Incidental Projections

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS427, Lisbon 2017

1. Incidental Projections - 25'28''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Fred Lonberg-Holm - Cello

Miguel Mira - Cello

Recorded November 2016, Lisbon

Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/incidental-projections

Reviews

[...] I don't have to wait long to discuss another release, though, as the string trio Incidental Projections (recorded at CreativeFest #10 last November) appeared at the same time. It also features a viola & two cellos, this time with Rodrigues & Mira joined by Fred Lonberg-Holm (there presumably because of his duo album The Pineapple Circumstances with guitarist Luis Lopes, released last year). Incidental Projections consists of a single track (and not an especially long one at 25 minutes), and has something of a different orientation, despite similarly applicable comments about middle voices & mixing acoustic timbres of bowing & plucking: It has a lot more presence, making it a bit more of a mainstream essay (not so unlike favorite New Dynamics in its style of interaction, albeit there with more richness of articulation). Perhaps this is also why the cover design is a little different for Creative Sources (although still credited to Carlos Santos). In any case, similar ensemble concerns are evident, despite that it has perhaps a hint of "rock" energy, particularly in its strong ending, & amid its fully audible & quickly alternating style. (The timbral variety isn't quite as rich as the Brand-Rupp string duo on last year's Shadowscores, though, which I mention because they have a new trio album with Rodrigues, Traintracks Roadsides Wastelands Debris, which I just missed in this batch, but will hear in the next month or so. These string albums are coming fast.) Since Incidental Projections was recorded prior to Xenon, it might have provided part of the inspiration for another viola-double cello ensemble, but Rodrigues makes so much music, it's hard to say. It does seem like a more spontaneous performance. 2 May 2017. Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

Xenon

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS430, Lisbon 2017

1. I - 10'49''
2. II - 19'26''
3. III - 16'52''

STRING THEORY

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Miguel Mira - Cello

Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello

Miguel Almeida - Classical Guitar

Recorded February 2017, Lisbon

Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/xenon

Reviews

[...] That's especially true of productions from Portugal (think also of e.g. Meia catorze by Basso 3), and at least in part because Ernesto Rodrigues is a viola player himself, Creative Sources has been releasing multiple items in this basic genre (including duos, but also in the trio & quartet configurations that I tend to favor): Xenon (recorded in Lisbon this past February), subtitled "String Theory," is just such an album, with three tracks by Ernesto & Guilherme Rodrigues on viola & cello, Miguel Mira also on cello — with Miguel Almeida augmenting the string trio (not so unlike Pedro Carneiro does the string quartet on Chant) on classical guitar. It's probably worth situating this album a bit: Xenon apparently follows another recent Creative Sources release subtitled "String Theory," Gravity, by an ensemble of seventeen musicians (but all strings of various sorts). That seems rather different to me, but both are acoustic ensembles. Another recent example from Rodrigues is Iridium (discussed here last May), by another string quartet of Rodrigues & Rodrigues, this time with Mira on bass instead of cello & a violinist instead of a guitarist. Iridium is a rather smoothly flowing album, featuring a unified sense of gesture in each of its two tracks, whereas Xenon (also a chemical element) includes a wider range of timbres & dynamics, mixing bowing & plucking into various sorts of string resonances, from harmonics to deep rumblings. Such an ensemble obviously has at least partly a classical inspiration, as did Chant, but also eschews the highest & lowest ranges in order to focus on the middle voices of alto & tenor. Whereas using bass in a string ensemble is a more contemporary innovation, of course the violin & its bright tone (times two!) have been a fixture. (Extremes are a typically contemporary concern, generally, though.) Here the lines are closer, & although extremes can be reached via harmonics or percussive accents, intricate crossing voices seem to be a major feature: Indeed, this reminds me of e.g. Ars Subtilior songs (often for countertenor & two tenors) & some other medieval repertories conceived prior to clearly distinct pitch ranges becoming standardized in the early modern period. (Note that recent favorite New Artifacts also concerns itself with similar ranges, most of the time, albeit there with the timbral contrast of a horn available. And it's much more "lyrical" than the rather diffuse Xenon.) With the plucking, the guitar can be integrated into the ensemble in a variety of ways, although it generally has the brightest attack. There's a delicacy, though, and an emphasis on the edges of audibility, as is so often the case with Rodrigues, making for a rather subdued album, even as it does draw the ear (at least when it's not so quiet, which it is to end track #1) with its complex string timbres. There is a lot of detail that rewards close listening, even if it doesn't yet forge a distinct (or at least a non-quiet) musical statement, and so I am looking forward to hearing more releases of small improvising string ensembles from Rodrigues. There is a lot of latent potential in this genre. [...] 2 May 2017. Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

Llop

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS423, Lisbon 2017

1. Llop - 39'45''

Lali Barrière - Sinewaves

Ferran Fages - Electronics

Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Recorded between January and November 2016, Lisbon & Barcelona

Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/llop

Reviews

A large work for cello, viola, sinewaves and electronics from the quartet of Guilherme Rodrigues, Ernesto Rodrigues, Ferran Fages, and Barriere, the first two foundation members for Creative Sources, the latter two frequent collaborators, Barriere bringing a mathematical background to the improvisation that blends acoustic and electronic sources in compatibly sinister ways. (Squidco)

Plane, Line Segments, Rays and Some Dissipations

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS425, Lisbon 2017

1. Plane, line segments, rays and some dissipations - 49'49''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Harp, Zither, Dulcimer & Objects

Andre Hencleeday - Psaltery, Shruti Box & Objects

Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello & Objects

Carlos Santos - Oscillators

Recorded in December 2016, Lisbon

Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/plane-line-segments-rays-and-some-dissipations

Reviews