Paulo Almeida: Love in Motion
Dox Records

On his sixth album and first since Oferenda, 2023's collaboration with guitarist Lionel Loueke, drummer Paulo Almeida checks a number of stylistic boxes, with nine tracks veering between Brazilian folk, contemporary jazz, and jazz fusion and the music occasionally calling to mind early Weather Report (Sweetnighter), Return to Forever (Birds of a Feather), and the Pat Metheny Group (Letter From Home). Produced by Almeida, Love in Motion was recorded in April 2025 at Jazz Campus in Basel with Italian keyboardist Lorenzo Vitolo, British saxophonist Josh Schofield, and Spanish acoustic bassist Joan Codina as his core partners and vibraphonist Jorge Rossy and singer Lisette Spinnler guests on a track apiece. The drummer now calls Basel home, but he grew up in Brazil, and as expected the latter's music emerges as a strong presence throughout. How telling that the album's sole non-original is a cover of “Nenhum Talvez” by Brazilian composer Hermeto Pascoal.

Naturally rhythm is central to Love in Motion, given Almeida's Brazil background and instrument. Yet the album thankfully eschews self-indulgent drum soloing for ensemble statements powered by a muscular rhythmic foundation. One comes away from Love in Motion hearing it as an inspired set of small-group performances as opposed to pieces where a drummer's surrounded himself with bit players. Consistent with that, the album material grew from Almeida developing ideas at the piano before a single drum pattern was put in place. His approach to his instrument is likewise inspired in the way he maximizes its potential for colour and texture. Adding significantly to the results are the musicians recruited for the project, players drawn from Almeida's circle in Basel who're receptive to his ideas and keen to explore their possibilities.

While Almeida states that the opener carries with it a strong Pascoal influence, “Burning Skin” more evokes classic jazz fusion in its lustrous synthesizer textures, intricate compositional design, and electric energy. The leader's an acrobatic marvel, dancing freely around his kit and animating the tune with a feel that's equally loose and focused. It's not the only time one might be reminded of classic Weather Report either: vocals (yelps, chants, and otherwise), a dreamy, lilting rhythmic feel, and soprano sax help make “Lembranças do Boi” something that wouldn't sound out of place on, say, Sweetnighter or Mysterious Traveler. In a typical album tune (“Um Sopro,” for example), acoustic piano and bass entwine with Schofield's alto and soprano saxophones and Almeida's endlessly percolating percussion, wordless vocals by him sometimes woven in to add to the atmospheric effect. Solos emerge smoothly within an arrangement, be it Vitolo contributing a lyrical expression or Schofield a rousing, fleet-fingered one.

With Swiss singer Spinnler sitting in, Pascoal's “Nenhum Talvez” becomes an intoxicating, slow-drifting meditation sprinkled with brushed drums and cymbals and Schofield's purring soprano. With Almeida's voice augmenting hers, one might be reminded of the vocal textures Naná Vasconcelos contributed to many an artist's release. “Winter Morning,” co-written by Vitolo and the leader, segues breezily between Brazilian and contemporary jazz episodes, with all of the players roaring through this uptempo burner. Less frenzied is the pretty “Saudade,” which, true to its meaning in Brazilian Portuguese, conveys feelings of longing and sadness in its coupling of vocals and keyboards. With vibes from Rossy enhancing its arrangement, “Ipê” recalls the expansive splendour of Metheny's music during its Still Life (Talking) and Letter From Home period. The set-ending “Saci,” on the other hand, opts for a more straight-ahead brand of modern jazz, all springy rhythms and inspiration coming this time from drummer Paul Motian.

May 2026