Bardino Memória da Pedra Mãe

Diogo Silva, Nuno Fulgêncio and Rui Martins collectively go by the name Bardino. With their sound consisting of an inventive mix of electronica, rock, jazz, the Porto-based trio are pushing their sound into unchartered waters. A feeling that will be reinforced after experiencing their new album, ‘Memória da Pedra Mãe’.
Their enthralling music draws upon the imagery of the beautiful and rugged scenery of their home country. ‘Centelha’ , their previous album (released by Saliva Diva in 2020) was recorded in Chaves,
in the very remote region of Trás-os-Montes. Their 207 EP of the same name was created in the rustic heart of Serra das Meadas. In this latest offering, the mention of "Pedra Mãe" (Mother Stone), refers to a rare geological phenomenon popularly known as "breeder stones" found in isolated, deserted, and inhospitable places. On the inspiration of the new album, they explain that they want to refer to "the importance of collective memory in the cohesion and identity of communities and the process of creating new memories, a process that is both natural and conflicting, since it mirrors a tension between past, present and future".
The album was recorded in the summer of 2023 at Arda Recorders in Porto and produced by João Brandão and Rui Martins. In this new material, Bardino's resources expand: Nuno Fulgêncio's drums, Diogo Silva's bass and Rui Martins' veritable arsenal of keyboards (acoustic and electric piano, various synthesisers) are augmented by the alto and tenor saxophones of Brian Blaker (who stands out in "Memória" and "Black Mica"), the guitar of Leonardo Outeiro (who features on "Punctum No 2") and, already indicating their affiliation with the Porto label Jazzego, Hugo Oliveira, who records as Minus & MRDolly (and is a guest on "Pedra Mãe") and Sérgio Alves, aka AZAR AZAR (who plays piano and Moog on "Tília"). Bardino's entry into the increasingly unavoidable Jazzego catalogue also reinforces their obvious links to a new wave of projects that have been experimenting with different tangents to the notion of "jazz", taking this music as part of a wider set of coordinates.
Over the course of eight tracks, and clearly benefiting from the distinct imprint of the recognised quality work of João Brandão, one of Portugal's current best producers, Bardino presents dense, deeply cinematic music of the highest definition, in which the different instruments translate a broad emotional and visual landscape, with solos of enormous elegance arranged over grooves that induce the idea of movement. All the musical coordinates mentioned earlier are present, but perhaps in this new material you can feel a greater fluidity, certainly the result of honing the vision of the central trio through a vast experience collected on stages all over the country. And there are even echoes of a decidedly Portuguese songbook, as is so clearly felt in "O Semeador", something new in the range of aesthetic references embraced by Bardino. This is, in fact, music that thrives on a benign tension between past, present and future, in the sense that it embraces traditions and history, seeks a new framework in this diverse now and dares to project itself forward. Because the future is the best of all locations.