Marcelo dos Reis . electric . acoustic guitar . effects . voice
Recorded at Academia de Música CNM
Pre Produced and Composed at Casa Varela - Centro de Experimentação Artística
Inside photo by José Cruzio
Inside Sticker Painting by Rui Gaspar
CD Drawing by Sofia Murtinho and Miria Logo by Maria Luís both young students of mine
Front and Back Cover Photos by Marcelo dos Reis
All Music Composed and Improvised by Marcelo dos Reis
Just one 1963 Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Some Effects, Voice, Real Time Takes and no Overdubs
Produced by Marcelo dos Reis and Município de Pombal
Executive Production by Miria Records
Miria 2021.
Thanks to Filipe Eusébio, Hugo Sales (Kraken), Casa Varela, Município de Pombal, Academia de Música CNM, José Crúzio, José Miguel Pereira, Adriana Ávila, Rossana dos Reis, Rui Gaspar, Pedro Lameira, Bruno Soares, Miguel Condeço, Guy Peters, Ângelo Clasen, Miguel Serrão, Valentin Ceccaldi, André Duarte, Sofia Murtinho and Maria Luís.
lançado em 26 de junho de 2021
LINER NOTES
“You’ll probably not even like the music I recorded.”
That is what Marcelo wrote, right after he asked whether I would be interested in writing some words about this latest music. It was partly in jest, but I can imagine it was also a way of dealing with insecurity, of not knowing how this would be perceived. Marcelo Dos Reis has garnered quite some international praise as an improviser and guitarist - in bands such as Chamber 4, Frame Trio, Fail Better! and In Layers, but also with a variety of ad hoc line-ups. Together they create a complex musical persona, usually invested in free improvisation of the unpredictable kind. He is a man of mystifying gestures, unusual techniques and refinement. But perhaps not someone you would associate with the kind of music that Glaciar offers.
Inspired by a residency in the Alps, the album turns inward. Gone are the slitherin’ trajectories, fast-fingered runs, dissonances and dodging movements. Instead, you are lured into a more cohesive, lyrical trip, a series of cinematic ruminations with a narrower focus, clearer shape and - perhaps most striking - a more melodic approach. In short: Glaciar is more accessible. Does that make it less worthwhile? Of course not. Even the staunchest improv fanatic will have to admit that any instinctive idea can have value. Also: like me and many others, Dos Reis didn’t grow up with (only) free music.
Glaciar offers an immersive, hypnotizing experience, with a trajectory that feels both improvised and mapped out, speaks of a connection with nature, perhaps even involves a spiritual ambition. It has the intimacy of a private murmur and the scope of a wide-angle lense. It comes from inside and soars above glaciers. It is earthy and dreamy, perhaps even attempting to grasp what can’t be grasped. It is also sincere and intensely personal music. Not what we are familiar with, but those who keep on repeating the past will become irrelevant in no time. Glaciar is part of who Marcelo is, as a person, as a musician. It makes the musical portrait that is scattered over a bunch of albums more complete. Nothing wrong with that, on the contrary. And I like it. A lot.
Guy Peters, Geraardsbergen, June 10th, 2021.
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