The contemporary European jazz landscape thrives on nuance, historical lineage, and cross-cultural synthesis. Few artists embody this synthesis as completely as pianist and composer Jean-Martial “Jean-Marie” Machado. With the release of his fourth piano trio album, Como as Flores, Machado redefines the boundaries of modern chamber jazz, blending Mediterranean warmth, Brazilian rhythmic vitality, and a sophisticated, impressionistic European harmonic vocabulary.
Recorded at the world-renowned Studio La Buissonne in Pernes-les-Fontaines, France, and engineered by the legendary Gérard de Haro, Como as Flores represents a watershed moment in Machado’s expansive discography. While Machado has spent the better part of the last two decades commanding large-ensemble configurations—such as his celebrated Danzas orchestra and the expansive 16-piece Sinfonia project—his return to the intimate piano trio format offers an unvarnished showcase for his compositional depth and improvisational telepathy.
Joined by virtuosic bassist Claude Tchamitchian and rhythmically multifaceted percussionist Zé Luis Nascimento, Machado presents a ten-track masterclass. The album features nine original compositions spanning multiple languages alongside a singular, idiosyncratic nod to the jazz canon: Miles Davis’s elusive standard, “Nardis.” For jazz aficionados, Como as Flores is not merely another release; it is a meticulously crafted artifact born of decades of artistic refinement, deep listening, and a restless desire to let compositions mature like fine wine before setting them down in permanent audio fidelity.
Detailed Chronology: The Evolution of Jean-Marie Machado’s Trios
To understand the artistic weight of Como as Flores, one must trace the evolutionary arc of Machado’s career, which spans more than three decades of stylistic exploration.
Roots and Early Formations (1961–1993)
Born in Tangier in 1961 to a Portuguese father and an Italian mother, Machado absorbed a rich tapestry of cultural idioms from an early age. His relocation to France solidified his path in Western classical and jazz pedagogy, leading to his breakthrough in the late 1980s. It was during this period that Machado formed his inaugural trio alongside the formidable Moutin brothers—bassist François Moutin and drummer Louis Moutin. Between 1988 and 1993, this dynamic lineup cut three pivotal albums, establishing Machado as a distinct voice in European modern jazz through a high-energy, technically demanding, yet deeply lyrical approach.
The Intervening Decades: Large Ensembles and Collaborations
Following the dissolution of his early trio format, Machado’s creative energies shifted toward grander canvases. He invested heavily in his Danzas orchestra, engaged in high-profile duos with legendary saxophonist Dave Liebman, and explored world-music textures through projects like Vibracordes (featuring percussion pioneer Naná Vasconcelos) and Majakka (utilizing Keyvan Chemirani’s zarb).
This orchestral phase culminated in Sinfonia (2023), recorded at La Buissonne with a 16-piece ensemble and a dedicated conductor. Yet, despite the vast sonic architecture of these large-scale works, Machado’s pen never abandoned the intimacy of the piano trio.
The Missing Link: The Ruffle Swing Trio (2015)
An important historical bridge to Como as Flores occurred in October 2015, when Machado convened a trio featuring bassist Henning Sieverts and drummer François Merville at the famed Parisian venue Le Triton in Les Lilas. Nicknamed the "Ruffle Swing" trio by Machado, this iteration explored a repertoire that included Miles Davis’s “Nardis” and a then-unrecorded Machado original, “Le voleur de fleurs.” Although this specific lineup never made it to a commercial recording studio, these compositions marinated in Machado’s mind for nearly a decade, waiting for the right personnel to unlock their latent potential.
The Modern Incarnation: Como as Flores (2023–Present)
The current trio coalesced in late 2023, road-testing their repertoire on live stages before capturing it on film via a Le Triton concert DVD in May 2024. The subsequent studio sessions at La Buissonne in April and May of that year captured lightning in a bottle. Featuring veteran bassist Claude Tchamitchian and Salvador da Bahia-born percussionist Zé Luis Nascimento, this third studio-realized trio of Machado’s career balances historical continuity with radical freshness.
Supporting Context & Metrics: The Ensemble and Sonic Architecture
The brilliance of Como as Flores lies not merely in Machado’s pen, but in the extraordinary pedigree and interactive chemistry of the trio members.
Zé Luis Nascimento: A Master of Tactile Dynamics
The pivotal engine driving this album is Zé Luis Nascimento. Hailing from Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, Nascimento trained as a dancer with the prestigious Balé Folclórico da Bahia before transitioning into a career as a touring percussionist. Moving to France in 1996, he established an enviable resume, collaborating with icons such as Cesária Évora, Michel Legrand, Georges Moustaki, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Titi Robin.
Nascimento’s contribution to Como as Flores moves far beyond standard drum-kit accompaniment. Utilizing brushes, sticks, mallets, and an expansive table of hand percussion—including pots and localized folk instruments—Nascimento treats rhythm as texture. His touch provides the vital rhythmic ambiguity and warmth that bridges Machado’s European harmonic sensibilities with Afro-Brazilian pulse.
Claude Tchamitchian: The Architectural Anchor
Bassist Claude Tchamitchian approaches the trio with the authority of a seasoned collaborator and composer. Raised in Marseille in a household dominated by pianists (his Armenian father studied under legendary classical pedagogue Alfred Cortot), Tchamitchian has been a fixture of European improvised music for decades. Having recorded with Gérard de Haro as early as 1990 and co-founding the innovative Emouvance label in 1994, Tchamitchian’s deep, resonant double bass—frequently deployed with virtuosic bowed (arco) techniques—anchors the ensemble while offering counter-melodies of striking emotional weight.
The Acoustic Sanctuary of Studio La Buissonne
The album’s sonic signature is inextricably linked to Studio La Buissonne in Pernes-les-Fontaines. Long favored by producer Manfred Eicher for legendary ECM recordings—such as the Marcin Wasilewski Trio’s En attendant—La Buissonne offers an acoustic environment of pristine clarity and warmth. Under the engineering mastery of Gérard de Haro, every transient—from Nascimento’s crisp stick strikes to the lingering overtones of Machado’s piano strings—is captured with breathtaking fidelity. De Haro’s work ensures that Como as Flores sounds less like a sterile studio capture and more like a private, high-definition concert performed exclusively for the listener.
Repertoire Breakdown: Navigating the Floral and Lyrical Landscapes
The ten compositions on Como as Flores are multilingual testaments to Machado’s thematic fascinations. Drawing on recurring motifs of flowers and tears—a conceptual thread that reaches back to his 2007 double-disc set Sœurs de sang—the album unfolds as a narrative of memory, grace, and rhythmic surprise.
- “Romantic Spell”: A textbook example of modern piano trio aesthetics. The piano rings out with a resonant, bell-like quality, supported by subtle, breathing basslines and understated percussion.
- “Valsa ouriço” (The Hedgehog Waltz): Opening with an unaccompanied dialogue between bass and percussion, this piece showcases Machado’s hands moving independently through a playful, baroque-esque preamble before Tchamitchian takes command of the groove.
- “De memorias e de saudade”: A masterclass in subtlety. Tchamitchian’s bowed bass takes center stage, evoking the melancholic, nostalgic ache implied by the Portuguese word saudade.
- “Le voleur de fleurs” (The Flower Thief): After waiting a decade to find its way to a studio recording, this composition justifies its prolonged gestation. Its enchanting, undulating rhythm and splendid drumming make it an undeniable highlight of the tracklist.
- “Our tears never cried”: Placed adjacent to “Le voleur de fleurs” at the album’s core, this piece returns to a baroque keyboard touch, injected with lively percussion and high theatrical drama.
- “Nardis”: The sole non-original and shortest track on the album, this Miles Davis composition (famously popularized by Bill Evans on Cannonball Adderley’s 1958 Portrait of Cannonball) receives a radical reimagining. The track begins in a quirky, off-kilter time signature before locking into a steady, swinging pulse. In the latter half, Nascimento introduces a physical pot from his percussion table, injecting raw organic grit into the sophisticated arrangement.
- “Piuma” (Feather): An Italian-titled piano solo that offers a thought-provoking, delicate interlude of pure contemplation.
- “Perdido em clareza”: The album’s longest excursion, this track grants Tchamitchian nearly two minutes of unaccompanied bowed bass before the piano enters, driving an infectious, almost Cuban-inflected rhythmic vamp that culminates in a powerful trio climax.
- “Transvida”: A stylistic outlier showcasing a fiercely contemporary approach. Nascimento combines drum sticks with auxiliary percussion while Tchamitchian lays down a funky bassline. Machado punctuates the groove with sharp, stabbing piano chords that break off into avant-garde angularity, brilliantly captured by de Haro’s pristine engineering.
- “L’endormi”: The dramatic concluding track. Driven by Nascimento’s heavy mallet work, deep resonances, a brooding atmosphere, and the haunting screech of bowed bass strings, it brings the album to a cathartic, memorable close.
Future Outlook
Como as Flores stands as a defining artistic statement for Jean-Marie Machado, proving that the traditional piano trio format, when approached with cross-cultural curiosity and compositional rigor, remains an infinite well of innovation.
As the album circulates internationally through critical acclaim and heavy physical and digital streaming rotations, its impact on contemporary European jazz is unmistakable. Machado, Tchamitchian, and Nascimento have crafted a timeless recording that resists easy categorization—sitting comfortably at the intersection of classical precision, Brazilian rhythmic tradition, and modern jazz improvisation.
Looking forward, the success of this trio sets a high bar for Machado’s future endeavors. Whether he chooses to return to the expansive sonic architecture of large orchestras or continues to mine the intimate gold standard of the piano trio, Como as Flores confirms that Jean-Marie Machado is an artist working at the absolute peak of his creative powers—a composer whose musical garden continues to bloom with breathtaking vitality.
