With a much-needed reissue last year by Unsound, following its discreet release in 2014 by Polish label Bolt Records, motivated by a heartfelt and growing cult following that is rare in today’s hyperactive times, ‘Plays John Coltrane and Langston Hughes’ definitively cemented Raphael Rogiński’s place in contemporary solo guitar. Without taking the title as a mere standard reinterpretation of Coltrane’s infinite legacy and Hughes’ jazz poetry, Rogiński reimagines the eternity of ‘Blue Train’, ‘Seraphic Lights’ or ‘Equinox’ through spirit, as if summoned beyond their melodic and structural body. From the realm of the senses. From this tenuous connection to the repertoire in its most formal sense emerges a music stripped of artifice and haunted by jazz, blues, and folk from various corners of the globe, patient and contemplative in its constant search for harmony. With a very unique approach, he creates his own fingerpicking, drawing melodic arcs that are continually renewed with all the blessed lassitude of Loren Connors and the verve of Bill Orcutt, without sounding like either of these figures. Once again, spirits. During the decade between the release and reissue of this album, Rogiński has continually refined his language through equally enchanting albums such as ‘Talàn’ and ‘Žaltys’, where heritage, ghosts, memories, and places—from Lithuanian folklore to the vastness of the Black Sea, from childhood memories in the bucolic landscapes of his native Poland to a mysticism that transcends eras and geographical locations—flock to his speculative and deeply lyrical fingerpicking. Magical, even.
BS

Cali (Ana Carolina Rodrigues) is a cellist from Braga with classical training. She seeks an intimate sound universe where improvisation intertwines with subtle structures. Inspired by world music and minimalist experimentalism, she builds bridges between spaces and times, resulting in a contemplation of movement and silence. Having studied at the National Superior Academy of Orchestra in Lisbon and at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, she was a Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship holder. She works in orchestra, chamber music, and interdisciplinary projects. She is a member of the Dahlia Duo and the ZACHARIAS project.