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GONÇALO ALMEIDA
DOUBLEBASSIST
COMPOSER

COMING CONCERTS :

2024

 

12.04 - Bulliphant @ Koffie en Ambacht , Rotterdam, NL
Bart Maris: trumpet /  Ruben Verbruggen: saxes / Thijs Troch: piano 
Gonçalo Almeida: double bass / Friso Van Wijck : percussion

19.04 - TABULA SONORUM DUO @ Oud Kerk Charlois/South Explorer Rotterdam, NL

20.04 - TABULA SONORUM DUO @ Toozaal, Den Bosch, NL

Bart van Dongen : church organ
Gonçalo Almeida : double bass

01.05 - Misanthrope trio @ Hot Club de Gent, BE

03.05 - Misanthrope trio @ Black Box, Munster, DE

04.05 - Misanthrope trio @ Subsol, Dortmund, DE

05.05 Misanthrope trio @ Jazzblazzt, Neeritter, NL

06.05 Misanthrope trio @ TBA, Dordrecht, NL

Luis Lopes : guitar

Gonçalo Almeida : bass

Philipp Ernsting : drums

30.05 - Almeida & Zuydervelt @ Roodkapje, Rotterdam, NL

Rutger Zuydervelt - electronics

Gonçalo Almeida: double bass 

02.06 - The Genuine No! @ TBA, Boon, DE

Georges Paul - baritone sax / Raissa Mehner - guitar

Gonçalo Almeida - bass/ Vasco Furtado - drums

05.07 - AL! @ Koffie en Ambacht, Rotterdam, NL

06.07 -AL! @ POM, Eindhoven, NL

07.07 - AL! @ Jazzblazzt, Neeritter, NL

João Almeida: trumpet

Gonçalo Almeida: double bass 

17.07 - Luis Vicente trio @ Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon, PT

27.07 - Luis Vicente trio @ SMUP, Parede, PT

16.08 - Luis Vicente trio @ Parzelle, Dortmund, DE

17.08 - SPINIFEX @ Parzelle, Dortmund, DE

CICLOS
Gonçalo Almeida - Double bass
(Cylinder Recordings 2023) 

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01.(Side A) CICLO I

02.(Side B) CICLO II

All music by Gonçalo Almeida

Recorded by Dirk Serries, on 18th December 2022 at Kapel Oude Klooster, Brecht, Belgium

Mixed by Dirk Serries // Mastered by Giovanni di Domenico // Produced by Gonçalo Almeida

Art work and design by Rutger Zuydervelt // Supported by Buma/Stemra Investeringsfonds Muziek

      “This is Gonçalo Almeida’s fifth solo album, sympathetically and sensitively recorded by fellow improvisor Dirk Serries in a monastery chapel in Brecht, Belgium in December 2022. Solo improvisation allows, and thus requires, the musician to approach more deliberately the problem of long-term structure, since one is in principle fully in control – both consciously and intuitively – of how the piece is going to develop over time. The value of inquiring whether Almeida envisioned the title Ciclos (cycles) before, after, or even during the performance, may depend on how much authority one ascribes to the singular perspective of the author. Though such a title will decidedly prompt any listener’s mind toward notions of time and structure, this listener’s ear at least was more immediately drawn in by the instrument’s (and the performer’s!) ability to express, meaningfully and authoritatively, a continuously expanding vocabulary of textural, timbral, spectral and affective variations upon what might have seemed at first to be an impossibly tiny amount of material.       When considering an album of improvised double bass solos, the first and most obvious point of reference will always be Peter Kowald’s Was Da Ist, which consisted of no less than 23 concise expositions (almost all less than four minutes in duration) of musical ideas or problems specific to the instrument. In the case of Ciclos, the choice to focus instead on exploring only one or two such ideas over the length of two LP sides allows not only for an entirely different listening experience, but also drew this listener’s mind into Almeida’s profound thinking on the nature of time, structure, control and intent in the context of solo improvisation.” Johanna Monk

Avaiable now Digital, Cd and LP (180gr.)

on Cylinder Recordings

www.cylinderecordings.bandcamp.com

Improvisations on Amplified and Prepared Double Bass

(Shhpuma 2022)

Gonçalo Almeida is a chameleonic musician capable of producing a wide palette of sounds that range from jazz, post-rock to metal. Even so in this solo album he directs his music towards unexplored paths. The trio of timbres born from the combination of feedback, distortion and acoustics led him to lines and energies that he had not yet developed before, revealing a transcendent connection with his instrument. Clearly, the music on this album is something else..."

"Monólogos a Dois" 
(NWOJ0041)
Gonçalo Almeida - Doublebass solo LP

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This doublebass solo recording (Monólogos a Dois) captures a series of improvisations, where Almeida explores instant composing, making use of a vast palette of sounds, textures and extended techniques. His inwardness and affinity with the instrument are beautifully represented here.

 

All music was performed and recorded on an afternoon session during the pandemic period at the Old church of Charlois, in Rotterdam. Alone, with the church completely empty, Almeida plays a monologue between instrument and space.

 

Performed & recorded at the Old Church in Oud-Charlois, Rotterdam (The Netherlands) on 11th July 2020. 

Recorded & mixed by Gonçalo Almeida. 

Mastered at the Sunny Side Inc. Studio, Anderlecht (Belgium).

"You could translate Monólogos a Dois as Monologues for Two, with both the musician and the instrument participating. Not in a dialogue, but each within their own monologue. It quickly becomes apparent that the recording is a personal quest. Almeida’s very own ‘journal violone’, if you will. A dive into the musician’s resources and introspection."

Guy Peters  

bandcamp.com/album/monologos-a-dois

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