The Best Jazz Albums of 2024 – “Back when I wrote about this album in June’s column (*), I led with the admission that I was addicted to it, and found it difficult to put it aside for other music. At the end of the year, I find I am still facing that challenge. Carlos Bica has historically displayed a talent at situating his music in that incongruous place where an abiding serenity coexists peacefully with wild dissonance, as if balanced precariously at the very edge of the eye of the storm, touched both by chaos and calm. But never to this degree and resonating with such force. The double bassist—joined by alto saxophonist José Soares, vibraphonist Eduardo Cardinho, and guitarist Gonçalo Neto (who adds some banjo, to boot)—conjures powerful magic on 11:11, one of the most vivid albums of 2024.“ – Bandcamp (Dave Sumner), December 2024
(*) “I. Cannot. Stop. Listening. To. This. Album. Melodically, it is mysterious and strange and stupendously mesmerizing. It’s not unlike wandering through a labyrinth, always a blind to the path ahead, yet pulled forward by some irresistible force. Rhythmically, it’s like the rustling of autumn leaves, overhead and underfoot, in all of their tones. These qualities are not a new thing to a Carlos Bica recording, but never have they been quite so damn affecting. The double bassist is joined by alto saxophonist José Soares, vibraphonist Eduardo Cardinho, and guitarist Gonçalo Neto (who adds some banjo, to boot).“ – Bandcamp (Dave Sumner), June 2024)
“Nobody here forces anything, and nobody ever hurries. Everyone listens deeply and lets the music float effortlessly, displaying an altogether rare patience and sensitivity. And although it does nonetheless have its climaxes, such music doesn’t knock one out, but slowly takes one in, until one is totally hooked and has no choice but to let oneself go and float alongside it, too. All in all, deceptively simple tunes, haunting atmospheres and nuanced interplay make up for a statement of timeless beauty.“
Carlos Bica, who has actually allowed his work to grow thoughtfully and as if in annual rings, is on a release offensive in which none of the recordings is superfluous or a copy of the others. In any case, the remarkable bassist has never inflated his output. He tweaks and calibrates his pieces for a long time before releasing them. Having just demonstrated, among others, with Daniel Erdmann and Beethoven, how classical music can be made productive for jazz in a cleverly entertaining way by using traditional particles as improvisation templates, the bassist, who has lived in Berlin for a long time, now surprises with a drumsless quartet of young players from his native Portugal. Alto saxophone (José Soares), guitar (Gonçalo Neto) and vibraphone (Eduardo Cardinho) at his side navigate with him through a dozen compositions, most of which are by Bica, illuminate very varied moods and yet are assigned to a coherent overall concept. Classical music, jazz, rock and fado are the sources of Carlos Bica’s music, but with his new band he puts them together in a fresh, constantly new way. The album has a dramaturgy in which one emerges from the other. This is decidedly beautiful and precisely conceived music. Carlos Bica is a melodist who also shines as a soloist, but doesn’t show off. He also gives his fellow players space to present themselves, whereby the balanced group sound and the service of the individual to the ensemble are emphasized. – Jazz Podium (Ulrich Steinmetzger)