Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Luís Lopes Lisbon Berlin Trio: The Line

Luís Lopes Lisbon Berlin Trio: The Line

By Mark Corroto
December 6, 2014
View read count

Guitarist

Luís Lopes

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Luís Lopes posted the following quote on his Facebook page, "art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." With that as his mission statement, the question arises: can one listen to his music with a sympathetic ear? Or more importantly, is discomfort the motivation and ultimately the goal?

Lopes' approach, like that of

Derek Bailey

guitar
1932 - 2005

" data-original-title="" title="">Derek Bailey and

Sonny Sharrock

guitar, electric
1940 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Sharrock, is a sort of unbalancing take on the electric guitar. Like Bailey, he has written a new language (his own) for playing, and like Sharrock he can conjure tidal waves of noise. This is on display in solo performances and with his Humanization 4tet with

Rodrigo Amado

saxophone, tenor
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Rodrigo Amado, Afterfall with Joe Giardullo and in trio with Adam Lane.

With his Lisbon Berlin Trio of bassist Robert Landfermann and drummer Christian Lillinger, he can realize a vision of jazz that ties together noise, rocked-out time sequences, and free improvisation. This disc follows their self-titled 2011 Clean Feed debut.

From their inception, this band applies unease with collective aplomb. The Line opens with the dirge-like bowing of Landfermann's bass and the scratching of cymbals. This "Dark Suite (Prologue)" forewarns of a rough road ahead. Next comes the footslog opening to "Vertigo" that transmogrifies into a rock-laden surge of energy. The thunder of Landfermann's bass is the background for a Lopes/Lillinger duel on "Mother Snake," that heightens with each melodic change. The music has a premonition it may implode (maybe explode) at any moment. The edge this trio develops is unmistakable and intoxicating. Disturbing here is good, or maybe this music comforts?

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Dark Suite (Prologue); Vertico; Mother Snake; Dark Suite (Epilogue); The Line; Schwarzwald.

Personnel

Luís Lopes

guitar

Luís Lopes: electric guitar; Robert Landfermann: double bass; Christian Lillinger: drums.

Album information

Title: The Line | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Clean Feed Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Home Inspiration
< Previous

Nu Tunes & Old Tunes
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.