SSS-Q

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REVIEWS

Ípsilon (Público) by Rodrigo Amado | Mar 2014

“Trumpet and drums duo , a remarkable record signed by two of the most interesting national improvisers
If we think of a trumpet and drums duo hardly imagine a sound universe as varied and complete as the one which appears on Songs From My Backyard . If it is true that to Susana Santos Silva are credited, besides the trumpet and flugel, flute and percussion, and to Jorge Queijo, in addition to drums and percussion, flute and electronics, is nonetheless a classical duo of trumpet and drums. With the other instruments emerging as comments or sound effect , as is the case of  the merely curious Aliens Arrival on Planet Earth and Não ‘Tou a Brincar , where electronics is manipulated by Manuel dos Reis, the diversity and depth of the record is made by the expressiveness that Santos Silva and Queijo get out of the trumpet and drums. Already in the beginning, in Afre, a song marked by the elegant african rhythm of Queijo, Susana Santos Silva comes up with a clear and deep timbre and a phrasing that evokes great masters such as Lester Bowie or Bill Dixon, confirming her as a serious case of national jazz. The trumpeter, who lines up on the ranks of Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra and the trio LAMA next to the Goncalo Almeida, has made a remarkable journey, reaching an increasingly deserved international visibility. In the second song of the album, Monstro das Bolachas, the environment alters completely. Queijo explores various harmonics and timbres of the cymbals, and Santos Silva phrases slowly and quietly, using the mute and avoiding, notably, any kind of cliché. After Water Pipe, a song that works more as a transition environment, based on extended techniques of both instruments, comes one of the album’s highlights, Festa na Aldeia. In a celebratory tone, trumpet and drums alternate moments of explosion, rhythmic and harmonic, with contained passages where Santos Silva phrases with vulnerability and delicacy. In an LP of short songs, marked by an intense musical communication, enormous creativity and an aesthetic vision that puts both on the level of some of the more interesting free music of today, still emphasis for Elefantes A Acasalar, Fucking Ballad and Asphyxia. A clear sign of the huge evolution and transformation of national music .”

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Free Jazz Blog by Stef Gijssels | Mar 2014

“There is something about the frank innocence of the artwork that is also present in the music. No backdrop, no unnecessary ornaments, just straightforward music, candid, honest and pure. By having stripped the line-up to a minimum, Susana Santos Silva on trumpet, flugelhorn and flute and Jorge Queijo on percussion and flute, there is nothing left but the essence of music, something straight from the heart, joyful or in pain or in fear, or distress, or even of a more even nature, yet the rendering is always raw and physical, even on the ballad called “Fucking Ballad”, and a wild guess from me relates them to the trumpeter’s childhood memories and emotions. Manuel dos Reis joins on two tracks with live electronics, just to add some color, some weird additional sonic experiments. We know the Portuguese trumpet player for her work with Lama, with “Lamacal” and the even better “Oneiros”, and her duo “Almost Tomorrow” with bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg. The pieces are short, very short even, and that’s no surprise. With each album, the sound gets more abstract, more sketchy, with no room for too much lines or coloring. Each piece is a short burst of energy and tension, the expression of a mood, an image, a thought … nothing more. Yet the quality of her approach is that it cuts right through all the superfluous, straight to the essence. A track like “Asfyxia”, sounds like your going to suffocate, or “Dia Mau” (bad day), that only angular things are happening, and like that for each piece. It’s still somewhat an exercise in stylistic development, yet the character, the voice, the sound are all there. You can only wish she keeps digging deeper. There is gold to be found in her backyard.”

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All About Jazz by Eyal Hareuveni | Feb 2014

“Portuguese, Porto-based trumpeter Susana Santos Silvaemerged in recent years as one of the most original and articulate voices in the European avant-jazz and non-idiomatic music due to her part in the chamber Lama Trio, that already released two albums ( and Lamaçal, 2011 and 2013, Clean Feed) and her duo with Swedish double bassistTorbjörn Zetterberg (Almost Tomorrow, 2013, Clean Feed). Now she teams with her hometown drummer Jorge Queijo for a surprising, eclectic and eccentric set of duets that encompasses elements of free jazz, electronic, noise, African roots and much more.
This duo enjoys exploring sounds. They experiment in molding and mutating as these sounds arrive, without any conceptions. Every note is valid and relevant. Santos and Queijo dance with all sounds to connect intuitively and playfully through old, new and otherworldly sounds. All thirteen duets are concise and emphasize immediate, intimate and organic interplay.
A few selections like “Monstro das Bolachas” and “Water Pipe” focus on investigating the sonic envelope of drum skins, cymbal surfaces and reeds mouthpieces in a highly engaging mode. Other duets like “Festa da Aldeia,” “Asfixia”and “Dia Mao” feature the urgent, fiery side of these inventive musicians, who storm with wild ideas from the first idea till the last. The addition of sound artist Manuel dos Reis on two songs, “Aliens Arrival on Planet Hearth” and “Não ‘Tou a Brincar,” adds a futuristic sonic palette and mysterious cinematic quality to these intense pieces. None of these tracks progress in a conventional narrative. The only ballad, “Fucking Ballad,” stresses a delicate battle between the lyrical playing of Santos and the subversive percussion of Queijo. Roles switch on “Bode de Samba” where Santos distorts the fractured samba pulse.
No matter where these imaginative musicians may turn, any sonic output of Santos and Queijo is guaranteed to keep the listener’s full attention.”

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Percorsi Musicali by Ettore Garzia | Jan 2014
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Radio Student Slovenia by Marko Karlovcec |  Jan 2014
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Jazz.pt by Rui Eduardo Paes | Imaxinason 2013

“O concerto seguinte foi português, com os SSS-Q de Susana Santos Silva e Jorge Queijo: trompete e bateria, mais umas flautas, percussão pequena e um dispositivo electrónico para ampliação do espectro tímbrico. Não obstante ser um projecto de natureza experimental, foi curioso notar que o duo esteve sempre melhor nas peças mais “dentro”, com a trompetista do Porto a revelar amplamente os motivos da sua fulgurante ascensão na cena do jazz e o baterista a confirmar a fama que o precedia mesmo em terras espanholas.
Passagens houve de primitivismo sónico que só pecaram por ser algo extensas, mas quando a dupla se centrou nos seus instrumentos principais houve escuta e comunicação num patamar elevado de requinte, e isso aconteceu com envolvimento da plateia. Se a proposta não era propriamente fácil, a sua honestidade e a postura desenvolta dos dois improvisadores (com Queijo a dizer que o que a sua interlocutora antes fizera pareciam elefantes a acasalar) conquistaram a simpatia do público.” 

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Jazz.pt by REP | Dec 2013

Ritualismo como condição
“Songs From My Backyard”, do duo SSS-Q (Susana Santos Silva e Jorge Queijo) é bem diferente: o que ouvimos está entre um jazz pós-bop e pós-free e o tipo de experimentalismo primário buscado pela improvisação que procura ir até às raízes do som. A música cativa mais quando a trompetista e o baterista se aproximam das formas convencionais, e designadamente do fraseado típico do jazz, mas o certo é que a vertente ritualística, senão mesmo tribal, proporcionada pelas flautas e pela percussão surge como a condição para que esses desenlaces mais construídos, mais depurados, aconteçam. Neste disco, os SSS-Q agem num constante processo de montagem e desmontagem de planos, sempre lembrando que na base de uma “composição” mais complexa estão factores elementares e tão velhos quanto a história da humanidade. O recurso tem outra vantagem “listener friendly”: os duetos com um instrumento de sopro e um par de baquetas podem ser bastante secos e agrestes, o que não se verifica neste caso.