SOL[os] by Marcio Mattos

Marcio Mattos has been an important and longstanding member of the free improvisation and free jazz scenes in London and in Europe. This, however, is his first solo album. There are six short solos on cello, three of which also use electronics, and three brief double bass solos, followed by an extended concert performance on bass with electronic enhancement. An overdue chance to hear this consistently fine musician in the foreground.

EMANEM 5035

"Mattos is as creative as ever in these mainly undated concert recordings. Like Paul Rutherford or Derek Bailey, there seems to be very little in the way of impedance between Mattos and his instrument, as demonstrated by the stunning "The Diamond Ring," a three-and-a-half minute precis of the cello's timbral and registral possibilities as imagined by this veteran improviser. For an alternately heated and ice-cool dose of the electronics he uses so tastefully, listen to "Bailey's Beads," another cello extemporization with an absolutely gorgeous slide into layered harmonics at its conclusion. That semistatic world is explored again in the opening moments of "Solwind" , before the jump-cut freneticism vies with microtonal electronic passages in rapid succession.

As with Bob Dylan's Blond on Blond, the miniatures lead to the vast concluding piece, the epic "Prominence," lasting over twenty minutes. My guess is that the 2010 recording uses only bass and electronics, though there is so much happening from moment to moment that such concerns become secondary in the face of high-level creation. Mattos is a creative genius, and to think of this disc as another solo offering is to sell it short. His invention is unparalleled, as is his musicianship, and the minor-inflected and then chromatic opening of "Filaments of Imagination" shows, if any further proof were needed, that tradition lurks in the wings, informing rather than subjugating every note he plays. Don't miss this one!"

Mark Medwin
The Squid's Ear

Tracklist

1.	Sunquake	3:30

2.	Filaments Of Imagination	4:02

3.	Convections	2:57

4.	The Diamond Ring	3:35

5.	Bailey's Beads	3:33

6.	Saros 126	5:22

7.	Faculae	3:33

8.	Spicules	3:51

9.	Solwind	8:00

10.	Prominence	20:27

Credits

released March 20, 2015

Marcio Mattos- Double Bass/Cello/Electronics

Cover Design and Ceramic Plaque "Eclipse" by Marcio Mattos

License