Manabu Kitada, Noel Taylor, Helena Espvall, Pedro Santo

8 Setembro 2018 19h00

On the occasion of the presence of the japanese bass clarinetist MANABU KITADA in Lisbon, NOEL TAYLOR (clarinet), now resident in Lisboa, has invited two people with whom he regularly plays to join Kitada and himself – HELENA ESPVALL (cello) and PEDRO SANTO (drums) – for a quartet concert in Zaratan.

Manabu Kitada, from Tokyo, was such a fan of the American musician Tim Berne that he knocked on his door in New York and asked if he could play with him. Kitada is now deploying that same sense of initiative to construct a world tour that brings him to Lisboa to play with fellow clarinetist, Noel Taylor. Kitada is right to value his own talent: his technical fluency blends with his adventurous spirit to produce bold and exciting music that, to revise an older slightly unfashionable term, can really swing. 

Kitada emulated the pairing of Michel Portal and Richard Galliano with his Tokyo friend Shiko Ito on accordion. Under the band name 'Audace', they released the, largely improvised, album 'laperirostum'. It is a beautiful album, full of elaborate tango themes, which demonstrates Kitada's exceptional control on bass and soprano clarinet. 

The individual members of the band will bring many influences to this meeting. Espvall uses electronics to extend the range of her cello and plays across a range of styles, including folk music. Santo had a rock and reggae background before immersing himself in free improvisation. All of these styles may make an appearance - why not?