Reviews:

***** Meristema 4DRCD004 João Madeira (b); Wagner
Ramos (dr, perc). July 2022.
"João Madeira has clearly inexhaustible strength in
2022. Here ho comes again on 4D Records with an
atmospheric dup with Afro-Brazilian drummer Wagner
Ramos. The material was recorded in Lisbon at
Namouche Studios also in July 2022 like "Lis-Li". The
duo plays three tracks, on which they present the full
pallette of their technical and artistic possibilities. So,
for instance, on the opening "Raiz", João starts with the
bow and continues then finger picking, and back. Wagner
oscillates between powerful drumming and delicate use of
tympani and percussion. The highlight is the title track,
33 minutes long "Meristema" (the meristem in English),
which, according to Wikipedia, "is a type of tissue found
in plants. It consists of undiferentiated cells capable
of cell division. Cells in the meristem can develop into
all the other tissues and organs that occur in plants.
These cells continue to divide until a time when they
get dierentiated and then lose the ability to divide."
So do the two outstanding artists! The track is very
dramatic, with changing moods and emotional contexts,
from explosive like heaven to lyrical like hell. The album
ends with the beautiful "Suberosa", a 9 minutes long
beautiful free improvised ballad-musical poem. The
track is very dramatic, with changing moods and emotional
contexts. Again a great one from João et consortes." Maciej Lewenstein

"Mesistima is a great piece of real time composition. João Madeira, from Lisbon, on double bass and Brazilian Wagner Ramos on drums, with touches of electronics. Ramos is from the always interesting Radio Diaspora, who I’ve covered here before, and the duo play a trio of epically long pieces, pushing their instruments through the outer edges of their respective sounds. Much rolling toms, splashing cymbal work and loose stringed bass playing tinged with very subtle electronic effects." Andy Cumming, Sounds and Colours

"O baterista brasileiro Wagner Ramos, do irretocável duo Radio Diaspora, foi a Portugal meses atrás e por lá aproveitou para estreitar contatos nesta que é uma das cenas mais intensas da atualidade. O encontro com o baixista lisboeta João Madeira culminou em uma sessão de estúdio, que se tornou este álbum que acaba de sair, captado no Namouche Studios, em 17 de julho, em Lisboa. “Meristema é o tecido vegetal responsável pelo crescimento da planta. É composto por células indiferenciadas que passam por muitas divisões para em algum momento se encontrarem. O nome do trabalho faz referência a esse encontro potente de Ramos e Madeira para a criação de um trabalho único e de uma profundidade que vai além das próprias raízes e referências de ambos”, é explicado no release. O resultado desse encontro são três extensas peças, nas quais Ramos e Madeira exploram, por mais de uma hora, diversos climas e possibilidades interativas, passando: pelos momentos de pulso percussivo mais intenso que abrem “Raiz” (com sutis toques eletrônicos aqui e ali trazidos por Wagner), embalados pelo arco gestando densas camadas; as variações climáticas e rítmicas da faixa-título, com grande exibição da palheta de ideias sem amarras da dupla, em uma longa travessia que se estende por mais de 33 minutos; e chegando à mais relaxada “Suberosa”, tema mais breve e direto que encerra a jornada como um eficiente encore que sintetiza e arremata o álbum. Meristema sai em CD pelo selo português 4DaRecord e em versão digital pela Brava." Free Form Free Jazz, Brazil

"A somewhat unusual record, but one that is worth listening to carefully. This is what Portuguese double bassist João Madeira offers us here, together with Brazilian Wagner Ramos on drums and electronic effects that continually enter the sound background to excite the performance of the acoustic instruments. The two had already met in 2016 at the Granular Festival in Lisbon but the idea of doing something together had already been born, realised in July 2022 in the studio still in Portugal. These are three tracks of long duration, Raiz almost half an hour, Meristema comes in at thirty-three minutes, Suberosa almost ten. The architectures of the three tracks develop logically, the free improvisation follows its own precise path and the lack of a third party on saxophones or piano is not felt at all. There is depth and feeling in what they do, a continuous interchange of ideas to which electronic effects are discreetly added in a kaleidoscope of sounds that surprises and at the same time fascinates with how the alchemic experiment of the two works without complications. Everywhere you breathe the intensity of an unconventional encounter, deep-breathed strings, broken rhythms, electronic noises that sometimes sound like glass breaking, contributing to the drama of the performance. Outside the box, with a charm of its own that cannot be described in words.
Rating: 8" Vittorio Loconte, Kathodik