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Eddie Gomez & Cesarius Alvim Release "Forever"

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Plus Loin Music Presents Forever, A Duet Session Reuniting American Bassist Eddie Gomez With Brazilian-French Pianist Cesarius Alvim, 20 Years Since Their First Recorded Encounter

Legendary bassist Eddie Gomez and pianist Cesarius Alvim commemorate the twentieth anniversary of their first recorded collaboration with Forever (Plus Loin). The two masters take on a varied repertoire: from standards such as “Spring is Here" and “Invitation," original compositions from both Gomez and Alvim, and Brazilian pianist Luiz Eça's piece “The Dolphin."

Alvim first met Gomez through Bill Evans, with whom Gomez played for eleven years. “Meeting Bill Evans was a musical and human encounter of which the memory is unforgettable," says Alvim. “He had a beautiful message of love for life and music. Afterwards I met Eddie, a musician whom I had always admired. From the first notes we played together, everything was said. We had the same rhythmic and harmonic sense, and the same passion for melodic phrasing." Gomez elaborates on their penchant for melody: “The repertoire is very melodic and also rhythmically treated. The melodies are very strong, and are approached in poetic way with a strong sense of the jazz feeling and aesthetic."

The title track, composed by Gomez, is a tribute to jazz itself. “This music never disappears," Alvim says. “Musicians all over the world continue to play it and make it evolve, despite all the difficulties present with it." Gomez concurs: “Our paradigm for any work of art is that it crosses over the timeline and stands up to the test of time and continues to provoke the evocative. Sometimes it becomes better and more fully understood. That's my definition of what I consider to be artistic." The phrase “Roda Vida," seen here as the title for one of Alvim's tunes, is a toast to the unpredictabilities of life. The perilous rhythms of this tune characterize this feeling. The standards, as well as Wayne Shorter's “Witch Hunt," serve as a meeting point and a way for Gomez and Alvim to bridge the gap between their last musical adventure and this session. Eça's “The Dolphin" is the centerpiece of the album, a tribute to the recording made by Gomez with Evans. “It's entered the repertoire of standards, but to my knowledge, remains infrequently played," says Alvim.

Alvim has led parallel artistic lives. Upon moving to France from Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, he enrolled in the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris as a classical double bass major. His comprehension of his second instrument is evident on Forever. “Playing bass has helped me greatly, not just in this duo, but in all music. It is very important for a musician to understand how to construct a bass line and how it can evolve through harmony and rhythm."

Gomez likes the duo context, having explored the setting deeply over the years. “It allows me to be more interactive, to put in a lot of colors that may not be so readily available to use when there are other instruments involved. I like to use the full spectrum of color and sound in a duo context." Recorded at New York's Systems Two by Joe Marciano in January 2010, this broad palette has been beautifully and accurately represented.

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