Andrew Raffo Dewar - soprano saxophone, composition
John Hughes - double bass
Chad Popple - drums, percussion, vibraphone

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Wolfgang Helbsing in Hamburg, Germany on 16 June 2019
Cover art by Bryce Speed "The Well" (2021) 8x8" acrylic on panel, used with permission of the artist
Layout and design by Ashley Williams

Reflejos IV-VII composed by Andrew Raffo Dewar
All other tracks composed by Dewar/Hughes/Popple
All tracks published by published by Free Movement Arts (ASCAP)

Notes by Andrew Raffo Dewar:

This album is a follow-up to our 2018 trio CD, Reflejos (pfMENTUM PFMCD122), which showcased the first three compositions in my Reflejos series. While we have performed together as a trio off and on since 2005, this is only the second document of our work together.

The Reflejos (“reflections”) series of pieces are primarily based on mirror image and other reflection/refraction based compositional forms that use a limited set of musical materials to reorder and rearrange, both rhythmically and melodically. It is systematic, but not rigidly so. I use the concept more as a guideline than a rule – a way to generate formal ideas that then hopefully come to life when put into practice and used as springboards for improvisation.

In this current set of pieces I have added a new formal extension to the series, that of “trizas” (“shards”) which in live performance are little “loops” drawn from the longer works that can be cued up for performance by anyone in the trio in real-time, but on this album are presented as standalone miniatures that function as interludes between the other pieces.

This malleable approach and decentralized organizing of compositional materials derives from my long-term engagement with Anthony Braxton’s music system, whose work I have been fortunate to perform as a member of his touring ensembles (primarily the “12+1tet”) since 2005.

Another conceptual touchstone for this series of pieces is Jimmy Giuffre’s 1960s trio with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow, whose simultaneously angular and melodic approach accompanied by complex asymmetrical counterpoint has fascinated me for decades.

One of the most helpful lessons I learned from an early mentor, the late soprano saxophonist/composer Steve Lacy, was to always work with musicians more accomplished than you, as you are then guaranteed to learn something new, and your craft will continue to evolve and improve.

While that can be a very humbling approach, it is also great advice that I have taken to heart, and which has put me on a continuous path of learning. My trio mates Chad Popple (vibraphone, percussion) and John Hughes (contrabass) are two amazing Hamburg-based musicians I’ve been fortunate to work with for years — in Chad’s case, since the mid 1990s – and they not only bring this music to life, but challenge me to stretch myself each time we play together. It is a gift to make music with these remarkably creative and skilled artists – and after the years of global pandemic isolation we all experienced, I am even more thankful for their friendship and musical fellowship.

Andrew Raffo Dewar
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
1 December 2022


"This album is full of nuances, changes, and exploration and the improvisational quality of the trio is undeniable. The recording shows the dexterity of the underrated soprano saxophone. The echoey sound of the vibraphone is used to exquisite effect, while the deep, guttural impact of the double bass is also fully used, and the soprano sax creates contrast, effect, and impact. The percussive elements are from not just the drums but also the changing rhythms of the instruments. Impressive music."
-Sammy Stein, Free Jazz Blog www.freejazzblog.org/2023/01/andrew-raffo-dewar-john-hughes-and-chad.html


5 stars from JazzMa.hu
www.jazzma.hu/hirek/2023/02/16/free-jazz-albums-2023-31-resz