This international quartet first stepped on a stage in July 2021, on a tour of seven cities in Portugal supported by the GDA Foundation.
Their support gave Portuguese trumpeter LUIS VICENTE the opportunity to put together a stellar band of JOHN DIKEMAN, a renowned North American saxophonist based in Amsterdam, with whom Vicente has built a fruitful relationship alongside William Parker and Hamid Drake; the North American bassist, LUKE STEWART, highlighted by Downbeat magazine as “one of the 25 most influential jazz musicians of his generation”, dued to his collaborations with Irreversible Entanglements, Moor Mother, Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star and Jaimie Branch; and ONNO GOVAERT, an outstanding Dutch drummer and a frequent figure on many European stages.
‘House in the Valley’ sends us back to Vicente’s pandemic routine, with the presence of his daughter Luísa, a true inspiration for the leader, who names one of the most festive and daring works of the album “Luisa’s Laugh’’.
It is a contemporary creation, free and open in its interpretation. This album is inspired by childhood memories, spent at the house of Luis’ maternal grandparents, in a rural environment between meadows and valleys. The album sounds like a ritualistic ceremony, an invitation to dive into the present moment and into the communion of each person with their inner self and with their surroundings.
“House in the Valley“ has a contemporary edge and a free, exploratory, intriguing and attractive approach under an undeniable influence of the “ancestral” masters from the 60s and early 70s, blended with a fresh combination between composition and improvisation. The overall effect is that music achieves an immediately open expression, unconstrained by tonal limitations, rhythmic predetermination, or harmonic rules.

All compositions by Luís Vicente

Recorded live at Igreja do Espírito Santo, Caldas da Rainha, 19th July 2021 by Ricardo Pimentel | Mixed and mastered by Marcelo dos Reis
Produced by Luís Vicente | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos | Photo @ Pedro Jafuno