All the Dreams is a stunning album. It’s not groundbreaking. There are no real fireworks. It’s not especially inventive or forward-thinking. It doesn’t bottle up music of the past to give it life in the present day. But by simply settling into a gorgeous melody and channeling every facet of it to its extreme, the duo of vocalist Sara Serpa and guitarist André Matos have unleashed an album of such beauty it can move aside mountains like a sunrise wanting more space for its bright light. And just like that sunrise, the power is generated through subtlety and grace, seeming almost effortless as its presence envelops the entire horizon and everything within its reach.
The music keeps to a whisper. Sometimes the voice is in Portuguese, sometimes in English, but most of the time they are merely sounds as comforting and ambient as the serenity painted by Matos’s guitar. Pete Rende and Billy Mintz guest on synthesizer and percussion. The former is particularly relevant to this recording, as Rende has also contributed to the thick dreaminess of RJ Miller’s Ronald’s Rhythm and the Jeremy Udden-Nicolas Moreaux Belleville Project… two albums that hit similar territory as All the Dreams, albeit with different sounds.
An album with a spellbinding beauty.
Your album personnel: Sara Serpa (voice, piano, Fender Rhodes), André Matos (guitar, electric bass, percussion) and guests: Pete Rende (synthesizer) and Billy Mintz (drums, percussion).
Sep 9 2016
Recommended: Sara Serpa and Andre Matos – “All the Dreams”
The music keeps to a whisper. Sometimes the voice is in Portuguese, sometimes in English, but most of the time they are merely sounds as comforting and ambient as the serenity painted by Matos’s guitar. Pete Rende and Billy Mintz guest on synthesizer and percussion. The former is particularly relevant to this recording, as Rende has also contributed to the thick dreaminess of RJ Miller’s Ronald’s Rhythm and the Jeremy Udden-Nicolas Moreaux Belleville Project… two albums that hit similar territory as All the Dreams, albeit with different sounds.
An album with a spellbinding beauty.
Your album personnel: Sara Serpa (voice, piano, Fender Rhodes), André Matos (guitar, electric bass, percussion) and guests: Pete Rende (synthesizer) and Billy Mintz (drums, percussion).
Released on Sunnyside Records.
Listen to more of the album at the label’s Bandcamp page.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2016 releases • 0 • Tags: Andre Matos, Sara Serpa, Sunnyside Records