Label: Trost Records, 2025

Personnel - Rodrigo Amado: tenor saxophone; Alexander Von Schlippenbach: piano; Ingebrigt Haker Flaten: bass; Gerry Hemingway: drums, voice.

The sophomore record from Portuguese free jazz saxophonist Rodrigo Amado’s international quartet The Bridge—with German pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach, Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, and American drummer Gerry Hemingway—arrives with Further Beyond, a powerful statement of collective freedom and risk-taking. Across three freely improvised tracks, the quartet demonstrates a shared instinct for adventure and a deep trust in spontaneous creation.

The opening piece, “A Change Is Gonna Come”, begins on a fluttering rhythmic pulse that soon opens into a Coltrane-inspired spiritual voyage. Von Schlippenbach’s fractured yet dance-like piano fluxes collide with Amado’s searing saxophone cries, while Hemingway and Håker Flaten respond with elastic propulsion. The group shapes its energy in waves—motivic, surging, and volatile—its interplay both fiery and telepathic.

The nearly 27-minute title track, “Further Beyond”, unfolds gradually, moving from meditative lyricism to fierce turbulence. With sober bass reflections and affably brushed drums maintaining the mood, both the smooth, resonant chords and luminous sax lines establish a contemplative atmosphere, which later dissolves into agitated cadences and vivid exchanges. Von Schlippenbach anchors a hypnotic low-register pattern while Hemingway’s eerie vocalizations and Håker Flaten’s arco bass pierce the texture. Amado then pushes forward with sharp staccato bursts and racing runs before Hemingway’s drum show—hard on toms and cymbals—makes the music rise into celestial Coltranean fashion.

Loosely laid down, “That’s How Strong Our Love Is” swings casually, displaying melodic bluesy disciplines elevated by some call-and-response between sax and piano. Its luminous, triumphal ending is threaded through sharp yet tangible piano playing, offering harmonic nuance, textural sculpting, and saxophone multiphonics. The quartet’s telepathic rapport and the music’s fearless audacity are rewarding, confirming The Bridge as one of Amado’s most dynamic and cohesive projects.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - A Change is Gonna Come ► 02- Further Beyond

Label: Trost Records, 2023

Personnel - Rodrigo Amado: tenor saxophone; Alexander von Schlippenbach; piano; Ingebrigt Haker Flaten: bass; Gerry Hemingway: drums.

The Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado has consistently explored the outer boundaries of improvised jazz, striving to breaking new ground at each new collaboration. His latest recording, Beyond the Margins, features an international quartet known as The Bridge, with German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, and American drummer Gerry Hemingway. This three-track album is a leap forward for Amado who, fully committed to bringing expressivity and energy to the setting, extracts the utmost from the group’s push-and-pull inventiveness.

The journey begins with the title cut, a sprawling 40-minute piece filled with spontaneous detours, a bountiful fruit of their visionary creativity. Amado’s tenor, skillfully bending notes to create a sense of delightful dissonance in the phrasing, dances atop a dreamlike Coltranean texture that, steering away from melancholy, soon escalates in density and intensity. The music follows a focused direction, painted by amorphous bass moves and colorful drum work. Burnished high-range saxophone lines and agile piano take turns in the melodic thread, and we realize these musicians respect each other’s spaces within the framework.
Fine melodies and balanced rhythmic cadences are complemented with bright figures, which usually culminate in moments of visceral impact. Tricky harmonic choices, crisp angularity, and staggering rhythms are all part of the music tapestry. As the piece unfolds, we have expansion and contraction as expected, ending with a swinging eruption driven by Haker Flaten, who previously had operated with arco, and Hemingway, a sophisticated drummer who infuses meticulously placed rhythms throughout.

A piano riff sets “Personal Mountains” in motion, soon joined by bracing drumming, candid bass lines, and folk-inspired saxophone chants that gain further expression in “(visiting) Ghosts”. The latter, a free interpretation of Albert Ayler’s original piece, plays out like a spiritual ballad at the outset before exploding with energy.

Amado and The Bridge demonstrate a remarkable ability to work at both micro and macro levels, crafting moments that captivate the attention of open-eared listeners. Alternating between apparent stagnancy, simmering tension, and fiery explosions, this is a record free jazzers should go for.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Beyond the Margins ► 02 - Personal Mountains