Saxophonist Rodrigo Amado dives into his formative roots with The Bridge, in which he unites three of his strongest longtime influences. This is a quartet whose name represents a bridge between different languages, backgrounds and generations. The name is also a direct homage to the legendary 1962 album The Bridge by Sonny Rollins, whose tenor sound has a raw beauty that influenced Amado’s playing. Nevertheless, the group is anything but nostalgic. Since the music is fully improvised, every performance is totally unpredictable.

The previous concert by The Bridge on our stage was released on the live album Further Beyond. Band founder Rodrigo Amado is a key figure in the Portuguese jazz avant-garde. Pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach is a mainstay of international improv jazz since the 1960s, regularly collaborating with the equally uncompromising saxophonist Evan Parker. Ingebrigt Håker Flaten made name as the bass player in the groundbreaking Scandinavian group The Thing. And drummer Gerry Hemingway has appeared on our stage since the 1980s with regular collaborators such as Anthony Braxton, Ray Anderson, and Ernst Reijseger.

Rodrigo Amado tenor sax, Alexander von Schlippenbach piano, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten double bass, Gerry Hemingway drums