Ra Kalam Bob Moses drums and percussion
Vasco Trilla drums and percussion
Pedro Melo Alves drums and percussion
Alma Tree is Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Vasco Trilla and Pedro Melo Alves. The three drummers, navigating the freest currents of jazz and improvised music, come together in a percussion trio, blending their strong personalities and unique resources in a performance of deep and unpredictable dialogues, infused with a strong spiritual character. In 2024 the percussion trio is presenting their debut album “Sonic Alchemy Suprema,” released by Carimbo Porta-Jazz, featuring saxophonists Julius Gabriel, João Pedro Brandão, and José Soares.
“Immediately, there is A MAGICAL CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THESE THREE DRUMMERS. IT FLOWS SO NATURALLY WITH A SEDUCTIVE ATMOSPHERE (…). The journey continues, exploring realms of riddim, color, feel and counterpoint flowing with the tides and currents of the ocean.”
Billy Martin
“…highly skilled rhythm practitioners, idiosyncratic, with unique characteristics that do not dilute but synergistically enhance when engaging in cross-pollination games that are known to originate but never where they flourish. (…) Summoning sounds of unknown origin, the trio challenges space and time, mixing geographies and pointers. (…) HERE WE ARE FACED WITH A MONUMENTAL CELEBRATION OF RHYTHM AS A TRANSFORMATIVE AGENT OF HUMANITY.”
António Branco
“…sounds like a magical union of sonic magicians (or celestial madmen, as other pieces suggest) who offer an untimely and hypnotic healing ritual. (…) PROFOUND AND UNPREDICTABLE DIALOGS THAT EVOKE POWERFUL IMAGES, COSMIC CHANTS AND SENSUAL DANCES, A GREAT SENSE OF FREEDOM AND INTOXICATING GROOVES. (…) Sonic Alchemy Suprema may heal the aching pulse of our globe.
Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts
“Alma Tree also ACHIEVED SOMETHING RARE, ESPECIALLY IN JAZZ (…): creating a common space where everyone comes together on equal footing and contributes to an idea. Three very different musical personalities, three drummers/percussionists, coming together in music. (…) A HUMAN DIALOGUE MADE WITH DRUMS, SEEKING A MUSIC THAT DOESN’T EXIST UNLESS PLAYED, materializing uniquely in this encounter between man and the unexpected, and the desire to create something out of nothing.”
Gonçalo Falcão, Jazz.pt
“In this free setting, the percussionists retain THE PRIMITIVE FORM OF COMMUNICATION WITHIN A SOPHISTICATED WORK OF ART. (…) THE TRIO AND THEIR GUESTS ARE TRANSCENDENT, AS IS THE DIVERSITY OF THE MUSIC. The artists seamlessly fuse their individual talents and formidable personalities, crafting a performance that resonates with profound and surprising interchanges.
Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz
“Sonic Alchemy Suprema is the result of A SPIRITED MEETING OF THREE LIKED MINDED PERCUSSIONISTS IMMERSED IN A COMPLETE SOUND-WORLD, drawing from vast pools of tones and textures. (…) Over the course of the album’s generous fifteen tracks, there are duo, trio and larger group encounters that SWING, RATTLE, AND ROLL, WHILE PLUMBING EXCITING SONIC DEPTHS.“
Paul Acquaro, Free Jazz Blog
“***** I WAS ABOUT TO WRITE THAT THIS IS THE BEST DRUMS/PERCUSSION ALBUM I EVER HEARD, but I cannot: indeed the guests play a very important role in this music. (…) it combines amazingly the American and European traditions.”
Maciej Lewenstein
“…A PLACE OF SEARCH FOR MUSIC PLAYED BY THE DIVINE that Ra Kalam will seek to meet with Trilla and Melo Alves.”
Gonçalo Frota, Público
“…Ra Kalam Bob Moses, a being of energy, takes Pedro Melo Alves and Vasco Trilla (…) to THAT OTHER PLACE, SOMEWHERE IN THE SKY, TO WHICH FEW HAVE MANAGED TO ASCEND.”
Rui Eduardo Paes, Rimas e Batidas
“…with high intensity and the trio particularly connected, we felt that we were facing A CREATIVE PERCUSSION MASTERCLASS, IN A TRUE RHYTHM FESTIVAL.”
Nuno Catarino, Jazz.pt
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