When the re-edition of past works of an artist has no immediate commercial justification, the motivations of a particular label and the musician himself can only be one of two: to show from where he came from, in order for the listener to compare recent achievements with old developments, or to give a broad perspective of his path as a flux of equally considered ideas and performative realizations, if that same artist dedicated his life to an unified musical vision. This last context explains the re-release of “Interface”, the sold out album recorded live in Coimbra, Portugal, back in 2003, by the now inactive Steve Lehman’s Camouflage Trio. At that time, Lehman was far from the spectral jazz researches of “Travail, Transformation and Flow”, but he was already focused on the principles which brought him to record that masterpiece: to discover in history the premises for the construction of the future, but doing that very much in the “present”. “Interface” follows a still valid concept – it continues, taking it to other consequences, the formulas for the alto sax-double bass-drums trio debuted by the Ornette Coleman Trio and by a band of his special liking, Air (Henry Threadgill, Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall). The enterprise was brilliantly accomplished , and in such a way that the New York saxophonist and composer wouldn’t be able to create something like “Dialectic Fluorescent”, his trio CD from 2012, without that first earthmoving action with Mark Dresser and Pheeroan akLaff. Haven’t you heard it yet? Well, don’t waste more time and get the entire picture…

All Compositions by Steve Lehman (Density Music, BMI)

Recorded by Pedro Santos on May 7th, 2003 Live at Teatro Académico Gil Vicente, Coimbra, Portugal | Original mixing by Pedro Rego at Xangrilá Studios, Lisbon | Re-mixed by Liberty Ellman, New York | Original mastering by Fernando Rascão | Re-mastered by Luís Delgado
Produced by Steve Lehman | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Original design by Rui Garrido | Re-designed by Travassos |

Photos by Susana Paiva