Mario Costa - Oxy Patina (2018)

In just a few years, Portuguese drummer Mário Costa became a serious case of success in the international jazz scene. We noticed him first playing in two key records to understand the rich reality of creative jazz in Portugal, “Nebulosa” and “Partícula”, as a member of the band lead by Hugo Carvalhais. In the second of these albums, the soprano saxophone was played by Émile Parisien, an usual Carvalhais partner on stage. Shortly after, Parisien invited Costa to play the drumkit in his new super-group with the veterans Joachim Kuhn and Michel Portal fronting a line-up with Manu Codja, Vincent Peirani and Simon Tailleu. «Now he belongs to the top modern drummers in jazz», Kuhn states about the wide projection resulting from the excelent work he’s developing with such great company. “Oxy Patina” is another step in that path, presenting himself also as a composer, and again with top French players, Marc Ducret and Benoît Delbecq. Both are meticulous researchers of the capacities of their respective instruments and both have strong personal languages – Mário Costa couldn’t be more ambitious in the choice of partners, but he brilliantly achieves all his intentions. With them he managed to forge a solid and intriguing collective sound. If he managed to put our expectations high, the outcome is even higher.

Mário Costa - composition, drums and electronics
Marc Ducret - guitar
Benoît Delbecq - piano, prepared piano, analog synthesizer and electronics