The magnetic music of Portuguese trumpeter Luís Vicente has always been marked by its munificence and openness, revealing an intrinsic candour and purity of expression, where ideas and values are articulated, exchanged and cultivated without need for extraneous fuss or unnecessary obfuscation.

On Come Down Here, he’s reaching out again, reopening the channels of bountiful communication, reconvening with fellow countrymen double-bassist Gonçalo Almeida and drummer Pedro Melo Alves on the highly-anticipated follow-up to the trio’s impressive 2021 debut, Chanting In The Name Of.

Come Down Here exhibits the same surety of style, phrasing and dynamism as its potent predecessor, inviting listeners to inveigle themselves of six profound ritual zones where Vicente’s compositions form a series of absorbingly stark narratives suggestive of myth, mystery and hidden histories.

But it also marks a significant development in the trio’s ongoing evolution, characterised by a burgeoning conviction and aesthetic growth, as they explore their ever-expanding lexicon of references, including here the late-70s structural innovations of the legendary Old and New Dreams quartet, and the Afro-Brazilian Capoeira dance-cum-martial art during the album’s sole traditional, ‘Mandei Caiar O Meu Sobrado’.

Constantly alternating between moods and tone, from pointillist ceremonials to brazen brocades of fulsome melody, from saturnine stewing to bustling brouhaha, each moment here is suffused with jazz’s quintessential essence, an elemental spirit flowing throughout this munificent music, which Guy Peters rightfully identifies in his accompanying liner notes as its overriding “desire to connect”. With Come Down Here, the Luís Vicente Trio have hit their target, well and truly flush.

All compositions by Luís Vicente except “Mandei Caiar o Meu Sobrado”, author unknown (traditional brazilian song usually played at a *Capoeira Roda) * Capoeira: afro-brazilian Dance/Martial Art

Recorded on the 2nd October 2023 at Soundinnovation Studios by Fábio Miranda | Mixed by Pedro Melo Alves | Mastered by Filipe Louro
Produced by Luís Vicente | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos | Photos by Ana Luísa Moura