LUÍS VICENTE TRIO

Come Down Here (Clean Feed)

27

Diciembre, 2024

Three years after Chanting In The Name Of, trumpeter Luís Vicente’s trio, featuring Gonçalo Almeida and Pedro Melo Alves, returns with the superb Come Down Here, once again released under the Clean Feed label.

By: António Branco jazz.pt

Titling the result of creative work is rarely free of challenges. Some titles are solemn, verbose, cryptic, even pretentious; others are straightforward and unassuming, referencing a special moment, a time, or a place, sometimes bordering on the ineffable. Trumpeter, composer, and improviser Luís Vicente hit the mark with the name of his latest album, freshly released on Clean Feed: Come Down Here. It’s the second release from a stellar trio that joins him with bassist Gonçalo Almeida and drummer Pedro Melo Alves. We’ve long known that communication and dialogue—with others, oneself, and the surroundings, a crucial element in musical discourse—are central to Vicente’s approach, developed expansively across multiple contexts and instrumental configurations. This “come here” carries significant weight.

“We could say it refers to the ‘vibe’ of the room, the moment we’re playing and feel a presence of something or someone conveying a memory, a feeling, ideally a good one,” Luís Vicente explains to jazz.pt. “It’s as if we’re taken by something that gives us an emotion and guides part of the process.”

Hyperactive both nationally and, especially, internationally, and embracing creative freedom, Luís Vicente occupies a front-row seat in the realm of adventurous jazz and its related improvised music. Beyond leading this trio and a quartet, he’s part of formations like Chamber 4, Frame Trio, Clocks and Clouds, Deux Maisons, Twenty One 4tet, In Layers, and Fail Better!; a quartet with John Dikeman, William Parker, and Hamid Drake (Goes Without Saying, But It’s Got to Be Said is a must-listen); trios with Seppe Gebruers and Onno Govaert or Olie Brice and Mark Sanders; and duos with Vasco Trilla, Marcelo dos Reis (the album (Un)Prepared Pieces for Guitar and Trumpet is worth revisiting), and Jari Marjamaki. Come Down Here arrives at a time when the trio’s other members, Almeida and Melo Alves, also have new releases, both under the Clean Feed label. Almeida’s States of Restraint was recorded in a trio with trumpeter Susana Santos Silva and percussionist Gustavo Costa, while Melo Alves’s Conundrum Vol. 1 is a compilation of duo recordings from a concert series of the same name.

“There’s a genuine, unique spirit within the group, built on trust and friendship that has grown over time,” says Vicente. “Communication flows naturally, and there’s a clear sense of synergy where each other’s movements are anticipated. This depth of creation is something that can only emerge when you’re working with certain individuals, allowing things to unfold and reach extraordinary, even magical, moments.”

Three years after the trio’s debut album Chanting In The Name Of, the new Come Down Here builds on composed and structured ideas drawn from a vast vocabulary amassed through years of experience and refinement. “We’re all improvisers and composers,” Vicente emphasizes. “The compositions are very specific but at the same time extremely open—they’re never played the same way, as it all depends on the day, location, mood, and how we interact with the written material.” This approach, revealing both individual and collective aesthetic growth, maintains the organic, free, and elastic character of their shared musical language. The result is open, pure music, fueled by shared ideas and values without the need for additional elements. A foundational motif is developed in various directions, thanks to the exceptional talent of the three musicians. While Come Down Here retains the style, dynamics, and phrasing of its predecessor, it moves forward. “The idea was for each of us to express ourselves without preconceptions, fully leveraging our abilities and showcasing our individuality, reaching a sonic state where the music itself takes on a central role—a drive where we are merely a conduit connecting to the universe,” Vicente explains. After introducing the composition to his bandmates, the trio develops the potential of each piece, “always keeping the approach open, allowing the music itself to suggest directions and new ways of engaging with its content.”

The album’s title track, which opens the record, begins with a trumpet motif that sparks a vibrant interplay between the three musicians, pushing energy levels to their peak (Melo Alves delivers a remarkable solo here). Hope II then cools the intensity, introducing a chamber-like atmosphere, with Vicente bringing a serene solemnity; Almeida employs the bow, and Melo Alves adds delicate nuances, creating a more abstract piece that explores contrasts reminiscent of certain contemporary classical music styles. A standout track is their rendition of an Afro-Brazilian song by an unknown composer, traditionally played in capoeira circles or Candomblé ceremonies: Mandei Caiar o Meu Sobrado (“I Had My Loft Whitewashed”). This song carries profound gravity (its sounds evoke a dense forest), with the trumpet delivering a clear, hymn-like melody around which the bass and drums orbit. The interaction builds to a climax, culminating in an intense solo by Almeida, complemented by intricate percussion. The double bass briefly returns to the bow to end the piece with an air of mystery.

As the title suggests, Why No Is No is focused and assertive (Vicente describes it as “a manifesto of nonconformity, questioning, non-acceptance, and refusal”), amplifying the intensity of the trio’s interactions with call-and-response exchanges, stimuli, and counter-stimuli. Its whirlwind ending is thought-provoking. The bass sets the tone at the start of Nascente, joined by the trumpet—here in a more textural mode, using extended techniques—and drums that enrich the soundscape. This collective improvisation seems to reflect the flow of a river, tranquil at times, turbulent at others. Closing the album, Penumbra, the longest track and one of its highlights, is a sonic gem richly detailed, demanding repeated listens to fully appreciate its depth. Here, Vicente (also using the mbira) masterfully alternates between melodic ideas and abstract explorations, occasionally performing unaccompanied. Almeida and Melo Alves add density, culminating in another remarkable bass solo that drives the piece to its climax.

At once complex and familiar, Come Down Here is an album that comforts and beckons—a special place to revisit time and time again.