Manuel Mota/Afonso Simões - Ao Vivo no Espage, Centro de Desastres (Dromos)

Not the Mota I was expecting. In my head, I, doubtless unfairly, would have conjured up a phrase like, "the Iberian Sugimoto". Well, here, in the company of drummer Simões, it's more like "The Portuguese Sharrock or Capspar Brotzmann". He raises quite the squall in this freewheeling, high-energy blowout. It's only about 25 minutes long and seems to cut out while things are still going on. I can't say it's an approach that holds much attraction for me, but if you've been aching for some Fushitsusha-style flailing explosiveness, you could do worse. Nice cover, with an individual smoke-burn on each copy.


Tetuzi Akiyama/Eden Carrasco/Leonel Kaplan - Moments of Falling Petals (Dromos)

Just as I had been expecting a quieter Mota, I was probably anticipating a noisier, bluesier Akiyama but once again, I was flummoxed. Here he, along with Carrasco on alto and Kaplan on trumpet, play it soft and borderline melodic all the way through. Much space, a nice array of texture. Several lovely moments here, including one about 20 minutes in where I was strongly reminded of Roscoe Mitchell's Sound Ensemble from the early 80s (high praise). Again, it's a short disc, about 33 minutes, but strong and well-paced throughout, definitely one to hear. This release also has a great sleeve, folded origami like, as is the interior tissue sleeve. Good one.

dromos