Ficta

CD – Creative Sources Recordings - CS005, Lisbon 2001

Zen Nihilism

It was through the baroque that improvisation was introduced in our (European, Occidental) art music. Coming from where? Perhaps from popular music, if we bear in mind that during the Middle Ages it was hardly possible to differentiate the music of the jesters from the one that was played and sung in the palaces - the real musical “division of classes" was then made with sacred music, which was property of the clergy. All the rest was simply profane. Now, improvisation, a profane musical activity by excellence, became one of the main characteristics of the baroque period. From the appearance of the basso continuum in the 17th century it was improvisation that was in charge of the properly so called baroque ornamentations. The "basso acompagnato" was used by the organ and harpsichord players to develop the harmonic aspects in the accompaniment of the voice or soloist instruments. Attempts were made so that the improvisational inventivity would not interfere with the central melodic line, but the recourse resulted in virtuosistic exibitions which, centuries later, would have their top projection on the ostentation displays of the rock electric guitar solos (mainly in heavy metal), and on the tenor and alto saxophones solos in jazz (particularly in the free faction). These two trends of the music in our days have more affinities with Bach and Handel than we are prepared to admit. According to running chronicles, Bach added rapid passages and trills to the Vivaldi scores and placed in his own pages signals which were intentionally ambiguous, so that no one else could interpret them in the same way he would do it. The tradition remained: it is also known that Hummel embellished Mozart's piano concertos and that Liszt adapted Beethoven's sonatas. Mozart and Beethoven themselves were notable in the use of cadenzas, precisely to exercise their natural gifts as improvisers. The tocatas of Girolamo Frescobaldi were partially improvised, and Froberger was known by his long "intermezzi", reserved to the skillfulness and spontaneity of the interpreter. «Ficta», the name of the CD which joins the Portuguese Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues and José Oliveira with the Argentine pianist Gabriel Paiuk, used to be the name that was given, until the Renaissance, to the portion of a music work left to the discretion of the performer. The choice of this term for a title reminds us of the past of improvisation, defines the scope on which it is situated (the one of "cultured" music) and tells us that the part has covered the whole, meaning that the only music we will be able to listen here is the "ficta", the imaginary music which is impossible to determine on paper. And nevertheless... with its spaces, the rarefaction of sounds and notes and the reduced volume maintained almost without alterations, everything in this music differentiates it from the baroque. The improvisation of «Ficta» relinquishes its baroque nature and seeks different paths other than those subordinated to the expression and the communication of emotivity, within the line defined by the bass player, theoretician and critic Peter Niklas Wilson and practiced by the new generation of improvisers who adhered to the "esthetics of silence". This ending is not at all unexpected to those who, like Paul DeMarinis, noticed that the "basso" of Alberti - such as, after all, the "drones" of the tamboura in Indian music and the repetitions in classical music - was nothing but a figuration of silence. In a lecture which took place in Palo Alto, U.S.A. this composer stated that even the inclusion of noise in today's music has a character similar "to the 'sfumato' described by Da Vinci in his painting treatise - a mist, a smoke spread over the most far-off zones to increase the perception of a space which separates them from what is in the foreground". And if in «Sudden Music», recorded by Ernesto Rodrigues with José Oliveira and António Chaparreiro, everything seems to burst forth from silence, in this new CD it is to the opposed process that we are assisting: each initiated sound construction immediately remits itself to silence, goes back to it, dissolves, searches its matrix and its end in nothingness (though obviously a fictitious nothingness). Nihilism? Perhaps, but a Zen nihilism in which the destruction is only a moment of the creative flux. Rui Eduardo Paes

1. Nihil 00.01 – 09’06’’

2. Nihil 00.02 – 07’37’’

3. Nihil 00.03 – 07’24’’

4. Nihil 00.04 – 07’08’’

5. Nihil 00.05 – 08’27’’

6. Nihil 00.06 – 06’51’’

Ernesto Rodrigues – Violin, Viola

Guilherme Rodrigues – Cello, Pocket Trumpet

Gabriel Paiuk - Piano

José Oliveira – Percussion

Recorded in December 2001, Lisbon
Cover design Carlos Santos

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

Reviews

Of the first five albums Creative Sources Recordings released, «Ficta» simply is the best one. Ernesto Rodrigues (violin and viola), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello and pocket trumpet) and José Oliveira (percussion) -- the trio featured on the previously released «Multiples» -- are joined by pianist Gabriel Paiuk for a free improv session low on sounds per minute but very high on intensity. The quartet strikes a near-perfect balance between listening and playing. With his piano Gabriel Paiuk brings new colors but doesn't enhance the tonal (or even musical) component of the music. His playing remains highly abstract and for the most part confined to the bowels of the instrument. He rarely hits a note or chord and when he does it has the impact of thunder. José Oliveira displays a lot of inventiveness, producing the most captivating (and pertinent) sounds out of a restrained selection of instruments, much like Günter Müller or Lê Quan Ninh. Ernesto Rodrigues and Guilherme Rodrigues scratch and wail quietly, but there is fire in their restraint. Non-idiomatic improvisation can loose a listener in his or her own thoughts. «Ficta» will do that but only for the best reasons. It provokes, it questions, it leaves enough room to let you loose your concentration, only to suck you back in. Excellent free improv of the most challenging kind, this CD is highly recommended. François Couture (AMG)

All and all, «Ficta» appear to be the most impressive session. Also the most recent, though ironically recorded only 10 days after the proceeding CD, it swells (sic) the group to quartet size. Allowing for polytonality as well as dissonance, the new recruit is experimental Argentinean pianist Gabriel Paiuk, though don't expect any rococo tango variations from him. Ernesto Rodrigues is back on violin and viola, José Oliveira limits himself to percussion, while cellist Guilherme Rodrigues reappears, bringing along a pocket trumpet that is mostly unidentifiable and usually inaudible. Performed in a trebly higher pitch than on the others discs, the session is divided among six movements, each entitled "Nihil" plus a number. All appear to reflect the booklet quote from Russian/American poet Joseph Brodsky: "If you were a bird I'd cut a record and listen all night to your high-pitched trill." The title is also supposed to reflect Musica Ficta, a pre-16th century musical practice of allowing performers to embellish the score with their own ornamentation -- a primitive form of improvisation. Perhaps that's why there are passages here that can be definitely attributed to the violin (or viola) and piano. Still this introduction of full arpeggios and cadences doesn't mean that quartet combinations don't create some entirely new sounds. For instance, at one point, a single piano note is sounded over and over on top of a wave of percussive static that then gives way to the shaking of a bell tree and echoing drum beats. Elsewhere José Oliveira has a chance to sound his selected and unselected uncoupled cymbals and produce a rubato, but foreshortened shuffle beat. Meanwhile Gabriel Paiuk treats his keyboard as another percussive device, smashing hard onto the keys, stretching the strings and clanking and crashing inside and out. Occasionally too, there is an impressive multi-tonal sweep of violin or viola strings, but here, as on the other discs, Ernesto Rodrigues make it clear that his vision is more than anything a group conception. Right now, the arguably best known international exponent of Portuguese experimental improved music is violinist Carlos Zingaro. Yet with these discs and others, it would seem that Ernesto Rodrigues, another cerebral string master deserves attention as well. These CDs are well worth anyone's time. Just turn your player's volume knob up to catch all the nuances here. Ken Waxman (Jazz Weekly)

Music born from a deafening silence and returning to silence itself; this seems to be the major concept behind this excellent recording. Consisting of six episodes named "Nihil", this CD is without a doubt on a high level of introspection and a nice challenge for the inquisitive listeners. I have a tendency to play this kind of records during quiet afternoons, which I warmly suggest; I loved following the nuances and the slightly dissonant counterpoints created by these musicians to find shadows or "presences" that one could not detect at a first glance but nonetheless are there, helping to define a certain feeling that leaves you freedom of thought and breathing space. Though it's not easy inventing something new every time a group of musicians gather, the two Rodrigueses, Paiuk and Oliveira walk their path and observe the surroundings with different perspectives, and always very interesting ones. Massimo Ricci (Touching Extremes)

The label is founded by violinplayer Ernesto Rodrigues in 2001. Thinking of improvised music from Portugal it is only the name of that other violinplayer, the well-known Carlos Zíngaro that comes to my mind. But here we have a very impressive outburst of new talent from Portugal. «Ficta» reflects an improvised music that is very rich and of considerable standard. So there is a great unity here in several respects: in time, in musicians involved. «Ficta» engages in a microtonal improvisation. Music with great sense for detail and nuance. With my view on european improvised music I would say that they are most close to the english school. A non-idiomatic kind of improvised music. Abstract but coloured. Silence is also important here. Much pianissimo, often spaced out, but always intense. Investigating the world of sound and texture. It can be said that they try to make a group sound. To establish the individuality of an instrument or player is not what they are in for. The interplay between the musicians is often great. All in all, it is difficult to say anything negative about this CD. It proofs that european improvised music is still very much alive since it originated in the sixties. «Ficta» makes up a very enjoyable and rewarding course in active listening. Dolf Mulder (Vital Weekly)

La nascita e la diffusione di etichette autoprodotte dagli stessi musicisti sta diventando una realtà sempre più diffusa, soprattutto nell'ambito delle musiche improvvisate, area i cui appartenenti riescono più facilemente a gestire piccoli cataloghi, distribuiti attraverso canali spesso sotterranei. E' il caso della portoghese Creative Sources del violinista Ernesto Rodrigues, che qui segnaliamo con il suo lavoro «Ficta». Al momento, a quanto ci consta, sono in tutto cinque i cd prodotti, che raccolgono diversi set di Rodrigues assieme ad altri improvvisatori di Lisbona. I terreni sono quelli di certi omologhi ensemble tedeschi o inglesi, con tutta quella devozione radical/militante di ritorno, che in certi momenti appare un po' troppo stereotipata. «Ficta», lavoro a cui partecipano anche il violoncellista Guilherme Rodrigues, il percussionista José Oliveira e il pianista argentino Gabriel Paiuk, allude alla pratica medievale dell'invenzione attraverso l'abbellimento e la variazione. La musica ficta era appunto quella che, fino al '500, faceva ricorso all'utilizzo di note estranee alle scale diatoniche in uso. Un concetto che, con le dovute distanze storico-estetiche, viene trasposto nell'invenzione estemporanea dell'improvvisazione: uscire dalla scala diatonica come uscire dalle condotte strumentali ortodosse per abbracciare il superamento dei confini. Se la lezione di John Cage nell'utilizzo del rumore e del silenzio è nota al portoghese, così come lo è quella di Derek Bailey nell'adozione del senso della tabula rasa in fase di approccio alla creazione estemporanea, dobbiamo però registrare qui un eccessivo distacco "emotivo" da parte dell'ensemble nel presentare i materiali. I sei momenti di improvvisazione collettiva vengono sottoposti ad una suggestiva rarefazione in modo efficace. Al processo concorre anche la perizia tecnica messa a punto in fase di registrazione e di missaggio (caratteristica rara in moltissime autoproduzioni). Nell'estemporaneità compositiva di Ernesto Rodrigues e compagni salta subito all'orecchio il processo di assottigliamento imposto per sfrondare le linee strumentali in un percorso obbligato dal suono al silenzio e dal silenzio al suono. Questo espediente è l'unico capace di dare un'impronta quasi di suggestione paesaggistica, in un panorama sonoro in cui è comunque difficile orientarsi, senza ritrovarsi a pensare da dove si era venuti... Michele Coralli (Altremusiche)

[...] Similar en planteamientos resulta «Ficta», última de las referencias de este sello. En este caso el saxo soprano de Marco Franco es sustituido por dos músicos/instrumentistas: el piano de Gabriel Paiuk y la pocket trumpet y cello de Guilherme Rodrigues. El título de esta obra hace referencia a la parte de música que desde el Renacimiento era dejada para la libre improvisación de sus ejecutantes. Estas improvisaciones son caminos que van desde el silencio y la quietud, hasta la quietud y el silencio, con un mayor espacio (que en «23 Exposures») para poder desarrollar sus ideas es en ese camino, entre la creatividad y buen hacer de estos músicos, dónde está su belleza y maestría. En definitiva, una obra a tener en cuenta, lo mismo que sus ejecutantes. José Francisco Tapiz (TomaJazz)

[...] «Ficta», featuring a more timbrally varied ensemble of cello, pocket trumpet (Guilherme Rodrigues), piano (Gabriel Paiuk) along with Ernesto's strings and Oliveira's percussion, is the most satisfying of the three albums on offer here. Its six pieces clock in at 46 minutes, and the eight-minute track duration is ideal for Rodrigues, whose good feel for structure was obscured by the extended sprawl of «Sudden Music»'s four tracks and squashed by the two-minute structures of «23 Exposures». I'm not all that sure about Paes' references to nihilism; true, the tracks are entitled "Nihil 00.01" to "Nihil 00.06", but this is engaging and colourful music that testifies to a fresh and undeniably positive approach to improvised music. Dan Warburton (Paris Transatlantic)

Vom Westzipfel der EU landen immer häufiger Lebenszeichen der offenbar absolut virulenten portugiesischen Free Jazz - und Free Impro-Szene in meinem Hörfeld. Der CS-Labelmacher, Violinist und Violaspieler Ernesto Rodrigues und seine Mitstreiter, der Perkussionist und akustische Gitarrist José Oliveira, der Sopranosaxophonist Marco Franco bzw. Der Cellist und Pockettrumpetplayer Guilherme Rodrigues und der argentinische Pianist Gabriel Paiuk, beziehen sich mit dem Titel «Ficta» explizit auf die barock-manieristische “Basso acompagnato” - tradition und die in der profanen Musik obligatorische Adlib-verzierungskunst kreativer Interpreten. Einerseits. Und andererseits auf die von Cage ins Bewusstsein gebrachte faszinationskraft von “Noise” und “Nothing”. Durch “Sfumato”-Techniken verwischen die Spieler die Grenzen zwischen Klang, Geräusch und Stille, zwischen Vordergrund und Hintergrund. Fast will es scheinen, als ob jeder Laut sich für die Unterbrechtung der Stille entschuldigen müsste und daher nur als diskreter Akt zulässig ist, als Webern'scher Reduktionismus, als blosse Spur von Elementarteilchen, als paradoxes Neutrino. Die Erwartung von “Gefälligkeit” wird überführt ins Sublime. In der Konfrontation mit einem Gespinst von Beinahe-Nichts oder im Flux einer Überfülle von Noise-Pixeln - zwischen diesen Polen spannt sich die CS-Geräuschwelt - kollabieren die Konsumwünsche, mit der Möglichkeit, frustriert zu schmollen oder wieder das Wahrnehmen zu üben und verschütteten Eigensinn freizuschaufeln. Nun, zu diesem Zweck wirbeln die portugiesischen Nihilisten - alle Titel auf «Ficta» wurden “Nihil” getauft - mit ihren Schäufelchen eifrig Staub auf. Und ich, ich schmolle gern. (Bad Alchemy)

Creative Sources Recordings is a new portuguese label, devoted to free/improvised music. I always was a little suspicious about improvisation, because of my limited experience of relationship with such kind of music matter. «Ficta» is a new project of four musicians, one of them is Ernesto Rodrigues - he is also the label founder and participates in all other CSR projects. «Ficta» is an acoustic music piece (violin, viola, cello, trumpet, piano and some percussion) and divided into 6 parts. Atonal, broken, chilling, devastated, erratic, fictitious... but on the other hand, showing non-traditional playing methods for traditional instruments. It's possibly close to the english school (AMM, Morphogenesis, Nihilism Spasm Band), but slightly more temperamental and expressive. The quotation from Iosif Brodsky in epigraph and the obvious links to John Cage make me think about neccessary concentration and broad attention while listening, the freedom of improvisation and freedom from conceptions and mind-produced structures are melting here to reach a point where words are meaningless. Music to find out how it could be if you live without verbal language. Dmitry Vasilyev (Independent Electronic Music)

Un'interessante punto di vista, quello che la "Creative Sources", di proprietà del violinista Ernesto Rodrigues, ci offre. «Ficta» dovrebbe essere, più o meno, il quinto lavoro di questa piccola realtà portoghese che si muove su standards radicali piuttosto inusuali, seppur non privi di zone oscure, che con il proseguio dell'attività speriamo destinati a scomparire. Il lavoro qui propostoci imposta la sua teoria di base sulla musica 'Ficta' in uso fino alla fine del 1500 e che consisteva nell'utilizzo di note estranee alle scale diatoniche in uso. La trasposizione di questa scuola in ambito moderno è da intendere come rottura e prosecuzione avanzata del verbo improvvisativo. Omettendo le implicazioni socio-culturali riportate all'interno della confezione del CD, possiamo tranquillamente parlare di un prodotto che conosce molto bene il linguaggio di mostri sacri come John Cage, Derek Bailey, o certi passaggi di Cecil Taylor, ma contemporaneamente ne trasporta lo spirito in una dimensione piuttosto rarefatta, se non talvolta onirica. Il lavoro si avvale di un'ottima opera di sottrazione del suono preferendo togliere che aggiungere rivelando, in questo, un'ottima capacità e proprietà del linguaggio utilizzato. Ma non è tutto oro; vi sono infatti momenti altamente noiosi dovuti, forse, all'eccessiva volontà da parte dei musicisti di dimostrare capacità di autocontrollo sicuramente ottime, ma che limitano notevolmente le soluzioni più aspre, in virtù di una scrittura fortemente collettiva ma priva di guizzi solistici in grado di spezzare lo stato di narcosi che talora si crea. Da sottolineare anche la qualità ottima della registrazione che, se da una parte rende le porzioni strumentali scintillanti come poche, dall'altra aumenta la carenza di zone impervie, avvolgendo l'ascoltatore in un fastidioso senso di vuoto (da non confondere con il termine silenzio). Da rivedere sicuramente, ma non da bocciare, poichè le capacità espresse dal Ernesto Rodrigues e dai suoi compari sono sicuramente ottime per la volontà ferrea che dimostrano nel voler distinguersi nel panorama non ortodosso, ma da rivedere per quel che concerne il trasporto emotivo che, talvolta, sancisce la differenza fra un buon disco ed un capolavoro. Un cantiere ancora aperto che lascia intravedere strutture di una certa complessità. Marco Carcasi (Kathodik)

Creative Sources is a new portuguese label run by Ernesto Rodrigues (who plays the viola, sax, violin) and who has so far issued 5 amazing CD's. Usually in nearly all CD's, [...] we find a core of nearly the same people exploring various realms of the what so called “improvised music”. But is improvisation which is not done in the sake of improvisation or in a funny like mood or whatsoever. On the contrary here we have a team of people who improvise upon certain ideas or out of certain needs. [...] But certainly the CD I liked the most is «Ficta» performed by Ernesto Rodrigues on violin/viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, pocket trumpet, Gabriel Paiuk on piano and José Oliveira on percussion I think is the best moment of the already mentioned CD's. Playing w/ silence and sounds which either derive or end to silence or seem that come and instant go & however I find really great the track titles, simply “nihil”, a title that shows the situation expressed in this recording a kind of a “zen” like improvisation/silence that is highly achieved and is highly recommended to be experienced by you too! [...] Nicolas (Absurd)

Ce disque prend place dans le fort courant portugais de musique minimale. Sans emporter l’enthousiasme il a le grand mérite de poser des questions intéressantes. «Ficta» me semble emportée naïvement par une croyance absolue en la nécessité de réduire les paramètres de la musique: moins de volume, moins de notes, moins de sons même, une syntaxe réduite, un envahissement du silence. Les morceaux progressent par ruptures comme si la seule solution à tout instant était de tout changer, même dans un univers ainsi extraordinairement rétréci. On pourrait imaginer des personages de Beckett ou de Pinget qui parleraient de cette manière; tout est usé, tout tombe, les corps n’y résisteraient pas à une vibration un peu intense. [...] Noël Tachet (Improjazz)

A procura intensa e criteriosa em torno da criação musical, fascina o Homem durante séculos, ao qual a improvisação será a mais obscura e simultaneamente o processo mais ousado (e menos usado). Gravado em 2001, «Ficta» é o produto final de um encontro acústico intuitivo de Ernesto Rodrigues, viola e violino, Guilherme Rodrigues, violoncelo e trompete, Gabriel Paiuk, piano e José Oliveira, percussão; a criação livre e espontânea é em «Ficta», propositadamente cerebral e subtilmente orgânica, onde o controle criativo de cada músico é fundamental para as seis improvisações, intituladas "Nihil" e numeradas de 1 a 6. «Ficta» é uma obra admirável, marcada por uma visão contemporânea, articulada com uma condensação de sons que surpreendem pela sua inteligência e pelo acontecimento musical. Hernâni Faustino (NewJazzImprov)

Zeitgenössische Improvisation und Experimentelles aus Portugal. [...] Die beiden anderen Aufnahmen, «23 Exposures» und «Ficta», sind interessanter und lassen ein feines Gespür für Weite und Raum erkennen. Improvisierte zeitgenössische Musik, wie sie von verschiedenen Leuten in Europa - etwa Burkhard Beins, Xavier Charles oder Werner Dafeldecker - gemacht wird und die sich durch die Instrumentierung (Violine, Percussion, Sopransaxophon, präpariertes Klavier) auch in die Kategorie «ernst» einordnen ließe. Hier passt alles, und bereits nach zwanzig Sekunden weiß man, wie es enden wird (und auch tatsächlich endet). Und obwohl das Spiel perfekt ist, weil alles klar definiert ist, weiß ich einfach nicht mehr, was über solche Produktionen noch zu sagen wäre. Vielleicht sollte man sie als «Etüden» durchgehen lassen, vielleicht dienen sie der «Rekreation», wer weiß das schon? Eine Sache gibt mir jedoch zu denken: Viele dieser Aufnahmen sind im «Post»-Kontext verankert - Post-Moderne, Post-Avantgarde, Post-60er und - 70er zeitgenössische Musik -, und da sollten bei uns die Alarmglocken schrillen. Revival oder Konservativismus? Noël Akchoté (Skug)

Este CD está grabado en diciembre de 2001, cuando los músicos portugueses citados invitan a Gabriel Paiuk (aprovechando la visita del músico argentino por algunos países europeos, con el Trío de Improvisación). La intención mayúscula del grupo es sacar partido, en este caso, del silencio. Ninguno de los músicos del cuarteto, Ernesto Rodrigues (violín, viola); GuilhermeRodrigues (cello, trompeta de bolsillo); Gabriel Paiuk (piano), y José Oliveira (percusión), tienen un papel marcadamente solista aunque, quizás, a Paiuk sea al que más se le escuche, junto al percusionista Oliveira; confundiéndose, en ocasiones, la manipulación del sonido del piano con la de los objectos percutidos. Hay una fuerza interior fundamental, que domina la contención del músico a participar, y es precisamente la escucha del proprio conjunto. Es, por tanto, «Ficta» un trabajo delicado en recursos y maduro en concepción sonoras donde se prodigan pequeños trazos, elaborados casi imperceptiblemente en las cuerdas - por momentos, hay golpes secos del piano o de la propria percusión que dicen todo lo contrario - en un total de seis piezas improvisadas, denominadas Nihil. Las dos piezas finales son las de una interacción a un mayor volumen (imprescindible que se escuche así para una mayor apreciación de las deliciosas interpretaziones de los instrumentos de cuerda, y también la trompeta de bolsillo) e unas improvisaciones que abogan por una mayor intencionalidad armónica (pieza 5), un contenido de connotaciones de música contemporánea (pieza 4). Abstracciones sonoras de un grupo portugués al mejor nivel europeo que acostumbra a invitar numerosos músicos. Chema Chacón (Oro Molido)

Suoni multiformi dall'incedere frammentato quelli indotti da Ernesto Rodrigues, fondatore a Lisbona nel 1999 della Creative Sources, etichetta dedicata nello specifico all'improvvisazione, percorsi che dichiarano lontane origini nella musica barocca, la prima forma di arte occidentale pronta ad accogliere nella propria tradizione influssi ed esperienze di altre culture. Diversi sono stati i generi che hanno attinto all'idea di un fluire sonoro non rigidamente programmato (jazz, rock, psichedelia ed avanguardie colte) fino ad arrivare nell'epoca dell'elettronica digitale allo spontaneo eclissarsi della scrittura riferita al processo di composizione musicale. Venendo a mancare oggi una cesura netta tra elaborazione scritta ed improvvisazione, il portato teorico delle ricerche di siffatto tipo ha altro valore rispetto al passato pur continuando ad emettere un fascino che a contatto con inediti procedimenti può ancora essere stimolante. Ernesto e Guilherme Rodrigues (viola e violino, violoncello e tromba) insieme a Gabriel Paiuk (piano) e José Oliveira (percussioni) offrono un fertile esempio della nuova 'free music', assommando tecniche ed approcci, cercando di aderire al presente, pur riferendosi nell'impostazione più ad una revisione delle 'culture alte' che non al mondo del pop ibridato. Immaginari musicali densi, ricchi di concetti ed espressioni, un toccasana rispetto alla molta banalità imperante. Aurelio Cianciotta (Neural)

After an aseptic and extremely quiet opening, the quartet on «Ficta» expands its horizons into the ethereal world of sound creation. The two Rodrigues string players and the drummer Oliveira are Portuguese musicians, while pianist Paiuk is Argentinean; thus, they bring forth new music concepts from diverse cultures. Their set consists of six experiments in music having an atonal base and fully unstructured composition. The session proceeds tentatively with each artist testing the atmosphere with stark interjections or quiet musings. This in turn invokes periods of spontaneous blurts of temporal duration, which dissolve back to the eerie world of velvety noise. The fifth member of the group is silence. There are periods of prolonged quietude followed by agitated manipulation of tonal output with bare otic registration. Paiuk is the most outspoken of the group. He intermittently explodes with a short burst on the piano before retreating to the nether region where they all seem to reside and spring forth. “Nihil 00.05” has examples of these outbursts, albeit constricted periods. Ernesto Rodrigues adopts abrupt plucking techniques to make his violin or viola an equal partner in this séance, while Guilherme Rodrigues bows the cello with irregular strokes of sonar-detecting quality. Oliveira’s bells and chimes fall right in line. They speak the language of whales where high pitches and curt tones sing out in search of a response. Guilherme Rodrigues also introduces the pocket trumpet into the equation, but these periods as well are totally devoid of flow. The liner notes quote the expression “esthetics of silence”, which is descriptive of much of the disc. Perseverance will allow one to find the hidden gems buried within this music. Frank Rubolino (Cadence)

Ernesto Rodrigues has been working with improvised music and modern forms of composition for over twenty years. Having performed under varied musical circumstances throughout Europe, he is a respected artist aligned with conceptualist thought and is gifted in the use of preparations with stringed instruments. As with many radical 20th century musical figures, we can hear in his music the need to break free from tradition or current accepted practices (trends?), and displace those tendencies with untried methods. Great strides a few of which are actually in the forward direction can be witnessed in unlikely places. Like Poland and Greece, Portugal’s hub of Lisbon is fast becoming a dependable blip (at least to some of us in the US) on the growing map of groundbreaking music communities. And since we are alluding to tradition here, like New York, Berlin or Kyoto, those places are often identified in terms of art culture, by those who practice in the advancement of the art itself. Rodrigues falls into that group. But one might argue that progress is not the goal his music is currently seeking. Rather, it is process, and it can be heard in the documents of «Assemblage» and the earlier «Ficta», where Rodrigues is joined by his son Guilherme (cello, pocket trumpet) and José Oliveira (percussion). The common thread between the two discs is in the dynamics of the music: were the activity to be graphed in terms of collective pursuit and sonic amplitude, both might be represented as bell curves, from restrained to semi-raucous. As a whole, the music is unassuming, insofar as the sounds can be measured against “threat”. There are some lovely passages, particularly on «Assemblage», where guitarist Manuel Mota accentuates soft, sporadic tones with transients of his own. Often we find that the sounds come as precious adornments (rather than conscious accomplices), while Rodrigues’ treatments (both literal and figurative) of the violin and viola make for an undercurrent that seem to define these discs’ structure, potency and attitude. Common to past and current systems of similar, explorative music, here there is no tempo. The element of time is completely lost as intention gives way to evolution. Gabriel Paiuk’s piano on «Ficta» is critical in creating this sensation; his playing is quantifiable in terms of its function as mechanical counterpart, but fluctuates in and out of false signatures, an effect created by periodic, variable responses from the other instruments. Further illusory outcomes are achieved by Guilherme Rodrigues’ cello and the disciplined adventurousness of Oliveira’s inside-piano playing on Assemblage. There is much to be held in these quartets’ obvious structural ambiguity. Movable resources (inhibition, experience, technical depth) are at work in celebrating the freedom of improvisation while the musicians seek elusive parallels in one another through their music’s very transformation. This "new" music is highly recommended to both the adventurous and the passive listener. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. Alan Jones (Bagatellen)

La rencontre toute en tensions, détentes et silences d’un trio portugais avec le pianiste argentin. Jerôme Noetinger (Metamkine)