Fabula

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS220, Lisbon 2012

It was Plato who wrote, “When the mode of the music changes, the walls of the city will tremble,” but then, Plato lived, by our standards, in a very small city, one that — with its distinguished plays, music and mysteries — we might readily confuse with a theatre, a concert hall, a place of worship, a site less lived-in than designated for ritualized performances, a place that might mark borderlines, whether between the old mode and the new, the sacred and profane, the place before and after bells, a place isolated within a larger building, like a minimalist’s large-scale appropriation of Russian nesting dolls, like this performance in the town of Montemor-o-Novo some 300 miles south of Montemor-o-Velho, that is, “the old main hill,” and some hundreds of miles north-west from that other room in the midst of which has been placed (box-like) a cathedral, a kind of Tennessee jar (“round it was, upon a hill”), but here in the Cine-Theatre Curvo-Semedo the performance is so intimate the theatre itself must be excluded and a new relationship installed, the audience instead gathered on stage with the musicians and the curtain then drawn to create a “black box” effect, the ceiling exceedingly high, the air cold, the bells distant, the fabula unfolding from the instruments in a way that can be neither translated nor precisely misunderstood (various secret passages present themselves; connections, routings are magnified: the trumpet’s brass tubes are moving granaries; the wound wires of guitar and viola grow train-tracks in space; minutiae mask themselves and slither seductively in computer circuitry), but later, when the fabula reaches its inevitable conclusion, we all — audience, musicians, and shared air alike — discover the black box and the folds of its cloth walls no longer there, and that we can’t leave, that we can never find ourselves outside of them. Stuart Broomer

1. 46’09’’

Ernesto Rodrigues – Viola

Axel Dörner - Trumpet

Ricardo Guerreiro - Computer

Abdul Moimême - Prepared Electric Guitar

Recorded in December 2011, Montemor-o-Novo
Cover design Carlos Santos
Photography Ernesto Rodrigues

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


Reviews

Fabula (CS 220) dá título à peça única improvisação em quarteto (Axel Dörner, trompete; Ernesto Rodrigues, viola; Abdul Moimême, guitarra preparada; e Ricardo Guerreiro, computador), com duração de pouco mais que três quartos de hora, obra gravada em concerto no Cine-Teatro Curvo Semedo, Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, em 3 de dezembro de 2011.Sem a definição antecipada de parâmetros formais, e na ausência de um contexto predeterminado, a música desenvolve-se e progride em modo intimista, através da adição e subtração de elementos que se vão dispondo segundo a tendência reducionista, prática alternada com outros modos imediatos de composição/recomposição do vocabulário do quarteto.Por entre a abrasiva discrição do sopro de Axel Dörner, insinuam-se os gestos acústicos das cordas de Ernesto Rodrigues, a ressonância metálica da escultura mutante de Abdul Moimême, e a pertinente interação dos efeitos eletrónicos de Ricardo Guerreiro com o restante material sonoro.Em tempo real, assiste-se à produção e transformação tímbrica e textural em ampla espacialização, miríade de sons que questionam a resposta que se esperaria da instrumentação convencional utilizada, incluindo o computador. O resultado é um novo enquadramento acústico plasmado na riqueza das múltiplas fontes, afinidades e características, que desenham uma empolgante narrativa sonora trabalhada sobre sequências de eventos não homogéneas – jogo múltiplo de concavidades e convexidades que intimamente relaciona o som com o espaço que o viu nascer. Eduardo Chagas (Jazz e Arredores)

Trumpet, viola, prepared electric guitar and computer. The best music I've heard from Rodrigues and the projects he's involved with have been much along the path of this one. The musicians manage to be relatively busy yet avoid any gabbiness, don't employ drones yet establish a firm cohesion. This is a live performance from December of 2011, solidly realized and enjoyable throughout. Dorner's gusts are, if familiar, still invigorating and Moimeme supplies just enough tonal tonic to add a thin, sweet crust to the otherwise severe sounds. Guerreiro is, I think, new to me and he's outstanding here, contributing varied textures that slither around the musicians here, sandpaper them there. Sure, there are moments when things veer a tad toward the obvious, where effects take on a life of their own rather than serving a larger purpose, but these occasions are quickly reined in, even used as impetus for the next step back on the path. The textural range and dynamics shift and morph in a natural manner--really, everything about the performance works. It won't knock you out, but will thoroughly satisfy you. Brian Olewnick (Just Outside)

Outro grande disco é "Fabula", um encontro do trompetista Axel Dorner com os portugueses Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimême (Rui Horta Santos) e Ricardo Guerreiro. Se o alicerce do que nos é apresentado está na relação de Dorner com a viola de Rodrigues, papel fundamental para a dimensão electroacústica desta música têm Moimême e Guerreiro, o primeiro com um "setup" que é bem mais do que a "guitarra eléctrica preparada" indicada na ficha técnica, dado que as "preparações" (no caso, grandes chapas) chegam, por vezes, a ser maiores do que o próprio instrumento; o outro num "laptop" munido do sistema SuperCollider, consistindo a performance do músico na escrita de código. Gravado ao vivo (no Cineteatro Curvo Semedo, em Montemor-o-Novo), este disco tem a especial virtude de nos mostrar a importância que, neste tipo de improvisação, tem o espaço. Cada elemento percebido sofreu o efeito escultórico da sala em que ocorreu o concerto… Rui Eduardo Paes

A wonderful album, this Fabula CD. Live free improvisation recorded in Portugal in December 2011. A strong, masterful, stunning performance featuring an incredible balance between interaction and detachment. Dörner’s trumpet: sparse, with stripped-down sounds and gritty textures. Rodrigues: plaintive and minimal alto textures. Moimême: the cavernous soundworld of a strangely prepared electric guitar. Guerreiro: a subtle digital input that often nests itself among the acoustic propositions of his brothers in sound. One track, 45 minutes. François Couture (Monsieur Délire)

Musik zu rezensieren, ist eine verrückte Idee. Das wusste schon Frank Zappa. Und das weiß jeder, der schon einmal versucht hat, ohne Fanbrille zubegründen, warum ein Album funktioniert oder eben nicht. Richtig kniffligwird es dann, wenn es sich dabei um improvisierte Musik handelt. Gibt esnichts über die immanenten Qualitäten eines Popalbums zu sagen, flüchtetman sich eben in das eh viel wichtigere Drumherum. Das Milieu, dieSubkultur, das Outfit, die Attitüde. Im Fall Neuer Musik helfen diemusiktheoretischen und philosophischen Abhandlungen der Komponisten –und im äußersten Notfall ein Adorno-Zitat. Aber wie soll man fundiert überfrei improvisierte Musik schreiben, wenn diese nur als Tonträger vorliegt?Wenn all das unsichtbar bleibt, was auf den Entstehungsprozess eingewirkthat? Die Größe des Publikums und dessen Reaktion. Die Akustik undAtmosphäre des Aufführungsortes. Die Laune der Musiker. Wie soll mandiese Musik verstehen, ohne die Bewegungen, ohne die Mimik der Musikermitzuerleben? Eine Möglichkeit besteht darin, eben nicht offensiv verstehenzu wollen, sondern sich in einem ersten Schritt auf seine Empfindungen zuverlassen. In weiterer Folge informieren diese dann den Intellekt – und nichtumgekehrt. Dieser Meinung war zumindest Cecil Taylor. Warum diesesEingeständnis der Ohnmacht? Weil mit „nie“ und „fabula“ zwei Albenimprovisierter Musik vorliegen, die im Grunde gleich klingen, jedoch nureines davon zu überzeugen weiß. Wieso? Ich weiß es nicht. Und doch fühleich, dass es so ist.Auf beiden Alben bewegen sich Ernesto Rodrigues und seine Mitstreiter imDunstkreis der lowercase-Musik, klingen aber etwas erdiger unddynamischer als der Genredurchschnitt. Ganz genau hinhören muss mantrotzdem, um die vielen winzigen Details dieser leisen Musik zu entdecken,deren Klangwolken sich abwechselnd verdichten und auflösen. Würde manes sich nun auf einem bewaldeten Hügel gemütlich machen, im Gepäck einenCD-Player sowie „nie“ und „fabula“, könnte man folgendes beobachten:Zwischen all dem Vogelgezwitscher und Summen der Bienen würde erstereswie ein akademisches, gelangweiltes Experiment, wie ein Fremdkörperklingen. „fabula“ hingegen wäre zunächst einmal Teil dieser Sommeridylle.Nach zwei Minuten exotischem Gezirpe würden Klangwolken die Sonneverdecken, der Hörer würde die Augen schließen und 45 Minuten lang ineine düster verzerrte Parallelwelt eintauchen, die der unseren erschreckendähnlich sieht. Dort scheint nur noch der Mond. Dort entweicht Dampf ausriesigen Kesseln. Dort stürzt ein Propellerflugzeug in den Abgrund –scheinbar endlos und vergessen. Die Vögel sind verschwunden, aus denWäldern dringt das Heulen eines Tieres oder Menschen oder Roboters.Gerade laut genug, um gehört zu werden und gerade deshalb so faszinierendund ergreifend. Auf „nie“ sucht man diese atmosphärische Dichte, dieseSpannung der leisen Töne vergebens. Vielleicht liegt das daran, dass „fabula“ein Live-Album ist und „nie“ nicht. Vielleicht fehlen Guerreiros Computer-Sounds und Moimêmes präparierte E-Gitarre. Vielleicht fehlt aber einfachnur jene Magie, die manchen Momenten und Begegnungen innewohnt undnicht weiter begründet werden kann. eder (freiStil)

Tonight’s CD is a really difficult one to review. Fabula is a disc by the quartet of Axel Dorner, Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimeme and Ricardo Guerreiro on the Creative Sources label. I’ve enjoyed listening to the CD on and off over recent days, but there are a number of issues arise when I come to write about it. To begin with, just mentioning that you enjoy a disc on the Creative Sources label causes eyebrows to rise in the trendier online music circles, but this has never bothered me. No, the issue here is that this is another quartet release involving Ernesto Rodrigues that fits neatly into a bracket of post-reductionist electroacoustic improvisation. Its another that’s not gabby and talkative, rather texturally focussed, but then also far from filled with silence also. Fabula is in many ways, stylistically at least, something of a middle of the road recording for modern improvised music. What’s more, this must be (and I’m guessing, I’ve not actually counted) something like the thirtieth or fortieth release on the label involving Rodrigues (he runs the somewhat prolific label) and many of them involve larger groups of modern electro-acoustic improv like this disc. So basically, this CD is nothing startlingly new. We can also even set out listening with a good idea of roughly how it might sound before we press play. Not exactly of course, and there are surprises in here as there are on most of Rodrigues’ discs, but the general area of activity is somewhat predictable. My problem, as I sit down to write here however, is that, like so many of the CS releases involving Rodrigues, I rather like the music, and I fond myself torn between criticising it for being nothing original and praising the musician for such a consistently interesting set of releases.

This returns us to the age old questions of investigative exploration in music- whether this should take place on some kind of micro level between musicians sitting down to improvise together, or whether the familiarity of established musical styles should be cast to one side at every available opportunity in the endless search for something new. Different strokes for different folks of course, but I am left with the question of whether I should recommend a CD that isn’t a million miles different from other Creative Sources releases. Fabula is an enjoyable, engaging listen that I have been very glad to spend a few hours with, but is it fair to recommend another CS Rodrigues disc after the previous few? I even wrote the liner notes for another recent disc involving Ernesto alongside Axel Dorner, is it OK to write positively about another when it presents nothing new stylistically and just adds to the endless debate about which of Creative Sources two hundred plus releases really need to be heard. Ultimately of course, market forces will dictate how many more CDs like this one appear on the label. Nothing I do or say is likely to have much of an impact. So I find myself only being able to be honest about how I feel about this album. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and in places I enjoyed it a great deal. It isn’t breaking any tremendous new ground, but it is thoroughly enjoyable to listen to, and some of the playing here is very sharp and creative. Do we cast aside all music that sits in predictable categories rather than try and be the next new thing? I think not, or at least not if it works well as a piece of music to just sit and listen to and enjoy. Fabula is precisely that. its a fine improv record by some strong improvisers. In this day and age it will sell about a hundred copies. If it gave me enjoyment however, it deserves a good review.

Anyway, rant aside, how does it sound? Well, if Dorner’s breathy trumpet blasts and Rodrigues’ slithery viola are extremely familiar by now, it may be worth noting that for me, the other half of the quartet took the real prizes on this release. If Moimeme’s prepared electric guitar is used sparingly but with great impact, often used as a percussive tool as much as anything, the strings and body often struck to release slowly decaying chimes as well amongst quite an array of contributions from the guitarist.Ricardo Guerreiro is credited just with computer, and his addition here is an inspired one. An unfamiliar name to me previously I think, Guerreiro is no shrinking violet feeding background washes behind the others here, rather he mixes quite an array of expressive, neatly  sculpted shapes into the fray, all quite abstract, long since removed from whatever sound they might have started out as and yet also not overly digital and cold. He weaves his synthetic sound neatly around the other three musicians in a thoroughly accomplished manner, and for me is the most impressive musical voice here.

So that’s it. A well played, vibrant single track of forty-five minutes in length that should delight those, who like me are able to appreciate good communal improvisation at the same time as look to other recordings to push the boundaries on. If you are one of the hundred or so people left that buy CDs like this one then I can recommend Fabula to you. is it better than many other CS discs involving Rodrigues? Well yes, its in the top bracket, but a much overdue overview of the label would be needed to try and compare one disc with another. One personal thought though- Rodrigues almost always favours groups of three, or more often than not even more musicians. I’d love to hear him play a duo, so that his viola is less hidden amongst the swarm of textures and more put in the open. There undoubtably are duo releases involving Ernesto, but its been a while since I heard one. Until then anyway, this is yet another nice disc to be going along with and a further strong addition to an impressive body of work. Richard Pinnell (The Watchful Ear)


Fabula est un enregistrement live certainement un peu plus représentatif de Dörner que le Cool Quartet, notamment de sa facette "réductionniste". Aux côtés du célèbre trompettiste, trois fidèles du label CS: Ernesto Rodrigues (violon alto), Abdul Moimême (guitare électrique préparée) et Ricardo Guerreiro (ordinateur). 

Il s'agit ici d'une longue improvisation électroacoustique. Une pièce minimale où toutes les textures se mélangent et se confondent. En 45 minutes, le quartet propose une succession de nappes sonores qui évoluent par micro-modulations. C'est intrigant et envoûtant, on est plongé dans une masse sonore calme et contemplative. Les évolutions sont lentes et linéaires, microscopiques la plupart du temps. De nombreuses techniques étendues sont utilisées pour créer ces agencements de textures souvent incroyables, mais surtout pour confondre les sources. Car il s'agit ici d'une musique collective, "holiste" pourrait-on dire tant les individualités disparaissent au profit d'un son global et collectif. Une exploration profonde de masses sonores variées et virtuoses, un très bon exemple de l'état actuel de la musique improvisée dans sa tendance minimale et réductionniste. Des dynamiques variées, des textures recherchées, un cohésion de groupe surprenante et absorbante pour une improvisation libre minimale et contemplative certes, mais intense et envoûtante! Une réussite. Julien Héraud (ImprovSphere)

I thought I'd wade into some of the 'noise' CDs waiting to be reviewed in our files. In fact I notice more and more bands around that are working in a completely different area from what we would probably call 'music', a more 'noise' oriented area, built up of work with electronics, live and prepared instruments. With these records one has to find another level to listen on, a little like acousmatic and electro-acoustic music. Pierre Schaeffer a man who is more or less responsible for 'musique concrete' and 'acousmatic music' talked about sounds in a new vocabulary, which I believe is called 'solfege du l'objet sonore'. Here he developed a whole new language to describe the construction of sound(s) to make new sounds unheard before. Anyhow I digress, let's move on to Fabula.

And so we have it, Fabula, made up of four musicians : Axel Dörner - trumpet, Ernesto Rodrigues - viola, Abdul Moimême - prepared electric guitar, Ricardo Guerreiro - computer. But how to describe the music (or maybe the sound) they make? Their music is built of fine layers of sound that come together to form a sort of pleasant 'interference' or wall of sounds that organically change throughout the piece. In fact I was immediately taken by the first few minutes as made me think of the noise an alien may make to communicate with, maybe fans of sci-fi will bare that out? In a way that's the beauty of this piece which spans 46 minutes. We hear many colours and combinations, most of which combine well, keeping the listener fixed to the speakers. The trumpet of 'Dörner' rarely uses traditional notes, sound is of utmost importance, texture seems to be the goal. 'Rodrigues' uses his viola in a more traditional way, franticly bowing his instrument or caressing it in a tentative manner hoping to find new vibrations which produce harmonics. Rodrigues and Dörner also develop moments of extremes of pitch which blend into the whistle and hiss of the group's sound. 'Moimême's' guitar is hit, scraped, fed back and changed in various ways, and even though his natural sound can be heard it is only maybe the tightening of a string, or a hammer-on, all very atmospheric. 'Guerreiro' is probably the only one who sounds like himself (a computer), and of course able to finitely change sound and re-process all that happens around him into a new vocabulary.

The music, which is a concert performance, swells around you creating a sort of semi-industrial sound-scape, sometimes mysterious and at times dark and cold. Yet the great thing is it does progress (develop), if not via a tonal system then by an inner logic that the performers felt at that moment. I guess performances of groups such as 'Beast', or the 'Evan Parker Electro Acoustic Ensemble' also work in this very exciting area which to my mind could be thought of as visual sound.

If you enjoy music that has the ability to make you hear mirages (!?), then you'll enjoy listening to this very image oriented sound piece. If you've been working in heavy industry you'll probably recognise some of these sounds. Just remember, 'Please do not adjust your hi-fi, there is no problem with your system!' Joe (The Free Jazz Collective)

Enregistré le 3 décembre 2011, Fabula donne à entendre Axel Dörner en compagnie d’Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimême et Ricardo Guerreiro. Sur paysage lunaire – si l’on s’accorde à attribuer à la lune lignes grêles et râles profonds, sifflements et larsens, suspension de bruits – le trompettiste progresse en discret. C’est une présence expérimentée en champ de mines que jalonnent des instruments détournés. Un monochrome, enfin, qui tient parfois de l’atmosphère. Guillaume Belhomme (Le Son du Grisli)

The fable which could come to my mind after the listening of the very first seconds of this collaborative release, performed and recorded by this strong quartet of improvisers in the cine-theatre Curvo-Semedo in the Portuguese town of Montemor-o-Novo could be one from Kipling's "The Jungle Books" due to the bizarre sounds produced by Axel Doerner's trumpet and Ernesto Rodrigues' viola, which could let the listener's think about a chorus of animal cries, but the sound gradually becomes more amalgamated and somewhat venturesome by means of occasional, but incisive guitar clutches by Abdul Moimeme, and computer filtering, sonic thumbnail sketches by Riccardo Guerreiro and kinky mutations of original sound of each instrument - appearances of each instrument have never been so deceptive! - so that it seems that it chips into multiple rivulets which crumbles the barriers between musicians and listeners as well as the ones between sense organs and environment. Stuart Broomer's quotation of Plato's "Republic" when the great Greek philosopher wrote "When the mode of the music changes, the walls of the city will tremble" while speaking about the political importance of music and the cogent description of the above-mentioned erosive process, which this combo manages to sparkle off little by little, in the linear notes totally recall any moment of this magnificently atmospheric proof of collectively performed improvisational aesthetics as well as its inner dynamics. Vito Camarretta (Chain DLK)

Mantendo dois elementos do disco anterior, Axel Dörner no trompete e Ernesto Rodrigues na viola, este disco junta dois outros músicos portugueses ao processo de construção musical: Abdul Moimême (na guitarra eléctrica preparada) e Ricardo Guerreiro (no laptop/computador). Aqui temos um som mais abrasivo (ainda que de forma controlada), com o trompete de Dörner em óbvio destaque desde o começo. Além, do trompete e da viola (sempre muito presente), vai ganhando destaque a contribuição de Abdul Moimême, com os seus sons metálicos. Do computador de Guerreiro saem novas camadas de sons, de forma discreta. Nuno Catarino (Bodyspace.net)

A live recording from Portugal's Cine-Theatre Curvo-Semedo of the minimal ea-improv quartet of trumpeter Axel Dorner, violist Ernesto Rodrigues, prepared electric guitarist Abdul Moimeme, and Ricardo Guerreiro on computer. (Squidco)

An amazing quartet recorded in December 2011 by João Bastos and Carlos Olivença at Cine-Teatro Curvo Semedo, Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal. As typical, they play one 46 minutes long free improvisation, full of sounds that could serve as a movie music for next editions of Jurassic Park. The most interesting for are the me guitar lines, but everybody is fantastic. The computer creations of Riccardo Guerreiro are indeed very creative and original. Ernesto, as always, is a guardian of the Highest Quality, and Axel is, as always, showing the most interesting sides of the avant garde music. Who could ask for more? Maciej Lewenstein

Nie

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS203, Lisbon 2012

One of the most abiding memories from my childhood is of a drawer at my grandmother's house full of a mass of tangled bits of cotton thread, wool and string that she kept for some reason, like grandmothers do. I didn't visit her often, but when I did I would be fascinated by the tangle of different colours, textures and thickness and would enjoy picking out the end of one thread, pulling it gently to see how far it would unravel before it took a hold in the enmeshed bundle. Some threads would jump out at me, brightly coloured, just asking to be tugged at, others would seem to be there just to hold the bolder colours in place. I always wondered how all of these pieces of thread came to be like this. This entwined mass seemed to be their natural state, but I wanted to separate it all out, understand howit all locked together. Today I have similar thoughts about improvised music, of which this CD is a fine example. Listening at a slight remove, the music is a mass of meshed colours and textures, some bright and bold, some aggressive, out to grab our attention, and others seemingly there just to hold it all together, to stop the fragile structure from falling apart. In good improvised music every sound has a purpose, nothing is thrown away, and within the music on this album each sound is where it is because a skilled musician placed it there. However the music cannot be without an element of chance. A brightly coloured thread placed by one musician cannot know that it will not suddenly meet a deep, thick black twine laid down by another or a mass of thin sinews from a third. The sounds on this beautiful album wrap together in the moment. As no architect could plan the course of each thread in a bundle of wool, no composer could notate music this alive. The only question remaining for the listener is whether to view the music as a whole or try and tug at the individual threads to see how much unravels. Richard Pinnell

1. oft – 12’25’’

2. of – 010’04’’

3. fto – 22’44’’

Ernesto Rodrigues – Viola

Christine Abdelnour - Alto Saxophone

Axel Dörner - Trumpet

Recorded in November 2008, Lisbon
Cover design Carlos Santos
Photography Axel Dörner

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


Reviews

Mais um tomo da continuada colaboração de Axel Dorner com Ernesto Rodrigues, "Nie" tem ainda a intervenção da saxofonista alto de origem libanesa Christine Abdelnour. O instrumentário é acústico, mas a sua utilização mimetiza, por vezes, a música electrónica, o que é especialmente evidente na segunda faixa, "Of". Como é de regra na improvisação de cunho colectivo, torna-se difícil distinguir quem faz que sons, apesar das diferenças tímbricas entre um trompete, uma viola e um sax. Ainda assim, a nossa atenção tende a concentrar-se no seguimento das contribuições de Abdelnour, tão essenciais e oportunas estas são para a geral construção desta música feita de pequeníssimos detalhes, cujos desenvolvimentos surgem das nuances dos materiais e do xadrez das dinâmicas. Tudo isto, diga-se, com o envolvimento de ambiências, e até estados de espírito, de grande efeito, o que não é propriamente comum na escola reducionista. Rui Eduardo Paes

While Lisbon children were walking around the city, knocking doors to repeat "Pao-por-Deus" (Bread-by-God), asking for chocolates, fruits, candies, food or money on the occasion of a celebration, which could look like Halloween, even if it was born to remember the devastating earthquake, the worst one to hit Lisbon in 1755, on 1st November 2008, a group of improvisers made up of Creative Sources' label manager Ernesto Rodrigues, the talented and somewhat bizarre German trumpet player Axel Doerner and French/Lebanese saxophonist Christine Abdelnour joined together at Tcha3 Studio to record this odd session. In the liner notes, Richard Pinnell says this record confirms his idea of actual improvised music, which recalls to his mind a drawer at his grandmother's house, full of tangled cotton and wool threads, and his children's game in pulling them in order to see how far each thread would unravel before taking "a hold in the enmeshed bundle". Pinnell's nice comparison with his childish memories keeps on focusing on the most relevant aspect of this release, id est the lack of structure, but even if there is no architecture and all canonical aspects of composition appear upside down, behind the interesting experiments on breathe insufflation, string smacking and tonal modulation, some listeners will notice a certain structure from the impression one of the three elements sounds like propping the intimate brittle skeleton of each moment, so that it seems that the intriguing techniques this trio exhibit represent a non-building made up of a pile of sounds, which seems constantly toppling as well as impossible to notate. Vito Camarretta (Chain DLK)

A studio recording made in Lisbon in 2008. Three rather stark, noise-based, arid free improvisations. A convincing performance, especially for alto sax player Christine Abdelnour, but after listening to Fabula yesterday (a 2011 recording featuring Rodrigues, Dörner, and two other improvisers), Nie comes off as less inspired. François Couture (Monsieur Délire)

Musik zu rezensieren, ist eine verrückte Idee. Das wusste schon Frank Zappa. Und das weiß jeder, der schon einmal versucht hat, ohne Fanbrille zubegründen, warum ein Album funktioniert oder eben nicht. Richtig kniffligwird es dann, wenn es sich dabei um improvisierte Musik handelt. Gibt esnichts über die immanenten Qualitäten eines Popalbums zu sagen, flüchtetman sich eben in das eh viel wichtigere Drumherum. Das Milieu, dieSubkultur, das Outfit, die Attitüde. Im Fall Neuer Musik helfen diemusiktheoretischen und philosophischen Abhandlungen der Komponisten –und im äußersten Notfall ein Adorno-Zitat. Aber wie soll man fundiert überfrei improvisierte Musik schreiben, wenn diese nur als Tonträger vorliegt?Wenn all das unsichtbar bleibt, was auf den Entstehungsprozess eingewirkthat? Die Größe des Publikums und dessen Reaktion. Die Akustik undAtmosphäre des Aufführungsortes. Die Laune der Musiker. Wie soll mandiese Musik verstehen, ohne die Bewegungen, ohne die Mimik der Musikermitzuerleben? Eine Möglichkeit besteht darin, eben nicht offensiv verstehenzu wollen, sondern sich in einem ersten Schritt auf seine Empfindungen zuverlassen. In weiterer Folge informieren diese dann den Intellekt – und nichtumgekehrt. Dieser Meinung war zumindest Cecil Taylor. Warum diesesEingeständnis der Ohnmacht? Weil mit „nie“ und „fabula“ zwei Albenimprovisierter Musik vorliegen, die im Grunde gleich klingen, jedoch nureines davon zu überzeugen weiß. Wieso? Ich weiß es nicht. Und doch fühleich, dass es so ist.Auf beiden Alben bewegen sich Ernesto Rodrigues und seine Mitstreiter imDunstkreis der lowercase-Musik, klingen aber etwas erdiger unddynamischer als der Genredurchschnitt. Ganz genau hinhören muss mantrotzdem, um die vielen winzigen Details dieser leisen Musik zu entdecken,deren Klangwolken sich abwechselnd verdichten und auflösen. Würde manes sich nun auf einem bewaldeten Hügel gemütlich machen, im Gepäck einenCD-Player sowie „nie“ und „fabula“, könnte man folgendes beobachten:Zwischen all dem Vogelgezwitscher und Summen der Bienen würde erstereswie ein akademisches, gelangweiltes Experiment, wie ein Fremdkörperklingen. „fabula“ hingegen wäre zunächst einmal Teil dieser Sommeridylle.Nach zwei Minuten exotischem Gezirpe würden Klangwolken die Sonneverdecken, der Hörer würde die Augen schließen und 45 Minuten lang ineine düster verzerrte Parallelwelt eintauchen, die der unseren erschreckendähnlich sieht. Dort scheint nur noch der Mond. Dort entweicht Dampf ausriesigen Kesseln. Dort stürzt ein Propellerflugzeug in den Abgrund –scheinbar endlos und vergessen. Die Vögel sind verschwunden, aus denWäldern dringt das Heulen eines Tieres oder Menschen oder Roboters.Gerade laut genug, um gehört zu werden und gerade deshalb so faszinierendund ergreifend. Auf „nie“ sucht man diese atmosphärische Dichte, dieseSpannung der leisen Töne vergebens. Vielleicht liegt das daran, dass „fabula“ein Live-Album ist und „nie“ nicht. Vielleicht fehlen Guerreiros Computer-Sounds und Moimêmes präparierte E-Gitarre. Vielleicht fehlt aber einfachnur jene Magie, die manchen Momenten und Begegnungen innewohnt undnicht weiter begründet werden kann. eder (freiStil)

Je ne suis pas un inconditionnel d'AD, mais placé entre de bonnes mains, sa musique peut vraiment se révéler ahurissante et digne de l'engouement qu'il suscite. Le placer par exemple entre les altistes Ernesto Rodrigues (violon) et Christine Abdelnour (saxophone) lui permet de produire une musique extrêmement puissante et créative.

Un trio exceptionnellement virtuose et un des meilleurs disques du label CS depuis longtemps. La rencontre est rêvée entre une exploratrice sonore intransigeante et deux musiciens très à l'aise dans le minimalisme et la recherche de textures. La surprise de nie, c'est que contrairement à ce qu'on pourrait attendre, ces trois improvisations sont très vivantes et réactives, parfois même violentes, fortes et agressives. Il s'agit de mettre en place différentes strates, d'assembler différentes couleurs et plusieurs timbres, mais de manière plutôt rapide et énergique. Les aplats sont en constant mouvement, l'intensité bouge sans cesse et les reliefs sont surprenants, autant que l'étendue des couleurs présentées. Trois musiciens qui semblent s'amuser tout en étant à l'aise sur de multiples terrains, des terrains souvent escarpés, fracturés, mais qui peuvent aussi durer et se plonger dans une calme contemplation du son. Chacun fait preuve d'une virtuosité monstrueuse, d'une recherche sonore aboutie sur un seul et même instrument. Et chacun sait écouter l'autre et réagir de la manière qui semble la plus naturelle et adéquate possible. Un grand moment d'improvisation libre, vivant, puissant, tendu et organique! Recommandé. Julien Héraud (ImprovSphere)

Enregistré à Lisbonne en novembre 2008, Nie donne à entendre Christine Abdelnour improviser en compagnie d’Axel Dörner et Ernesto Rodrigues. Le trio travaille-là à une architecture de papier sans cesse menacée : par les vents, coups d’archet, projectiles venant des musiciens eux-mêmes. Les graves de la trompette ont beau rêver de fondations solides pour ces constructions bientôt réduites à l’état de mirages : les engins d’inventions, anciennement instruments, sonneront l’heure des terribles déflagrations. Le disque n’en est que plus attachant. Guillaume Belhomme (Le Son du Grisli)


A trio of viola, alto sax and trumpet recorded in Lisbon in 2008 using mostly "extended techniques", those "other sounds" that can be made by almost any instrument and that have become ubiquitous. We get lots of sonorous hissing, metallic belching and buzzing and squealing string scrape placed in thoughtful juxtapositions. Sounds are often grouped together in short segments and attention is rewarded with startling timbral attenuations. An occasional "normal" instrumental sound — a clear trumpet note or plucked string — pops up, and there are short bits that revert to the old British quick-quick style. It's sort of like witnessing a quick dissolve of the music, from older to newer forms, back and forth.

Along the way we also get electronic sounding storms and odd bits of humor, as when we hear a failing circuit sound paired with a comically nagging buzz. Or the moment during the opening ""oft" wherein an air-raid siren gets coupled with a vacuum cleaner. I'm not sure that these pieces of music develop as much as just continue on. One short episode of sonic layering following another, each ending abruptly and then taking a sharp turn, until around the mid-point of the second piece "of". Here the layering is extended so that sounds lie on top of, as well as dove-tail, each other, and at one point a near-ballad sound grouping arises, and I'm almost positive I can hear a little laugh in the background before the illusion gets smeared into more metallic hiss.

I recommend listening to this set on headphones to hear all the nuances. You can play "what's that sound?" or just listen to the shifting sonorities dance around each other. Either way it's a fun listen and an excellent example of contemporary improvisation. Jeph Jerman (The Squid's Ear)

Este disco reúne o omnipresente Ernesto Rodrigues (na viola) com dois parceiros internacionais: a libanesa Christine Abdelnour (ex-Sehnaoui) no saxofone alto e o alemão Axel Dörner no trompete. Ao longo de três temas – estranhamente designados de “oft”, “of” e “fto” – o trio trabalha uma massa sonora tranquila, subtil, com as ideias bem entrelaçadas, num contínuo processo de encontro e desencontro. É particularmente interessante o trabalho no último tema, com sopros e cordas que, sem desenharem notas nem sons tradicionais (o ar a passar pelo metal, o dedilhar nas chaves, o arco quase imperceptível), vão desenhando sons abstractos que se vão articulando num curioso modo de comunicação. Nuno Catarino (Bodyspace.net)

A beautiful and subtle album presenting 3 extended improvisations from the patient and masterful hands of trumpeter Axel Dorner, violist Ernesto Rodrigues, and alto saxophonist Christine ABdelnour. (Squidco)

This is a very aesthetically pure record. One could say that they choose to play by a set of guiding principles. They favour pitchless sounds, block-shaped phrases, a close relation to silence and a type of interaction which avoids “call and response”. This choice to reduce could both be seen as a drawback, because it lacks expressivity (some might say) and humour, but it could also be seen as a benefit because the accumulation of all the aesthetically clean actions create a special universe that would otherwise not be possible. 

Listening to this record puts you in a special state of mind. It’s a cleansing experience. It’s almost like going through a kind of meditation, but which goes into various degrees of intensity. You become aware of the everyday life-feeling. The musicians are expressing that reality. The un-suspenseful but beautiful feeling of a silence. The beauty in different white noises. The very slow moving rhythm of things changing. Then at times, things intensify and can become even a little bit uncomfortable, with very loud and high pitches. The densification and diffusion becomes of central importance in this music. This gives the listener something that keeps the focus up. Another very important aspect which enriches this music is the variation of phrase lengths, and the varying placement of phrases between the musicians, which makes the interaction dynamic. In the end, the restrictive aspects don’t seem restrictive at all, but become a playground where the musicians can play freely. The listener is left with the feeling of having been told a story, and of having heard something very musically motivated (as opposed to intellectually motivated).

As far as I could research, this is the only published meeting between Dörner and Abdelnour, which makes it a very important record. They fit each other like hand and glove. Rodrigues fits perfectly too. As much as I love to listen to collaborations with more contrasting styles, I found this record to be such a nice relief. To listen to something which is so clean and in one sense simple (although it is very complex). Simple isn’t easy… Mofir (Great Records of Free Improvisation)