New Moon is the duo of American tenor sax player Nathan Blehar (known for his role in American sax player-composer Jeremy Udden’s Plainville) and Portuguese, New York-based guitarist André Matos (known for his duo with his partner in life and music, Portuguese vocalist Sara Serpa, as well as his duo album with Udden, Wandering Souls, Robalo, 2023). New Moon, the album, is the debut recording of Blehar ans Matos, captured at the Bunker Studio in Brooklyn in December 2023. Udden contributed the liner notes, and another member of Udden’s Plainville, Norwegian bassist Eivind Opsvik, mastered the album.

Such a close camaraderie also characterizes New Moon. The music was freely improvised, but as Udden observes in his liner notes, it flows so naturally that he had to check if it was not written down beforehand. Blehar and Matos immediately establish a fresh common ground and sketch spacious, ethereal and dreamy melodic conversations. All melodies unfold in a patient and calm manner, with reserved usage of effects, with deep listening and respect, and a profound sense of detail and texture. Udden compares this kind of dynamics to BASE jumping and the moment when the jumper’s parachute opens, meaning that the spontaneous and adventurous music lives in the moment where risk and reward reside simultaneously. He calls such an interplay «a natural conversational shorthand».

And, indeed, New Moon invites the listener into the openly emotional, lyrical and delicate universe of Blehar and Matos. You can trust these gifted improvisers to embrace, swing and guide playfully their audience into a blissful and generous listening experience. Their music is gentle, beautiful and stimulating.

Eyal Hareuveni

Nathan Blehar (tenor saxophone), André Matos (electric guitar)