-long untitled piece that constantly changes dynamics. It starts off with two glassy slide guitars, slowly rises into a boisterous horn-led massive group shout, and continues alternating soft, small instrumental combinations and loud massed rumblings for the duration of the performance.
With this large a group there is invariably a lot of variety throughout. In the larger sections you can hear a trumpet ringing out Spanish cadenzas, saxes bellowing, guitars crashingand a vocalist howling in tongues over it all. The quieter parts feature, among other things, trombone bleats, a chorus of flutes, a snatch of accordion and even just a thick electronic hum. No soloists are identified so it’s impossible to pinpoint most players but there is a striking sound collage about halfway hrough where the two drummers have a bashing duet and are joined by, first, Chiara Picotto’s guttural vocal noises and then Peter Bastian reciting poetry. There is enough detail in this performance to make it constantly intriguing and the pacing is so well done that the volume changes are always effective. This orchestra’s swooping, soaring music is a fine addition to the growing field of large group improvisation. Jerome Wilson (Cadence)