One of the joys of improvised music is its openness to unusual instruments and novel sounds. The pedal steel guitar, largely restricted to country music, has found new life in the creative vision of Susan Alcorn, whose practice extends to the works of Olivier Messiaen and Astor Piazzolla as well as spontaneous music. Manifesto documents a 2022 meeting with bassist Hernâni Faustino and saxophonist José Lencastre, leading figures in the Portuguese improvisation community. The resultant music is a triumph of fresh sounds and interactions.
The program is bracketed by the two longest pieces, each an act of collective transformation. The Poet begins with Alcorn creating a realm of thick, vibrant chords, like a Messiaen orchestral work echoing to the vault of heaven. Faustino joins in with a subtle pulse before creating a dense underbrush, as Lencastre takes off on a blues-inspired flight with Alcorn joining in the tempest. Similarly, the concluding Manhã Louca builds from lyric longing to thunderous improvisation. By contrast, the brief Two Distant Realities begins in a whirling burble of microtones, only to resolve in isolated harmonics.
There’s a collective ethic at work here, and the ability to readily create sonic bliss is nonetheless still anchored to a principle of seeking. There’s an innate dissatisfaction with that achievement that calls for movement and group creation. The recording is to be valued as much for the integrity of its quest as for its ability to create an ethereal beauty.
