Saxophonist Rodrigo Amado has gradually become a crucial force of the Portuguese and European music scenes. In a recent Bandcamp feature, his output was described as “one of the most impressive bodies of contemporary work within the field of creative improvised music”. His exceptional concert with The Attic at the 2018 Summer Bummer festival, released a year later, is just one in a consistent series of albums that established him as a contemporary master. Seven years after that triumph, he returns to the festival, this time in a duo with Lisbon-based experimentalist David Maranha on organ. This will be a concert that, if their 2024 release ‘Wrecks’ is any indication, might turn into another festival highlight.

Those who have kept up with the saxophonist’s steady pace of releases will know he is that rarest of improvisers: the kind that keeps moving forward, undeterred and passionate, with a consistency and creative hunger that marks him as one of the most recognisable musicians of his generation. He’s someone who keeps expanding his sound world, always on the lookout for new challenges and partners that are willing to take risks and share his vision about free improvisation.

Some of the highlights since his previous appearance include two albums with the This Is Our Language-quartet (featuring Joe McPhee, Kent Kessler and Chris Corsano), a deep-diving solo album recorded during the pandemic (‘Refraction Solo’, 2022), the formation and debut record of European supergroup The Bridge (with Alexander von Schlippenbach, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Gerry Hemingway) and two more albums with The Attic, the most recent one with guest musician Eve Risser (‘La Grande Crue’, 2024).

Along with a stunning album with David Maranha and his appearance on ‘Saarbrücken’ by Luis Lopes’ Humanization 4tet, it rounded off 2024 in style. Refusing to rest on his laurels, Amado is dead-set on keeping up the pace in 2025. More about that below. But first: the broader picture…

We first did an interview about ten years ago. At that time, all eyes were on the Portuguese improvisation scene, with a.o. a beautiful feature in The Wire magazine. There had been a new wave of improvisers and groups (Motion Trio, RED Trio, etc) that were making waves and put the country on the international map. How would you compare the scene in 2025 to that of 2015? In what way has it changed?

Well, a lot has changed. First, the international context. It’s almost impossible not to be affected by the “civilisational terrorism” that is impacting our global society. I’m still trying to figure out its real consequences, concrete and psychological, for me and for those around me. Also, locally, tourism is putting an immense pressure on the city structure. One thing is a fact – the overall vibe is very different. The sense of community has faded. Many important projects ended or drastically reduced their activity, the most relevant of all being Clean Feed, but also venues or clubs like SMUP, Lounge or the Hot Clube (only temporarily). This means that opportunities to play locally have decreased considerably, particularly for young musicians, and that the experimental, improvisation, avant-garde community doesn’t have a specific spot or venue to meet, like it happened before with a place like Irreal. Everything and everyone is scattered.

But not all is bad news. The amount and quality of musicians playing creative music has expanded. There are great albums being made, perhaps even more than in 2015, and the Portuguese community has become a regular presence in international music circles. Musicians like Susana Santos Silva, Luís Vicente, Rafael Toral, Gonçalo Almeida, Luís Lopes or José Lencastre keep appearing at European festivals and venues and getting their records reviewed internationally. I feel that this Portuguese artistic movement that was put into motion more than 20 years ago is now unstoppable. But it has clearly slowed down and is in need of a stronger identity, a stronger “center”.

At the end of 2024, you appeared on three exceptional albums, one of them with your trio The Attic, who recorded their second album at Summer Bummer. For this latest album, you chose to invite Eve Risser as a guest. Can you tell me why you did that and how her presence influenced or perhaps even changed the band’s sound or method?

The choice of Eve as guest musician with The Attic had to do with two aspects. First, she was one of the musicians we identified as interesting to collaborate with, among several others. Her work with the Red Desert Orchestra or the trio with Benjamin Duboc and Edward Perraud had a strong impact on us (this is one of the things I’m always focused on – hearing new music and albums being made and identifying new potential interesting musicians to collaborate with).
Second, she was coming to Lisbon to play at Jazz em Agosto, right while we were going into the studio to record. I think that, by that time, Gonçalo had already had a brief experience playing with Eve, but that was it. It represented a big challenge for everyone. Our usual method, best described as “real time composition”, remained the same, but our sound was pulverised. Eve’s playing had a deep impact on it. Her chord clusters, her unusual voicings and, most of all, her preparations for the piano, had a huge impact on our music, creating a totally different sonic universe. The challenge was perfect, and we were all very happy with the results.

Another one: ‘Saarbrücken’ by the Humanization 4tet, which was presented during a tour that also included a few Belgian concerts. It’s probably the only band you’re part of that works with compositions, right? How does it feel to switch to that once in a while? And how would you describe the particular combination of these musicians? I heard some of you say that the band keeps getting better, despite long breaks between tours.

For me, Humanization 4tet exists in a parallel universe. The emotions involved, due to the connection I had with Dennis Gonzalez (Aaron and Stefan’s father, already deceased), bypass everything else. Dennis was a very close friend, an amazing musician and a strong supporter of the group. And like that, throughout the years, the quartet became a labor of love. Although we are all (Luís, Aaron, Stefan and me) very different from each other, the emotional connections and ties are so strong that they kept the band together for almost 20 years and, like you mentioned, growing and getting better. It has to be said that Luís, as leader and organiser of things, has done a terrific job.
Regarding playing compositions: it’s something very rare for me, but I have a great time switching to the quartet’s universe, mostly because things are genuinely democratic and the founding principle is freedom. The way I see it is that we use these compositions to better organise and articulate our very different musical influences, allowing us to reach a deeper freedom in the development and exploration of the songs. I feel really free within this group and those who have seen us live, can attest to that.

The third one: ‘Wrecks’, the album with David Maranha. Maybe you can briefly tell something about your connection first?
The connection with David started between gigs, sessions and hangs that involved Gabriel Ferrandini and Pedro Sousa. We were all part of a community that gravitated around the rehearsal room at Bairro Alto. In the first gigs we did together, David was usually playing either violin or percussion. I remember a rare Motion Trio Orchestra gig, with a big formation, where David was playing a drum set with the toms covered by cloths, producing a deep muffled sound that perfectly fit the angular, piercing sounds of Gabriel’s drums.
We played together, on and off, but it was only in 2023, through an invitation by João Castro, that we decided to try the duo of saxophone and organ. It was an instant match. I love the way David can conjure the sound worlds of drone music and noise, and at the same time keep the necessary reflexes to respond precisely to the complex phrasings of the saxophone. I’m always looking forward to the next developments of this duo.

It’s a truly great album, one of the highlights of 2024 for me, but also a special one in your career. Is there a specific method for this duo, or a zone you enter?
The method is the same as always – total improvisation. For me, the whole process was maybe a bit different because of the frame of mind required to play with the organ. I would say that, comparing it to other projects like The Bridge or The Attic, in this duo I imagine the music developing on a horizontal axis, more than with the other groups. This idea of horizontality brings a sense of overlapping sounds and notes that strongly affects the construction of a set. The musical movement becomes more pondered as a whole. Also, the silences that arise when I decide to stop playing for a while, acquire a strong musical weight that goes against David’s organ runs. It’s also fascinating for me to see bits and pieces of my biggest musical influences materialising like ghosts in the clashing harmonics of both instruments. I would say that this duo has a very specific musical personality, different from everything else I play.

You’re still working with The Bridge. You just announced a second album and more concerts are coming up. But how about that quartet with McPhee? Any chance of that band gathering again someday?

Just having the opportunity to put together the quartet with McPhee, Kessler and Corsano was an absolute privilege. All the concerts we did were pure bliss and represented a huge learning and growing process for me. What happened in recent years was that it became increasingly difficult to bring American musicians over to Europe. This meant that, in order to keep a presence in the European club and festival circuits, I needed to put together a European based group. That’s what I did with The Bridge. What happened later was that The Bridge gained so much momentum that it kept imposing itself over other projects. Both The Bridge and the quartet with McPhee are similar in importance and reach, but of course I would love to reunite the band again. Whenever I see Joe (I’ve seen him a couple times these last months) all the love and connection is still there. It will only depend on the right context or invitation.

For your newly released duo album with Chris Corsano, you revived your own European Echoes label. Can you tell me something about the album and the decision to make the label active again?

‘The Healing’ is the recording of a mythic concert that happened at ZDB in Lisbon, in 2016. I remember the room was completely packed and the vibe was electrifying. Many people were dancing. It happened one year after the release of ‘This Is Our Language’, the first album of the quartet with Corsano, McPhee and Kessler, and there was a big curiosity about what I was doing next. Also, Corsano and I had recorded what would become ‘No Place to Fall’ in 2014, and we were eager to take the music to the next level. And that’s what we did. The music flowed and the audience was pushing us to greater heights. It was a truly special occasion.

For some reason, we kept listening to the tapes and we both liked the music and agreed on releasing it, but the project kept being run over by other recordings. There were long periods that I even forgot about it, but then it would resurface again. Finally, last year, I decided I had to put it out and thought it would be great to do it on my own label, European Echoes, creating a series devoted to archival or “lost” recordings, stuff that I have that I know is special but, for some reason, never got released. I already have the second release planned: a studio recording of the quartet with McPhee, Kessler and Corsano.

What’s happening besides that? Anything you can/want to share about the near future?

Well, I’m always working on a lot of stuff, lately with the precious help of Luís Lopes, who is producing the albums with me. We have a great time just cooking, eating and drinking, hanging out and listening to the music over and over again, choosing what to put out, listening to the mixes and adjusting the tiniest details. It’s hard work, definitely. The next album to come out is ‘Further Beyond’ (on Trost Records), the second album by The Bridge, with Alexander von Schlippenbach, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Gerry Hemingway.

There are also plans to release new albums by The Attic, a third studio album by The Bridge, another Amado Maranha duo album, and a second solo album, among other stuff. Regarding new groups, I just formed a trio, New Orbit, with Michael Griener and Joel Grip. We’ll do a series of concerts in Berlin, next September, to prepare for an October gig at the Oct Loft Festival in Shenzhen, China. I’m looking forward to that and also excited to do a series of concerts with Rafael Toral, promoting his new album, including a gig at the Venice Biennale, also in October.