Portuguese, New York-based guitarist André Matos and American, Brooklyn-based alto sax player Jeremy Udden note that both grew up in rural areas, separated by the Atlantic ocean. Matos, who is known for his duo with fellow Portuguese vocalist Sara Serpa, grew up in the misty mountains of Sintra, and Udden near the mountains of Maine. The cover art of their duo album, by Portuguese photographer José Sarmento Matos, suggests a poetic view of another mountainous area, The Seven Sisters cliffs in southeast England.

Matos and Udden have known each other for years and played together a few times. But the recording of Wandering Souls was different. It was the first time they played as a free improvising duo when nothing was planned. The album was recorded in one afternoon, in a single take at Ibeam in Brooklyn in December 2022.

But as Matos and Udden found out immediately, there was an organic sense of big wide spaces, similar one or one informed by the spaces of the rural areas in which both Matos and Udden grew up. The music flows naturally, sailing into unchartered, imaginary and harmonious places and reflects the deep listening and the quiet and compassionate dynamics of this gentle session.  Matos and Udden play patiently as if they meditate on every ethereal sound, letting the sounds lead them unpredictably on this wondrous journey. No wonder, both Matos and Udden felt exhausted after this session, but happy that they have landed on a new and promising sonic territory.

Eyal Hareuveni 

André Matos (el.g), Jeremy Udden (as)