Portraits

Description

After a handful of singles and EPs and concerts that only grew in intensity and solidified the band's sound, Bada-Bada - a trio formed by Lilian Mille, Tiss Rodriguez and Leo Fumagalli - finally unveils Portraits, its debut album. A flagship of a new scene rooted in jazz and fueled by innovative instrumental music, whether revolving around trance, beat, textures or melody, Bada-Bada stands out for its rare ability to transcend genres and use the studio as a full-fledged instrument. "It's the search for a sound that drives us, in this band," says Tiss Rodriguez (drums). "A quest for sound through a quest for meaning," adds Leo Fumagalli (saxophone). A search that involves listening and the long hours in the studio, of course, but which also draws on the incomparable energy of live performance and that special chemistry at work between an audience that understands a band's message and intent, and gives them the time to unfold it, and musicians in full command of their abilities. Bada-Bada's sound is nourished by the individual paths of its three members, who have each managed to leverage an academic background by confronting it with experience, their relationship to the present and to history, and the way they have appropriated a body of innovative instrumental music: electronica, symphonic music, trance music and the open jazz of the new millennium. The frenzy of "100 fuites", the melodic clarity of "Portraits" and "Maria João", the hip-hop rhythm of "Tallinn" and the way the groove of "Quiet Moon" rubs up against the pulse of techno are all answers to the big question of the relevance of instrumental music in the age of the sovereign playlist. On "El Yunke", the way the voice, both earthy and transcendent, of flamenco singer Paloma Pradal blends with the saxophone's outbursts and the drum's syncopation is nothing short of miraculous. And from the trumpeter's breath that occupies the first second of the album to the tumult of the outro, the sensory experience one takes away from listening to Portraits is one that is not easily forgotten.