Pedro Carneiro - Bad Company (2021)

Carneiro and Melo Alves aren’t bad companions to each other, as you’ll soon find out. The title of this recording comes from a story by Japanese writer Yasuoka Shotaro, reminding us how literature influences the creation of good music. Percussionist, conductor and composer, Pedro Carneiro’s main activity is in the realm of contemporary classical music, mostly with his huge bass marimba, either playing his own music or compositions by Iannis Xenakis or other 20/21 century radical composers. On the side, he’s very much present in the field of free improvised music, with the likes of Carlos “Zíngaro” and pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro, already known by the Clean Feed listeners as a member of Red Trio. Pedro Melo Alves is the new prince charming of the Portuguese jazz scene, as a specially accomplished composer and drummer, with projects like Omniae Ensemble, In Igma (with Mark Dresser), The Rite of Trio and symph. Together, they engendered an opus which has everything of the best percussion music of these present days. This time, made totally in the moment, spontaneously and intuitively, even when it doesn’t seem so. A very welcomed gem.