THE DUDES

As defined in the new Penguin English Dictionary a dude is a city dweller, one from the east coast (USA), holidaying on a ranch in the west coast. But no matter how you define ‘dudeness’ that quality was vividly materialized in the character portrayed by Jeff Bridges in ‘The Big Lebowski’. With the same spirit in mind The Dudes are a working band that leaves the city of Lisbon and heads west to the town of Sintra nearly every Saturday night to jam at Miguel Mira’s place. The sessions usually start after dinner, around 10:00 and frequently last till 3, 4 or even 5 a.m. There are very few breaks and a group of friends is usually close by listening. On this particular night the earth decided to interpose itself between the sun and the moon giving us a very pronounced total lunar eclipse. The cosmic effect somehow seemed to permeate into the music.

Miguel Mira – electric bass
Monsieur Trinité – object manipulation
Filipe – piano
João Viegas – bass clarinet
Abdul Moimême – tenor sax

Recorded on 03 March 2007
Composition: The Dudes

(photos by AM)