The Traditions / As Tradiçōes

10″ vinyl in an edition of 200, with design by Vasco Alves. Record comes with a poster.

‘GAX is the duo of Seymour Wright (alto saxophone) and Vasco Alves (gaita de fole) and ‘as tradiçōes/the traditions’ is their first published recording. They started playing together in 2008 as regular participants in Eddie Prévost’s weekly, London workshop. GAX have rarely performed publicly, which only adds to the pleasure of being able to share this inimitable first release.

Seymour Wright is known for his solo work, the duos XT with Paul Abbott, @xcrxswx with Crystabel Efemena Riley, and GUO with Daniel Blumberg, as well as his part in larger groups including أحمد [Ahmed] and X-Ray Hex Tet. Vasco Alves has previously released a solo record with gaita de fole and electronics ‘Gaita Contra Computador’ on After Action Review. ‘Estrada Longa’ for synths and voice was released on Cafe OTO’s TakuRoku, and reissued by Feedback Moves in 2024. He currently leads the exploratory bagpipe ensemble As Rochas da Ajuda. As well as GAX, his other ongoing collaborations include OndaXoque (with Pedro Rufino), a duo with Margarida Garcia. He has also performed extensively as a part of VA AA LR with Adam Asnan & Louie Rice.

‘‘The traditions/as tradiçōes’ was recorded across two days in the summer of 2023. Both pieces accentuate micro-motions in the interplay between Alves and Wright’s instruments. ‘The traditions’ folds and cuts, placing silent blocks between the duo’s play of sounds. The physicality of the performers is audible through the psychoacoustic oscillations and investigation of rich overtones. On ‘As tradiçōes’ Alves and Wright each play layered glissandi spanning the entire side of the record. Squalls of air from bellows and lungs control the slow, rising movement, grounded by and juxtaposed with a drone from one of Alves’ chanters which sharply fizzles at the pieces’ end, leaving in its shadow a short, continued blast of complex high tones.

The 10″ record comes housed in a matt-finish sleeve designed by Vasco Alves and includes a fold out poster. The photographs on the front cover and “as tradiçōes” side label are taken from the book ‘Gaiteiros de Sesimbra’ published by Associação Portuguesa Gaita de Foles.’