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Sam Gendel and Fabiano do Nascimento: The Room review | Ammar Kalia's global album of the month


The shapeshifting LA-based saxophonist and Brazilian guitarist’s LP is a bossa-tinged celebration of their instruments

Since his 2017 debut, the LA-based instrumentalist has veered from downtempo melodics on 2018’s breakthrough Music for Saxofone and Bass Guitar to woozy, electronically processed versions of jazz standards on 2020’s Satin Doll and deconstructed R&B classics on 2023’s Cookup. Following numbers Capricho and album highlight Astral Flowers pick up the pace and allow Gendel to soar powerfully within his gentle tone, producing long keening lines over Nascimento’s percussive playing. Tracks such as Kewere and Poeira are technically complex, with Nascimento playing busy cyclical rhythms while the warmth and breathy punctuation of Gendel’s tone creates an emotive counterpoint, proving that quietude can often produce the greatest impact.

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Fabiano

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Nascimento

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Sam Gendel