Mani Padme Trio

«It is perhaps the first time in our jazz section that we choose to assign the opening space to an absolute debut, usually reserved for the most important album of the month. But the extraordinary work of the Mani Padme Trio deserves the exception. The pieces of the Mani Padme Trio breathe and communicate sensations that go well beyond the even praiseworthy jazz aspect of each single episode». Record of the Month. Um Dia De Chuva/A Rainy Day
Marco Crisostomi, Audioreview

«Here is a work worthy of extreme attention. The protagonist is a newly-born trio formed by the Cuban pianist Yaniel Matos and the Brazilians Du Moreira on bass and Riccardo Mosca on drums. The three explore the common traits and divergences between their musical ideas, keeping aloof from the abused concept of latino jazz. They chose the name Mani Padme which recalls a distant culture. “Om Mani Padme Hum”, meaning he who wears jewels and lotus (do you remember John Coltrane’s Om record?), is the most important magic formula of Tibetan Buddhism. Despite these heterogeneous references and the roots of its members, the trio is distinctly Jazzy. This first CD constitutes, as Margo Giorgi well observes in the cover notes, an extraordinary debut: “As soon as you hear the first notes, your attention is captured by the depth and poetry that pervade the entire recording.” This is an album that will be talked about». Um Dia De Chuva/A Rainy Day
Franco Fayenz, Il Giornale

«Simplicity, inspiration, artistic sincerity combined with an audiophile recording make the record debut of this trio absolutely unforgettable».
Marco Giorgi, Rockstar

«“For any artist whose recording debut has met with great acclaim, the second album represents an extremely delicate moment. As we often hear from those who work in the music world, “you have your whole life to prepare the first album, but only a handful of months to make the second”. And in those 12/18 months that elapse from the publication of the first work to the creation of the second, artists are exposed to many risks. They must avoid giving in to the flattery of self-satisfaction, they must ensure that the commitments related to record promotion and concerts do not hinder their creativity and, finally, they must also find the time and tranquility necessary to compose new material and resume direct contact with their inspiration. In short, they must show that they have become true professionals as pertains managing their career as well as confirm that they are true artists. In addition to this, one must take into account that a positive debut generates a lot of expectation in the public who will judge the new work based on the echo of the sensations experienced by listening to the first. In short, it takes very little to ensure that a promising musician overpays the price of a second album that is less brilliant, different or, simply, not perfectly in line with the public’s expectations. This is the situation in which the Mani Padme Trio finds itself: now, after a celebrated debut, they reach the fateful moment in which the listener becomes an inexorable judge of the new production. Having had the privilege of writing the cover notes and, therefore, having had plenty of time to listen calmly to Depois (Later), we can anticipate to the listener that the promises of the debut were not disregarded, even if this album is not a photocopy of the previous one. The trio has undergone a change, slightly changing its structure, with the entry of Zeca Asumpção on the double bass and, depending on musical needs, in some pieces it even turns into a quartet thanks to the presence of the flutist and saxophonist Teco Cardoso. On a musical level, the discourse continues where it was interrupted and further develops the themes that emerged in Um Dia De Chuva (A Rainy Day), which find here a further expansion and development. Everything that had thrilled us in the debut album can be found in a more complete and mature form in Depois (Later) which Even more than Um Dia De Chuva, shows remarkable internal cohesion. The pieces featured are not only beautiful compositions but are part of a single overall design, of a lucid and well-centered artistic project. Yaniel Matos prefers slow tempos, loves to create suspended atmospheres which develop gradually, almost without the listener being able to realize it. As happens when a stone is thrown into water, concentric circles propagate from the center to the periphery, apparently the same but always different. Thus the music of the Mani Padme Trio develops without interruptions, without accelerations, without jolts, following a logical and flowing path, so natural as to seem even inevitable. The insistence on the repetition of the theme, always characterized by a great melodicity, the slow and gradual variation of the same which then flows into the measured, lean, simple solo built with a constant interaction with silence and with the breath of the surrounding environment are essential characteristics of the style of the Mani Padme Trio. Today, after listening to the second work, we can confirm what Um Dia De Chuva (A Rainy Day) hinted at: The Mani Padme Trio has a sound of its own, charming and unmistakable, and is endowed with a well-defined personality. The personality that a great trio cannot do without if they want to try to affirm something important in the world of jazz today. cover notes. Depois/Later
Marco Giorgi