Jazz em agosto / Lisbon, August 1-10 (1/3)

By David Cristol  

The 41st edition of the festival taking place at Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation fulfilled and exceeded expectations, with a display of some the most exciting current musical acts. The open-air amphitheatre was home to the evening concerts, while most of the late afternoon shows were set in the great-sounding small auditorium. Three memorable sets were presented in the large auditorium with its enchanting transparent stage wall overlooking the Garden’s plant and animal life. Day after day, it was heartening to queue with fans and visitors who came to witness avant-jazz performances, in venues replete down to the last seats. In many respects, Jazz em Agosto is utopia made real.

Days 1 → 3

Other planes of there

Heart Trio

William Parker. Photo by Petra Cvelbar/Gulbenkian Musica

« The Heart Trio is special because we're playing all kinds of acoustic instruments. I play some drum set and frame drum. William is playing the guembri and reeds, and Cooper-Moore is playing his own self-created banjo, harp and so forth. It is different from In Order to Survive, another group the three of us play in together. In the Heart Trio, Cooper-Moore is not playing any piano. Same guy, completely different music. » (Hamid Drake in the Free Jazz Collective, April 25, 2025).

This edition starts off with a gathering of elder statesmen, connected with the Vision festival/Arts for Art scene and reaching further through multiple collaborations both in the US and Europe. The youngest, Hamid Drake, turns 70 two days after the Lisbon concert. With the Heart Trio, the African-American roots of jazz and the spirit of improvisation are feted. No law says that musicians have to limit themselves to playing a single instrument. Tonight William Parker doesn’t have a bass, the instrument he’s famous for. This allows him to switch from various instruments to his heart’s content, such as the ngoni, the duduk, the guembri and the hunting horn. Not a first for the shepherd of the New York free jazz community. Cooper-Moore has enjoyed performing on self-built instruments to great expressive effect since decades : today a xylophone, an odd flute, the diddley-bow and more. Only Drake has his usual kit. Sitting center-stage, Parker initiates the colors and tempis of the groove-based improvisations. A spiritual atmosphere pervades the set. It’s about sounds and rhythms, and the primeval or childish joy of trying things and seeing what happens. It wanders quite a bit and doesn’t always ignite. When it works, they keep going at it for a while. Here a hi-life rhythm emerges, with Parker on a wooden flute emitting a single gravelly note like a didgeridoo ; there Drake launches a breakbeat, with Parker humming and repeating a pattern on the guembri. A ramshackle blues proves satisfying. To maintain the trio’s balance, Cooper-Moore holds back more than usual, which seems counterintuitive for an artist known for his eccentric outbursts, an edgy character who thrives in busy situations. He however manages to insert his sense of humor into the proceedings. Drake is his usual reliable self, available to every change of direction and suggesting some of his own – a reggae beat, or a soulful vocal invocation accompanied by the lone frame drum. At the end, Parker the wise grabs the microphone to encourage « the heart to be yourself », « the heart to fulfill your dreams », « the heart to never give up », « the heart to listen… ».

Rafael Tora. Photo by Petra Cvelbar/Gulbenkian Musica

The two solo concerts of the edition celebrated the guitar, used in wildly opposing fashions. With Spectral Evolution, Rafael Toral unleashed electric orchestral soundscapes on a grand, almost operatic scale. A lush sound fills the room. A Theremin stands alone, which Toral uses from a distance, to influence the sounds triggered by the guitar. Which actually sounds more like a church organ than your average six-strings. Broad and precise movements of the arms and hands are activating the eerie characteristics of the Theremin. Toral plays the two instruments at the same time, linked together to create the sound he’s after. The cover of the album corresponding to tonight’s music features the very same image of a bird as seen projected behind the artist, and in the Summer 2025 issue of We Jazz, Toral appears in the same position, with the same visual backdrop. The slow chords, partly inspired by 1930s jazz arrangements, are immersive, the waves and layers seductive. The ending – or so we think – has the artist unlit, a dark silhouette in front of the image, coaxing static sounds from the guitar, with added digital bird sounds. It is not the end, however, for Toral returns to the same layering that has occupied most of the set, the majestic soundscapes we’ve heard before. Finally, he puts the guitar aside to show off his prowess on the lone Theremin, which seems like an unnecessary conclusion. Some people get fidgety, phone screens start to light up like scattered firelflies. The duration, however, is no mere whim but stems from the choice to present the album in its entirety. Interviewed in the summer issue of We Jazz, Toral states : « I’m enjoying everything that is variable in live playing, but I’m basically performing the album as a composition. I usually don’t do that, but I felt I had to offer that experience, as the album became so strong. The show benefits from the album’s structure, and the live expansion worked so well that it receives lots of listening love with a very enthusiastic reception every time ».

Kris Davis Trio. Photo by Petra Cvelbar/Gulbenkian Musica

The Kris Davis Trio appearing in the outdoors amphitheater consists on the leader on prepared and unprepared piano, Robert Hurst on double bass and Johnathan Blake on drums. Davis had performed on the same stage at the 2022 edition with the Borderlands Trio (Stephan Crump and Eric McPherson). And a few days before in New York, Davis was part of yet another trio, with drummer Tom Rainey and Korean gayageum player DoYeon Kim. Hurst, whose career is firmly grounded in mainstream jazz, and Blake are the players on Davis’ « Run the Gauntlet » album, dedicated to six women composers. They perform a selection of pieces from that record, penned by each of them, as well as new compositions yet to be recorded. We’re not on free jazz territory but the skillful and clear-cut playing of Davis reconciles upholders of the jazz tradition and supporters of the creative vistas. Blake, also a member of the current Ben Monder trio, has the drum elements placed very low in front of him. The playing is mostly unshowy, Davis electing to play two-note chords when three notes aren’t necessary. Some tunes are punchy and highly rhythmical but never yield to speed intoxication. Not one for long statements, Davis has a taste for concision, but likes good strong clusters on occasion, as on the album’s titular piece. Hurst's elegant playing and Blake’s effusiveness complementary each other well. Introspection and turmoil go hand in hand, sometimes simultaneously. A ballad, gentle but full of unusual angles and developments, resembles what Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter were composing in the mid-sixties. Beneath the stoic surface, could it be that Davis' music is funky at its core ? The less is more approach is an element of that feel, as are Blake’s contributions. Towards the end, Hurst adds an electronic effect to his bass, his notes doubled an octave higher, unexpected in this acoustic setting. The NYC-cellars-bred aesthetic translates well to the opulent spaces of the Foundation.

Mariam Rezaei. Photo by Petra Cvelbar/Gulbenkian Musica

UK turntablist and The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters member Mariam Rezaei gets lone billing on the program. It makes sense in that she’s a frequent solo performer (she was seen in May at Toulouse’s Le Vent des Signes, turning a sold-out [Ahmed] LP to shreds), and tonight’s show has her alone on stage for close to half an hour before she’s joined by MOPCUT’s Julien Desprez on electric guitar – although calling him a guitar player is open for debate – and Lukas König on drums. Turntablism originates in hip-hop culture, and scratching is still very much a part of it, but it has evolved into varied strands. Turntablist Christian Marclay, a favorite of art museums these days, turned his cut-up methods to film. With a style all her own, Rezaei’s use of the turntables allows her to tap into a well of near-infinite possibilities. Like Desprez’ guitar is his chosen tool for unleashing sonic blasts and electric uppercuts, Mariam’s decks and records are a key to unlocking and transforming samples stored in a computer, and other sound-altering gear is also put to use. Harsh electronics open the set, followed by trumpet. Rezaei is versed in jazz culture past and present, and likes to use sounds from people she performs with, either from albums or expressly recorded to that end. Mette Rasmussen’s sax and Gabriele Mitelli’s trumpet are mixed in a fictional dialogue. Later, pre-recorded saxophone phrases from Sakina Abdou are thrown into the brew. Punky vocals and chaotic rumors are deployed – a fitting soundtrack for the hellish 2025. Fingers move nimbly on the boards and knobs. When her French and German friends come on stage, the noise factor increases. König is the one with the more traditional approach to his instrument, albeit with two sticks in each hand for more firepower. Desprez dances on the pedals and shoots crackling arrows across the venue. A few frightened patrons flee as fast as they can, but that’s par for the course at many a Jazz em Agosto gig and the vast majority sits tight to enjoy what’s coming at them. For Desprez, this collaboration also seems like a logical continuation of his solo work and with the Abacaxi trio. A cathartic aggregate, approved by a cheering audience.

Darius Jones. Photo by Petra Cvelbar/Gulbenkian Musica

Composer and alto sax player Darius Jones, sporting a Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters t-shirt, returns to the Jazz em Agosto stage after last year’s performance of his fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred) work. For tonight’s Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye), the personnel is the same as on the album. Gerald Cleaver (dm) and Chris Lightcap (b) are both favorite associates of many an avant-jazz explorer. The six pieces from the album are played, in a different order. It’s, again, a high point of the festival. Over a seriously cooking rhythm tandem, the alto initially throws sparse notes and brief riffs in the air. Jones’ alto is simultaneously raw, dissonant and warm, reminiscent of Henry Threadgill’s. The music is composed, yet the execution sounds open. Each member has a lot of space for expression, but no one takes the lion’s share. Jones announces that « We inside », a vehicle for Lightcap, will be played at a low volume, and invites the audience to come close and sit around the band. Slowly, one, then three, then fifty young listeners respond and carefully climb on the stage. All tracks demonstrate depth beneath the formal simplicity. « Motherfuckin’ Roosevelt » is a dedication to the composer’s uncle who encouraged him to play the saxophone. « No more my Lord » originates in a recording by archivist Alan Lomax at the Mississippi penitentiary ; this quietly burning version has a tribal beat on the toms, a droning arco in the lower register of the bass, and the gloomy alto lamentation turns into a feverish incantation, maybe a prayer to the devil for help. The scream becomes Aylerian and Cleaver breaks loose : a gripping affair ! A great trio, and another major entry in Darius Jones’ fascinating itinerary.