THE BRIDGE: ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH – RODRIGO AMADO – INGEBRIGT HAKER FLATEN – GERRY HEMINGWAY

Rodrigo Amado, who we previoulsy presented with the Humanization 4tet and with Joe McPhee, Kent Kessler and Chris Corsano (both concerts also in cooperation with De Singer), has become one of Europe’s leading improvisers over the past twenty years.

In his quartet The Bridge, which has caused a stir in Europe over the past year, he gathers three of his greatest influences, three leaders in their own fields. German master pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach is one of the absolute architects of free jazz in Europe and made history with the Globe Unity Orchestra. Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is well known for his involvment in The Thing, but has since been active in numerous lauded projects, including his own band Exit Knarr and in trio with David Murray. The phenomenal American drummer Gerry Hemingway was once part of the legendary Anthony Braxton Quartet and wields an unreal, personal language.

For Amado, this new band represents a deep dive into his own roots, something he has been focusing on more and more in recent years. With these three guns at his side, he has the ideal context to explore the material he considers the foundation of his journey as a musician, an impulse that is part himself and part history. The quartet’s first album, “Beyond the Margins” (2023), received high praise and was named album of the year by several leading critics and magazines.

The name of this quartet is a direct homage to Sonny Rollins, but at the same time it is a bridge between different languages, backgrounds and generations, all united by improvisation.