Vine Leaf

Bruno Parrinha
Da Erosão
4DaRecord 4DR CD 007

As Portugal’s burgeoning creative music scene expands, dedicated improvisers are involved in a variety of groups and situations. Lisbon-based alto saxophonist Bruno Parrinha for instance has taken on the reed player’s most intense challenge: the solo saxophone disc, as well as forming a new trio, Vine Leaf, named after the English translation of his last name. The saxophonist who has worked with the likes of João Madeira, is joined on Vine Leaf by guitarist Luís Lopes, who often plays with  Rodrigo Amado and drummer João Valinho, who works with Yedo Gibson.

Avoiding the soloist’s tendency to make reed variations showy, strained or speedy, Parrinha’s mid-rise tonal architecture on Da Erosão is built on gradually evolving tunes that undulate up and down the scale with a mixture of relaxation and raunch. Staccato and presto if needed, relaxed adagio and sometime lento motifs are more involved with stutters and flutters plus returns to initial themes. However “Ideia Soluta” moves along with both hollow-tube echoes and bagpipe chanter-like drones, while “Condição Eólic” builds its changes through a combination of stops and starts, unaccented air sniffed, not pushed through the horn’s body tube, and tongue slaps before climaxing in reed squalls.

But more characteristic are the strategies expressed on extended tracks. With a relaxed feel expressed through a solid unbroken line on “Assoreado”, full scale overblowing then takes in jagged flattement, buzzing echoes and a skronky call-and-response between singular tones, finally moving past shaking pressure to reassert horizontal motion before blowing away.

Interestingly enough on Tales of Sense, Lopes, usually the most frenetic of guitarists, whose elaborated twangs and flanges often border on Rock excess, seems affected by the same moderating force that the saxophonist expresses on the other CD – at least at first. On the extended “Take One” for instance, linear guitar strums and patterns initially make common cause with the drummer’s slaps and clinks as well as straight-ahead saxophone flutters. The instant composition speeds up at the half way point however as guitar strumming gets speedier, alternating relaxed and raucous tones, the saxophonist corkscrews up the scale with short bites and smears, thinning his output to bellicose thrusts.

As the final two takes give Valinho a chance to express himself with positioned cymbal splashes, ruffs and pops, Lopes’ fuzztone drone becomes more emphasized as Parrinha’s split tones and flattement match the guitarist’s oscillations in ferocity. Reaching a crescendo of bird-whistle-like squeals that sound as if they’re being propelled with a detached mouthpiece, the saxophonist’s squeals, split tones and tongue slaps then form an unbroken line which keep pushing forward. Hard string stops and twangs from the guitarist matches Parrinha’s output, displaying electrified finger-style stops that define the climax and conclusion. On his own or with a trio, Parrinha’s creativity and those of his associates confirms that there are plenty of more musical leaves growing on the vine that make up Portuguese creative music tree.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Da: 1. Do Solo 2.Fluxo Da Idade 3. Dor Pluvial 4. Ideia Soluta 5. Condição Eólic 6. Reflexos Abrasivos 7. Assoreado

Personnel: Da: Bruno Parrinha (alto saxophone)

Track Listing: Tales: 1. Tale One 2. Tale Two 3. Tale Three

Personnel: Tales: Bruno Parrinha (alto saxophone); Luís Lopes (guitar) and João Valinho (drums)