Roma Inversa / Nero Victor
05/23/2022
Michael Lauren, Vasco Agostinho and João Custódio traveled to Braga to record “Live At Mobydick Records”. The new Michael Lauren Trio album debuted on the 29th of April. The great tune“Ritual do Cabrito” is the new video-single.
New Yorker Michael Lauren is, as someone aptly put it, a jazz drummer with a rock 'n' roll heart. A multi-stylist musician, at the age of 72, he is unstoppable, with the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager. Their latest project, the Michael Lauren Trio, premiered “Biji” on March 25, 2022. The tune, an original by the legendary Sonny Rollins, with arrangements by Lauren and guitarist Vasco Agostinho, was the first single from the album that arrived on the 29th of April.
“Live At Mobydick Records” is pretty self-explanatory. Michael Lauren, Vasco Agostinho and bassist João Custódio recorded the album live, with Budda Guedes behind the console signing a work that, in a preliminary assessment, stands out for the breadth of the drum sound and the depth of the bass and guitar, everything involved in a powerful and organic sound. For the rest, the recorded tunes are originals by Michael Lauren, Vasco Agostinho or both. In our opinion, this is a serious contender among the best albums of the year - the impression that the album left us can be read in this article.
In the meantime, a new single has been released, accompanied by images from the session at Mobydick studios. Precisely the one that, as you can read in the album review, is our favorite theme. “Ritual do Cabrito”, a song in which Agostinho's iron hand is felt, as if the guitarist were shaping the notes on an anvil, but without a hammer, using only the strength of his fingers. Maybe they don't know, but Michael, in his immense devotion to music, has a corner reserved for the titans of hard rock and in this theme, following the weight of the guitar and bass, he reveals a power of the beat worthy of Bill Ward and the twisted Bonham's swinging bass drum/snare drum.
In an excellent interview with Eray Aytimur, for Jazz.pt, Michael Lauren refers to the basis of this chromatic bomb: «As the “Ritual do Cabrito” was composed by Vasco Agostinho, I felt I should ask him. He told me that the theme comes from the bass line and that the A section of the melody is based on the blues scale. However, to make the melody more abstract he removed the most obvious notes. Vasco also told me that he composed the B section to contrast with the A section, and thought of the melody at the B section as an anchor that connects the harmony of the B section. He visualized the chord progression as a curve, which separates the B harmony from the harmony of the section A. It's at the end of the curve that he reconnects the harmony of B section with the harmony of the A section. Vasco's use of chromaticism can be heard in his guitar solo. To support the A section, I played a displaced funk-rock groove on the snare drum, and then contrasted the B section with a 60’s rock/soul style».
Press play on the Video player below to confirm this great tune and, if you haven't already, dive into this extraordinary album!
Furthermore, it is a privilege that a world-class musician, such as the North American drummerMichael Lauren, has chosen our country to live and work.Therefore, we are proud to present a summary of his most visible musical creation in the last decade, in case, by chance, you are not familiar with it. In addition to his fervent discography,Lauren is also passionate about teaching music.