Retrato años después is the first recording of Uruguayan, Montevideo-based free improvised music that I listen to. But thanks to the New York-based label Relative Pitch Records we can enjoy the creative work of gifted and completely under-the-radar musicians from relatively remote corners of the globe. Apparently, Retrato años después is also the debut recording of the duo of guitarist Santiago Bogacz and clarinetist Emiliano Aires, captured at 4Tavella in Montevideo in September 2001.

Bogacz, who also works under the moniker Matador, studied also percussion, attended an improvisation workshop with Evan Parker and has a duo with Czech-Pakistani saxophonist Salim Javaid, works with other local musicians and composes music for chamber ensembles. Aires is interested in sonic images and sonic imagination.

Bogacz and Aires have been playing together for over nine years and their immediate and stimulating rapport, where passion and intensity are integral elements. It is also clear that they have developed their own aesthetics, relying on investigating the respective, resonant timbres of the electric guitar and the clarinet, taking risks but with deep listening and understanding each other’s inside out, almost at a telepathic level. The album is structured of four long and distinct improvisations, divided by brief interludes about a minute long. These improvisations are urgent, raw and edgy, but at times also spiced with mysterious, lyrical and abstract ideas, featuring two musicians who mastered the art of the moment.

Eyal Hareuveni

Santiago Bogacz (guitar), Emiliano Aires (clarinet)