André Carvalho releases his 4th album as a leader, inspired by untranslatable words.
According to the bassist and composer, after having stumbled into this wonderful world of untranslatable words, he wrote a new music cycle inspired by words from more than 10 languages such as Swedish, Urdu and Wagiman (a language currently spoken by only 2 people in the world).
When referring to this new work, André intends to ask the following question: “Have you ever wanted to say something but couldn’t find the right word?”. According to André, sometimes the word is right on the tip of the tongue, but other times there is simply no word… Or, at least, in our language. Carvalho goes on to say that, as fascinating as the Portuguese language is, he has always had difficulty expressing certain ideas using just one word. And, even if he knew the whole lexicon, he is sure this problem would persist.
“I not only wanted to write music inspired by this very peculiar universe, but also to use different instrumentation than I used on my previous albums. At the same time, he idealized a group without drums, where space and respect for silence were constant. And, in order to pursue a contemplative, intimate and at the same time raw sound, something I imagined quite clearly, I tried to use coloristic and textural elements, in addition to traditional musical elements such as melody, harmony and rhythm. With all these assumptions, the choice of musicians seemed obvious to me!”.
Thus, Carvalho joins saxophonist José Soares and guitarist André Matos, musicians with whom he has collaborated intensely in recent years and who form, thus, the “core” of the group. In some of the themes, the young trumpeter João Almeida joins the trio.
The incessant search for new sounds has led the bass player to explore some musical areas such as jazz, improvised music, experimental music and contemporary classical music. Therefore, it is not surprising that compositions that explore different sounds, times, silence, space, colors, dynamics, textures and noises cohabit in the same album.
When talking about Lost in Translation, André quotes an iconic phrase by Wittgenstein: “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world”. André says he really believes in this and that, for him, as we learn new words, our conscience becomes more sensitive to others, we become more empathetic and our world becomes richer.
The trio will present the new album at Galeria Zé dos Bois (Lisbon, 14th October), Casa da Cultura de Setúbal (15th October), Casa da Música do Porto (16th October) and Salão Brazil (Coimbra, 17th October) and will do a masterclass at Universidade Lusíada on October 11th.
The album is published on October 15 by the American label Outside in Music and has the support of Fundação GDA, Antena2, Companhia de Actores and Teatro Municipal Amélia Rey Colaço. Recorded, mixed and mastered by sound engineer Tiago de Sousa, with whom Carvalho worked on some of his previous albums, the artwork was developed by designer Margarida Girão. Lost in Translation succeeds from The Garden of Earthly Delights (Outside in Music, 2019), inspired by the famous painting of the same name by Hieronymus Bosch.
