Portuguese prolific guitarist and electronics player João Clemente created and leads the experimental scene around the free improvised collective, label, and studio, Profound Whatever, located in the small and remote, mountainous community of the village of Pesinho. He assembled the Profound Whatever Collectivo to celebrate the 51st anniversary of the 25th of April Revolution, also known as The Carnation Revolution, that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime, and led to the democratic Portugal we know today.
The nine-musician Collectivo, conducted by Clemente, who also plays electronics, was recorded at Moagem in Fundão in April 2025. It offers a seven-act suite, Lua Cheia de Nascer (Full Moon Rising), that unites free improvised music and poetic texts (all in Portuguese), written by vocalist-percussionist-trumpeter Bernardo Rocha and Clemente, who were inspired by records, books, and films that explore fear, oppression, and freedom.
The dramatic, captivating vocal delivery of Rocha, with the beautiful, equally committed performance of the Profound Whatever Collectivo, explores freedom not only as a theme, but as a living, invigorating practice. You don’t have to be well-versed in the painful history of Portugal (but, obviously, it helps), to fully appreciate this ensemble’s total commitment to free action, free thought, and free music. This thoughtful yet moving suite offers free-shifting electroacoustic soundscapes that reflect the complexity, vulnerability, and beauty of freedom, as well as the constant need to cultivate and defend such rare freedom, especially in our current times. It ends with the cathartic, chaotic, and noisy, but also uplifting «O que é a Liberdade» (What Is Freedom).
Se Houvesse Degraus na Terra (If There Were Steps on Earth) is the duo of Clemente, now focusing on guitar and electronics, with drummer João Valinho (of Garuda Trio and Voltaic Trio, and a frequent collaborator of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and his ensembles). The duo was recorded at Profound Whatever Studio in Pesinho in May 2025. The cover artwork by Paulo Proença suggests a natural scenery of an icy cold Norwegian fjord, but the thirteen short duets complement with a steamy and intense, inventive and playful atmosphere. distilling the idiosyncratic, uncompromising voices of Clemente and Valinho.
Eyal Hareuveni
Bernardo Rocha (vocals, percussion, trumpet), Catarina Silva (trumpet), Gabriel Neves (octave guitar), Gonçalo Alves (drums), Gonçalo Baptista (guitar), João Clemente (electronics, conduction, guitar), Júlia Miranda (double bass), Nuno Jesus (bass), Nuno Santos Dias (piano), João Valinho (drums)
