Mizutekiteki

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS298, Lisbon 2015

1. Mizutekiteki I - 12'24''
2. Mizutekiteki II - 19'09''

3. Mizutekiteki III - 06'02''

4. Mizutekiteki IV - 08'54''
5. Mizutekiteki V - 17'46''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Nuno Torres - Alto Saxophone

Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello

Rodrigo Pinheiro - Piano

Naoto Yamagishi - Percussion

Recorded in May 2014, Lisbon

Cover design Carlos Santos

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

Reviews

“Mizutekiteki”, opus de Ernesto Rodrigues com Nuno Torres, o seu filho Guilherme, Rodrigo Pinheiro e Naoto Yamagishi, poderia ser descrito como impressionismo abstracto, se tal categoria existisse. Tem um carácter meditativo mas não é só isso que o define: em vez do nada da meditação oriental pressuposta estão impressões, interiorizações subjectivas, mas partilhadas, de factores externos – uma observação das percepções do espaço por parte dos contribuintes, que não uma observação do espaço ele próprio. E lá estão, de novo, as repetições e a tentação para o fraseio, admitindo como inevitável tocar-se como se fala… Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)

[...] Il y a donc encore  Mizutekiteki réunissant le trio Rodrigues/ Torres/ Rodrigues, le pianiste Rodrigo Pinheiro et le percussionniste Naoto Yamagishi ou Surfaces avec le tromboniste Eduardo Chagas et Carlos Santos computer et analog synth et toujours ce trio concentré des deux Rodrigues père et fils et de leur apôtre Nuno Torres au saxophone qui donnent là encore une vraie démonstration de leur art. Jean-Michel van Schouwburg (Orynx)

Encore une belle réussite d’Ernesto Rodrigues et de ses compagnons où l’expression sonore bruissante radicale rencontre un réel sens de la forme. Les traits habituels des cadences et pulsations sont mises de côté dans une construction où chaque instrumentiste, violoncelle (GR), violon alto (ER) sax alto (NT), piano (RP) et percussions (NY) avance l’un après l’autre un son, une vibration, une attaque, un glissando, une note tenue l’un après l’autre, construisant une architecture de l’emboîtement spatial, de l’imbrication temporelle… un déroulement lent où pointent çà et là interjections et coups brefs. Frottements et grattements en tous genres, sifflements et vibrations acquièrent une réelle expressivité une fois que la communication s'est établie au sein du groupe. Les sons des musiciens, qu’ils soient éphémères ou s’obstinent comme un drone, se perçoivent dans le champ auditif comme s’ils gravitaient autour d’un centre imperceptible, s’imposant à l’oreille ou passant graduellement au second plan. Jouer de la sorte exige une écoute intense plutôt qu’une intensité du jeu. Chaque pièce acquiert par le jeu instantané un caractère particulier qui le distingue des quatre autres morceaux de Mizutekiteki tout en conservant une réelle cohérence. Dans un univers musical où l’expression individuelle prend une importance aussi égale, et souvent plus, que l’aspect collectif, ces cinq musiciens mettent l’écoute et l’intégration sonore collective au centre de leur démarche dans cet enregistrement du 29 mai 2014 au studio Tcha 3 à Lisbonne. Par rapport aux enregistrements des Rodrigues  père et fils réalisés il y a plus de dix ans, leur musique a acquis une authenticité organique, une vie et un feeling irréfutable. Cette approche musicale, genre difficile qui avait pu être ressenti comme un exercice de style ou péchait par sa longueur, est devenue au fil des ans, une réelle réussite grâce au fruit de l’expérience et à leur sagacité. Faites comme eux : jouez et il en restera quelque chose. Jean-Michel van Schouwburg (Orynx)

An exceptional lowercase acoustic improvisation album from some of the finest of Europe's outside-technique free improv players, with frequent collaborators and label-mates Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Nuno Torres on alto sax, and Guiherme Rodrigues on cello, in quintet with Red Trio pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro and French improv drummer Naoto Yamagishi.  (Squidco)

Blue Rain

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS296, Lisbon 2014

1. Blue Rain I - 23'10''

2. Blue Rain II - 08'42''

3. Blue Rain III - 13'23''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Mazen Kerbaj - Trumpet

Sharif Sehnaoui - Acoustic Guitar

Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello

Carlos Santos - Electronics

Recorded in June 2006, Lisbon

Cover design Mazen Kerbaj

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/blue-rain

Reviews

[…] Termino com uma pérola do reducionismo que-já-não-o-é-tanto-assim. “Blue Train” é uma gravação de Mazen Kerbaj com os Rodrigues, Carlos Santos e Sharif Sehnaoui em que pouco se reduz. Os silêncios são ainda mais falsos, pois há algo sempre a mexer, o espaço apresenta-se repleto de pequenos e grandes eventos simultâneos e há um bulício constante. Tudo funciona em bloco, com subidas de tensão e volume que farão, certamente, com que Malfatti, se ouvir o presente CD, escreva um manifesto sobre a pureza a preservar do “near silence”. Afinal, foi ele quem repreendeu Thomas Lehn por este se movimentar muito a rodar os botões do seu sintetizador, dizendo-lhe que aquele “histrionismo” não era… silencioso. Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)

[…] Et Blue Rain avec Mazen Kerbaj  et Sharif Sehnaoui. Il fut un temps où certaines rencontres sous la houlette d’Ernesto restaient au niveau d’une tentative honorable, mais sans plus. Aujourd’hui, il se fait un point d’honneur à produire des enregistrements tous remarquables, réussis, pleins de sens apportant une nouvelle contribution à une esthétique vécue comme un cul de sac chez d’autres. Jean-Michel van Schouwburg (Orynx)

Followers of free jazz and free improv scenes should be familiar with the name and the sonic art of Lebanese trumpet player and former painter Mazen Kerbaj as well as his long-lasting collaborator, the guitar player Sharif Sehnaoui. He gained some notoriety for "Starry Night", a 40-minutes lasting improvisation on trumpet recorded in Beirut on the night between 16th and 17th July, where he also grabbed the noise of Israeli bombs outside in the middle of the so-called war of 33 days in 2006 that Israel declared against Hezbollah in Lebanon (killing many more civilians than members of Hezbollah actually...). The difficult situation in that area of the world profoundly influenced both the music and the paintings by Mazen: the Picasso-like cover artwork of this release comes from his hand, and the analogy with the political works by Picasso is not casual... and the title "Blue Rain" also seems to be a quotation of the very first cycle of Picasso's painting, the so-called blue period. One of the interesting aspect of this output by Portuguese label Creative Sources is the moment when it got recorded: it comes from an improv session recorded by Diego Tavares at Tcha3 Studio in Lisbon on 23rd June 2006, some days before the Israelian bombing, but when it was clear that a military escalation of the political situation could follow. The sonic painting by Mazen on his beloved trumpet, whose mouthpiece got commonly joined to a yellow tube, and Sharif together with Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello) and Carlos Santos (on computer and piezos... the thuds at the end of the first of the three untitled tracks included in this release, as well as other moments you can supposedly catch while listening to it, could sound like a grim foreboding) seems to mirror such a worried whiff. Vito Camarretta (Chain DLK)

Three foreboding tracks of aggressive and open improvisation from long-time collaborators Lebanese trumpet player Mazen Kerbaj and guitarist Sharif Sehnaoui in a quintet with Creative Sources labelmates Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Carlos Santos on electronics; a confrontational, at times frightening world of sound; gripping. (Squidco)