Pedro Melo Alves drums and composition
José Diogo Martins piano
Mané Fernandes guitar
Pablo P. Moledo doublebass
Clara Saleiro flutes
João Pedro Brandão flute and saxophone
José Soares saxophone
Albert Cirera saxophones
Frederic Cardoso clarinets
Álvaro Machado bassoon
Gileno Santana trumpet
Xavi Sousa trombone
Carlo Mascolo trombone
Fábio Rodrigues tuba
Luís José Martins classical guitar
Luís André Ferreira cello
Alvaro Rosso doublebass
Mariana Dionísio voice
Nazaré da Silva voice
João Neves voice
Diogo Ferreira voice
João Miguel Braga Simões percussion
João Carlos Pinto electronics
Pedro Carneiro conductor
a part of Grands Formats –
Fédération D’Artistes Pour La Musique En Grands Formats
The Omniae Large Ensemble, originally a septet who won the Composition Award Bernardo Sassetti in 2016, became an orchestra after a commission by the Guimarães Jazz 2020 festival. With new arrangements, the music was conducted by the prestigious percussionist and conductor Pedro Carneiro and played by some of the leading figures of classical, improvised and experimental music of Portugal. The performance on the 22nd of November 2020 was the première of this ambitious musical project which later in 2021 was released by the label Clean Feed, as “Lumina”, voted « Best Revelation Group » (El Intruso 2021) and described as a « fascinating new music suite » (All About Jazz), « boldness and erudition, in a work of breath and great modernity » (Jazzlogical) and « contained madness, a clever mix of genres, great formal freedom as well as a very sure taste for beauty » (Citizen Jazz).
Now it presents itself as a robust and resourceful contemporary music ensemble in Europe, open to new challenges and collaborations with all kinds of forward-thinking musicians. Here, Melo Alves’ visions of evasion and transcendence – echoes of a tempting impossibility – are put on paper to challenge. You hear intricate landscapes, with the extended sounds of contemporary music blended with the flow of improvised music and the disruption of electronic experimental music. You hear a collective of people that embrace on stage the sight of the unknown.
*** NOMINATION FOR BEST JAZZ ALBUM 2022
PLAY – PRÉMIOS DA MÚSICA PORTUGUESA ***
*** EL INTRUSO – 14th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CRITICS POLL 2021
“BEST REVELATION GROUP” ***
*** JAZZ.PT – BEST NATIONAL ALBUM 2021 ***
“…we are taken to a universe none of us visited before. It is OPEN AND FREE as it is STRUCTURED, MELODIC AND SEARCHING. It is MAGNIFICENT AND AMBITIOUS and reveals us AN EXCITING MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER WITH BOTH AMBITION AND VISION.”
Tor Hammerø, Nettavisen
“«Lumina» demands repeated listening to grasp its multitude of INTRICATE SONIC LANDSCAPES but it guarantees TASTEFUL AND STIMULATING FOOD FOR THE CURIOUS MINDS as well as SUPERIOR DEGREES OF EMOTIONAL AND AESTHETICAL RESONANCE.“
Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts
“… brimming with avant forays, challenging foundations and plenty of surfacing interjections and combinations.”
Filipe Freitas, JazzTrail
“Alves does not appear to be constrained by categories, as the album explores a space that includes JAZZ, CLASSICAL, FREE IMPROVISATION, ELECTRONICS AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC.”
Mike Borello, Avant Music News
“BOLDNESS AND ERUDITION, in a work of breath and GREAT MODERNITY.”
Leonel Santos, Jazzlogical
“With Lumina , Pedro Melo Alves continues to surprise us. The album seems to constitute THE ACME OF HIS MUSICAL THOUGHT, which has now undoubtedly reached maturity. CONTAINED MADNESS, A CLEVER MIX OF GENRES, GREAT FORMAL FREEDOM as well as a VERY SURE TASTE FOR THE BEAUTIFUL“
Julien Aunos, Citizen Jazz
“It is A FASCINATING NEW MUSIC SUITE (…) Melo Alves is dedicated to both CURIOSITY AND TRADITION EQUALLY, and here he dares to express his ideas in A NEW LANGUAGE.”
Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz
“…the expansion of Melo Alves’ own musical universe – we already knew we had to pay him attention, now he has definitely confirmed himself as ONE OF THE MOST VERSATILE AND CREATIVE MUSICIANS IN OUR SQUARE.“
Nuno Catarino, A Forma do Jazz
“MAKE WAY FOR PEDRO MELO ALVES, BECAUSE JAZZ IS HIS (…) at 29 years of age, the musician and composer was BLESSED WITH THE POWER OF STOPPING TIME (…)
André Borges Vieira, Público
FULL CONCERT VIDEOS
pedro melo alves 