Percolation

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS616, Lisbon 2019

1. I - 38'34''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Yu Lin Humm - Cello

Philippe Trovão - Tenor Saxophone

Pedro Frazão - Euphonium

Andre Hencleeday - Piano

Carlos Santos - Computer

Ryoko Imai - Bass Marimba, Percussion

Recorded October 2018, Lisbon

Cover design Carlos Santos

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

Reviews

Continuing, not yet released on CD (but already on Bandcamp) is Percolation by a new mixed sextet of Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Yu Lin Humm (cello), Philippe Trovão (tenor saxophone), Pedro Frazão (euphonium), Andre Hencleeday (piano) & Ryoko Imai (bass marimba, percussion): The sort of quietly layered articulation of the single movement recalls Stratus in some ways, but also involves new participation & a generally acoustic setting. (I say "generally," because I do believe that some lowercase mic'ing is at work.) Also, as with e.g. Suspensão, there's a focus on dynamic balance, here with various reduced forces active much of the time — until a full-bore ending that seems almost out of place. Among the other musicians, Hencleeday is the only one I've mentioned here, and he's appeared in several contexts with Rodrigues, but Humm & Imai have also appeared in some larger ensembles (& have fine moments here, e.g. the marimba producing a hum that sounds almost electronic). Of the previously unknown performers, Trovão mostly plays a textural role on tenor, but apropos the previous paragraph, Frazão is quite prominent at times on euphonium: After some initially quiet scuffling & tinkling, he calls out strikingly against the texture, seeming to set the mood.... The ensemble tends to be careful & precise in its interactions in general, injecting a renewed tautness into the style, but I'm also not sure about the balance of the overall sextet, e.g. pairing piano with marimba.... Still, Percolation seems to point to some new ensemble ideas & articulations. Finally then, let me also note the upcoming new Isotope Ensemble (now with 21 members) album ("only" their fourth), Radium, also from CreativeFest#12 last November: It's a rather ominous, shearing production, slowly building over a single track (as on the two albums featured in this entry) to a raucous end.... Todd McComb, Jazz Thoughts

Subtle acoustic improvisation from a global set of improvisors--Yu Lin Humm on cello, Pedro Frazao on euphonium, Ryoko Imai on marimba, percussion, Andre Hencleeday on piano, Philippe Trovao on tenor saxophone, and Ernesto Rodrigues on viola--in an attentive and tension-filled single movement, each player adding and reacting as ideas percolate and subsume. Squidco

"Percolation", recorded in the same place in December 2018, can be considered as continuation/expansion of the Octopus Ensemble to include more brass and reeds. Percolation is a septet, with four members of Octopus Ensemble and three new ones, playing tenor saxophone, euphonium and vibes/percussion. The free minimal music is still there, but there are significant excursions toward contemporary chamber music, and free improvisation. The sound of different instruments are separated more clearly that usual, so one can identify better solo, duo and collective improvisations of tenor or euphonium. For me this is another masterpiece of the Rodrigues family. Maciej Lewenstein

Merz

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS596, Lisbon 2019

1. I - 30'23''

LISBON STRING TRIO & GIL GONÇALVES

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Miguel Mira - Cello

Alvaro Rosso - Double Bass
Gil Gonçalves - Tuba

Recorded November 2018, Lisbon
Cover design Carlos Santos

Collage by Dilar Pereira

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

Reviews

The Lisbon String Trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello, and Alvaro Rosso on contrabass continue their recent string of collaborations with a fourth player, Portuguese tuba player Gil Goncalves joining to addd a unique complement to their strings, as Goncalves adds bass, blats, growls and unique timbres of upper register low brass. Squidco

"Turning to some other recent (or upcoming) Creative Sources releases involving Ernesto Rodrigues himself, I first want to mention Merz - recorded in Lisbon last November, also as part of CreativeFest #12 - with tubist Gil Gonçalves joining the Lisbon String Trio for its tenth album (or perhaps eleventh, counting Rhetorica with pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro, which has yet to appear). Gonçalves (b.1983) has already joined Rodrigues in e.g. IKB & VGO ensembles, but hadn't been noted here yet.... Having a tuba join the Lisbon String Trio also recalls the trombone iterations, Intonarumori (discussed here in August 2017, as part of the original series of six albums) & Tactile (discussed last July, and what I've called the "most diffuse" in the series), as well as the trumpet concertante-style album From Faust with Sei Miguel (also discussed here in July 2018).


Of course, the latter involves a higher register, as most of the early Lisbon String Trio albums did, and so a more brilliant sound from the horn. However, presumably in part via mic'ing & mixing, Merz features the tuba quite prominently too, likewise lending a sort of concertante feel, in this case unusually so considering the instruments involved. The sometimes pointillistic strings are generally more active than the more restricted, often growling, legato tuba, but a fine balance is achieved in overall ensemble articulation & audibility nonetheless.... Indeed, such string & brass combos continue to appeal, and warrant further exploration - here in a more assertive mode that does sometimes recall e.g. Polyorchard (e.g. Sextet | Quintet as, once again, discussed here last July). Merz moreover seems to encompass both study & exhibition, making for a rather energetic & directly appealing "tuba album." It thus seems to be an album that could have wider appeal than any of the other (at least new) items mentioned in this entry (& with the possible, upcoming exception of Rhetorica, which I have yet to hear...)." Todd McComb, Jazz Thoughts

"Merz" was recorded by the Lisbon String Trio with the phenomenal tuba player, Gil Gonçalves, at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon during the CreativeFest\#12. An album, obviously, is dedicated to the memory of Kurt Schwitters. 

Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography, and what came to be known as installation art. He is most famous for his collages, is called Merz Pictures, where Merz is `practically a synonym of dada. 

Obviously, the main atraction of "Merz" is the symbiosis and synergy of the Lisbon String Trio with Gil Gonçalves. In the first half, Gil plays long peaceful tones, but then he becomes more expressive, playing faster, more fragmented passages. At some moment he starts to provide the main rhythmic texture of the track.It is also worth pointing out that the ART  of tuba playing of Gil Gonçalvez is totally different from that of my other favorite tuba players: Zdzis\l aw Piernik and Per-\AA ke Holmlander. Great set by LST and Gil Gonçalves! Maciej Lewenstein

Rayon Blanc

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS606, Lisbon 2019

1. I - 32'13''

SUSPENSÃO

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello

Bruno Parrinha - Bass Clarinet

Nuno Torres - Alto Saxophone

Abdul Moimême - Electric Guitar

Rodrigo Pinheiro - Piano
Hernâni Faustino - Double Bass
Carlos Santos - Electronics
Nuno Morão - Percussion

Recorded November 2018, Lisbon
Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/rayon-blanc

Reviews

The fourth release from the Portuguese lowercase electroacoustic ensemble Suspensao, merging viola, cello, bass clarinet, alto sax, electric guitar, piano, double bass, percussion and electronics in intensely detailed, slow moving improvisation, revealing impressive tension and suspension of time in impeccably concentrative collective conversation. Squidco

Suspensão is a nonet, sometimes expanded to a Suspensão Ensemble. Here are two recent examples of their amazing art. Indeed, Suspensão is an unquestionable super-ensemble with Ernesto and Guilherme, with Bruno Parrinha and Rodrigo Pinheiro, Hernâni Fastino and others. "Rayon Blanc" is a live recording from November 2017 during the CreativeFest XI at O'Culto da Ajuda, Lisbon. The disc contains one 32 minutes long track, which illustrates perfectly the ingenious nature of this enterprise. It starts slowly and quietly with effects and "fake" sounds, but after some time one can distinguish different instruments. Piano plays a particularly moderating role here. It is a collective free improvisation, but clearly the viola, cello and double bass are in the lead. In the middle of the track the winds become more exposed:. alto saxophone and bass clarinet. Maciej Lewenstein

Double x Double

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS611, Lisbon 2019

1. Dawn Burglary - 09'55''
2. Augenwechsel - 09'17''
3. Augenbblick - 04'20''
4. Cosmo - 18'39'' 

Marie Takahashi - Viola

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello

Hui-Chun Lin - Cello

Recorded October 2018, Berlin

Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/double-x-double

Reviews

[…] but there's another "variant" string quartet in Double x Double: The latter was recorded in Berlin in October 2018, and involves two pairs of viola & cello, with Marie Takahashi & Hui-Chun Lin joining Ernesto & Guilherme Rodrigues respectively. It's thus another example from Rodrigues of bunching up the middle registers and involving a lot of crossing counterpoint, rather than extremes of pitch (as in some other projects). (And note that crossing contrapuntal registers was a feature of e.g. historical Ars Subtilior style, so only later proscribed by Western theory.) As opposed to e.g. the "epic" energy music of Theia (which incorporated LST as a working trio), Double x Double has a more colorfully broad natural orientation, even involving various briefly classical & romantic figures alongside a sometimes sparser approach, so as to create a rich musical tapestry evocative of late 20th century classical string literature in general (as with so many other Rodrigues string albums for small forces, e.g. as surveyed here in an entry from December 2018). In such ensembles, of course, mimicking & exploring (contrapuntal) timbral relations across instruments becomes that much easier. Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

Especially for an irrepressible musician, arranger, and label owner like Rodrigues, I imagine one must expend a lot of energy just keeping things interesting. Much of that energy seems dedicated to the single-minded quest to push the boundaries of the music, creating pieces that oscillate in that sweet spot just a hair too abrasive for Wandelweiser and much too Wandelweiser for a large swath of the rest of the listening public. Some must also go into imagining and staging new configurations of musicians seasoned in this type of lowercase music. It seems a small world, but, somehow, Rodrigues and his collaborators still find new contours to explore.


A string quartet of two violas and two cellos, double x double is just one of these working ensembles. From the first deep bows of the first track, “Dawn Burglary,” the listener knows he is in for a very different experience than the much larger ensemble on Paradoxurus Hermaphroditus produced. The music here is dark and clear, rather than almost inaudible restive. The tension is unmistakable. The melodies are sinister, blending a romantic sense of harmonic development and sway with a postmodern feel for interlaced droning tones and a postmodern fascination with all things non-conventional. (By now, of course, much that had been unconventional has been incorporated into and refined by the Rodrigues/Creative Sources repertoire.) Think: contrasting dynamics of prolonged shimmering and scratchy whispers and sharp, percussive strings, barely audible clicks, wooden creaks, and slide-whistle glissandos. A fine showcase of the potentialities of a modern, unorthodox string quartet. Nick Ostrum (The Free Jazz Collective)

A string quartet of doubled cello and viola, recording in the studio in Berlin in 2018, as free improving innovators, Creative Sources cellist and violist Guilherme Rodrigues and Ernesto Rodrigues, meet contemporary compositional and improvising cellist and violist Hui-Chu Lin and Marie Takahashi, their complementary approaches bringing unique voices to a captivating encounter. Squidco

"double x double" is an album by a string quartet, including two violas and two cellos, which explains the title. It was recorded in October 2018 in tonus-arcus studio in Zepernick. It is notable for participation of Marie Takahashi, who I consider very, very high, especially after seeing and hearing her at the MountMusic Festival in 2019. Obviously, the music sounds like a music of an avantgarde classical string quartet, but has also its specific character, related to free improvisation. They play four tracks of moderate length, starting from "Down Burglary" in a chamber music mood. My favorite and the highlight is the nearly 19 minutes long "cosmo", which starts with abstract, fragmented motifs, and beautiful improvised dialogues and triologues, and quartet-improvisations. There no "fake" sounds, al the contributions can be, more or less, distinguished even by a primitive ears of mine. Maciej Lewenstein