OS PÁSSAROS ESTÃO ESTRAGADOS (THE BIRDS ARE BROKEN)
"Your record is really well conceived and specially very well played by you. Fantastic! My sincere congratulations."
António Pinho Vargas, composer and pianist.
"Here is a remarkable piece by a musician that has being distinguished within the scene and deserves our widest recognition."
Rui Eduardo Paes, music critic, about “Os Pássaros estão estragados” at Jazz.pt
"Congratulations on your accomplishment! It is truly a major work - bold, moving, and beautiful, with an impact that grows and deepens throughout the course of its individual parts. Well done, Jose, and thank you for giving us this deeply felt and beautifully performed new work."
Howard Hersh, prestigious american composer.
"I listened to and enjoyed your recording this morning. I am glad to hear your creative explorations and encourage you to keep going!"
Jason Kao-Hwang, violinist and composer.
"The idea that the birds can't fly towards freedom once we open the door of their cage isn't just a fact that we can experiment with our aunt's canary, it is also something that happens everyday, with us/each other, in one way or another (...) If the cage is opened, we vote always in the same people, smashed against the wall where we've always lived, fearing change, fearing the novelty, a new melody that will make us experiment a primordial happiness, (...)
To refuse our present is a duty, because this present is not reality. It is a cage. The door is open and there is music waiting for us. José is at the exit, calling with the viola."
Afonso Cruz (European Union Prize for Literature)
photos by André Henriques (AH!Photo!) taken at Passos Manuel, Porto.