The Portuguese PUMA duo of tenor sax player Bruno Parrinha and double bass player João Madeira was formed in 2015. These prolific composers-improvisers continued to play together in countless formations of varying geometries, mostly free improvising outfits of violist Ernesto Rodrigues (the head of the Creative Sources label), such as the Variable Geometry Orchestra and Suspensão.
Ground Zero of the Hunt is the debut album of PUMA, now a power trio, with drummer Bruno Pedroso. It was recorded live at Cossoul in Lisbon in October 2024, after five memorable performances throughout 2024. The entire performance was acoustic with no amplification.
The album offers three potent, free improvisations, suggesting PUMA as a wild and restless, hungry and seductive beast, eager to explore its potential. The music is rooted in the free jazz legacy, with references to the Afro-american and European schools of free jazz, but with enough space for individual solos and contemplative, lyrical exploration, especially on the second piece «The Lure Blues». The full creative, powerful, and rhythmic potential of PUMA materializes on the last piece, «Tailing the Track». Pedroso’s free, fast-shifting rhythmic patterns integrate organically into Parrinha and Madeira’s immediate, deep dynamics. This celebration of freedom and energy is a promising statement about the future of PUMA.
Eyal Hareuveni
Bruno Parrinha (tenor saxophone), Bruno Pedroso (drums), João Madeira (double bass)
