CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS445, Lisbon 2017
1. I - 36'54''
Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola
Carlos Costa - Double Bass
Manolo Rodríguez - Digital Synthesis
Recorded April 2017, Lisbon
domingo, 30 de abril de 2017
quinta-feira, 27 de abril de 2017
Blattwerk
CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS436, Lisbon 2017
1. I - 23'43''
2. II - 20'39''
Harald Kimmig - Violin
Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola
Miguel Mira - Cello
Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello
Vasco Trilla - Percussion
Recorded February 2017, Lisbon
[…] Blattwerk’s two torrents of strings move like a waveform, cresting and dipping in volume and intensity. The quintet features an unusual line-up—violin, viola, two cellos, and Trilla’s drums—and shifts between an indeterminate world of creaks and pops and one of nocturnal, romantic lyricism. Trilla is integrated seamlessly, matching his cymbals to scraped strings and fleet arco runs and meeting pizzicato plucks and thumped wood with rolling toms and bells. His touch is such that he never once overwhelms, instead finding subtle gaps and openings to bolster the strings.
Both tracks convey a sense of dramatic, even cinematic, development, although the feeling of journeying is most pronounced in the darkened movements of “II”. “Blattwerk” is the German word for “foliage.” What I see in my mind’s eye when I listen is not leaves rustling in the wind, but instead the shifting black mass of their shadows dancing across the ground. Evocative music, of the quality we’ve come to expect with Rodrigues and company. Dan Sorrells (The Free Jazz Collective)
Blattwerk! Opowieść o tym, jak perkusja stała się instrumentem strunowym!
Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej znalazła aż 33 powody, by z muzycznego punktu widzenia zapamiętać rok 2017, który w wielu aspektach był wyjątkowo dziwny, powykręcany i … ekstremalnie fascynujący.
Płyty roku, wg ultra subiektywnego widzimisię Pana Redaktora, widnieją na tej stronie od kilku dni. Pośród nich jest jedna, która, jak dotąd, nie doczekała się jeszcze recenzji. Czas niezwłocznie nadrobić tę skromną zaległość.
Przenosimy się zatem do Lizbony, a dokładnie do Galeria Monumental. Jest przedostatni dzień lutego 2017 roku. Na scenie niemal klasyczny kwartet smyczkowy (zamiast drugich skrzypiec jest … druga wiolonczela) i intrygujący zestaw perkusjonalny. Personalnie przed nami: Harald Kimmig - skrzypce, Ernesto Rodrigues - altówka, Miguel Mira i Guilherme Rodrigues – wiolonczele oraz Vasco Trilla – perkusjonalia. Panowie zagrają dwa improwizowane fragmenty, łącznie 42 i pół minuty. Dokumentacja fonograficzna koncertu zwie się Blattwerk, a firmowana jest imionami i nazwiskami całej piątki muzyków. CD dostarcza Creative Sources Records.
Blattwerk I. Sonorystyka nylonowych (i nie tylko) strun, wspierana szeleszczącymi przedmiotami z przebogatego zestawu Trilli. Rodzaj rozdygotanej filharmonii, w krytycznym stanie przedzawałowym. Sporo zawieszonych, stojących pasaży. Cmentarne tańce umarlaków, w oczekiwaniu na cud zmartwychwstania. Doświadczamy zarówno czystych akustycznie pereł dźwiękowych, jak i brudnych, upalonych mikrodystorcji. Vasco stawia swój werbel na sztorc już w 5 minucie i zachęca kwartet do bardziej energicznych poczynań. Jednocześnie, nie stanowi dla niego jakiejkolwiek problemu, by generować na swoich cudactwach dźwięki charakterystyczne dla instrumentów strunowych. Taśma magnetyczna, smyczek, zerwane struny gitary, drżące talerzyki i dygoczące chrabąszcze. To wszystko znajdziecie w jego magicznej walizce. 7 minuta, to pierwsza ekspozycja, która nosi znamiona eskalacji. Na razie, dość skromnej. Zwinnie i zadziornie! W improwizacji piątki muzyków nie brakuje, rzecz jasna, także drobin kameralistycznej zadumy i minimalistycznego zatopienia emocji. W 10 minucie strunowce idą w wysoki rejestr. Niewykluczone, że macza w tym palce także drummer. Narracja wszakże, w każdym aspekcie ulega ciągłym zmianom. Czasami nawet, co kilkanaście sekund. Recenzent nie ma szans na nudę. Gęsta, chwilami nawet demoniczna mikstura dźwiękowa. 13 minuta, symfonia miseczkowa Trilli. Tuż potem, na moment znów jest perkusistą i nawet … bębni. Końcowe fragmenty pierwszej części pachną reichowskim minimalizmem i błyskotliwą urodą zaniechania. Doskonałe wybrzmiewanie, w tym gronie muzyków, jest już oczywistą powinnością. Trochę, jak wielka orkiestra symfoniczna przed prapremierą Święta Wiosny, czynioną dla penitencjariuszy zakładu dla nierozpoznanych jednostek chorobowych. Demony nie śpią!
Blattwerk II. Mozolne droczenie się ze strunami. Przepychanki, prychania i obtarcia. Vasco siłuje się z obręczami swoich tomów, jakby były odrobinę za ciasne. Innymi słowy – przykład wielkiej sonorystyki na pięć źródeł dźwięku. Więcej niż piękne! Tuż potem, pójście w galop całej czeredy muzyków pachnie już geniuszem. Miseczki szczęścia w użyciu! 8 minuta, filharmoniczna zaduma w bardzo niskich rejestrach, którą puentuje Trilla, robiąc użytek z werbla! Strings też potrafią być armią perkusjonalną! Brawo! Na scenie Galerii dzieje się tak wiele, że pracę doktorską można śmiało popełnić! 12 minuta – nie pierwszy już dziś taniec demonów na mokrych od zimnego potu strunach, wspierany rezonującą orkiestrą Vasco. Krwawa filharmonia w rytmie Bolero! Talerze w ogniu! Droga na finałowy szczyt pachnie zdrową sonorystyką, ale zdaje się mieć wznoszącą trajektorię, definitywnie pod górę. Wiolonczele zupełnie niespodziewanie sprowadzają nas jednak do parteru, wulgarnym tembrem swych ołowianych, ciężkich strun. Groźna, bolesna ekspedycja. Ostatnie sekundy rozkładają nas na podłodze i wprowadzają w stan śmiertelnej medytacji. Cisza smakuje, jak płyn do odmrażania szyb. (Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej)
Continuing from the (perhaps, slight) departure of Traintracks Roadsides Wastelands Debris, Ernesto Rodrigues has already recorded several string ensemble albums in 2017, with Blattwerk (recorded in Lisbon this February) initiating a series of quintets in particular. I don't know to what the "Blatt" of the title refers, if it's a reference to shuffling pages or something else suggesting composition, but the music unfolds in ways that mostly fit with Rodrigues's recent output in general — more contrapuntal & less gestural than e.g. Iridium String Quartet. The core of the quintet here is very familiar at this point: Ernesto & Guilherme Rodrigues are joined by Miguel Mira, just as they were on Xenon (discussed here last month), which was also recorded (a few weeks prior) in February, and adds guitarist Miguel Almeida to that trio. Here that "central" trio of viola & two cellos is joined by Harald Kimmig on violin & Vasco Trilla on percussion. I had mentioned Kimmig in January when discussing the album Raw, on which his string trio is joined by John Butcher: Similar concerns of audibility, nature-culture duals etc. are evident from that Swiss trio as from many of these Portuguese releases. Trilla, of course, has been appearing in many interesting places — including on new favorite Still now (if you still). Once again, it's his metallic chiming percussion that is perhaps the most striking, albeit not used very often, and supplemented by various sorts of rubbing & buzzing. Besides these references for the musicians who actually appear on Blattwerk, it also re-raises recently discussed — particularly around Five — issues regarding the improvising quintet genre in general, and can most readily be compared to Chant in its ensemble constitution. (The latter uses marimba, specifically, rather than a general percussionist, and uses two cellos instead of cello & bass. Both are basically string quartets plus percussion, though.) As with many albums from Rodrigues, it starts slowly & quietly, and tends to build in waves, often returning to a more quiescent state or flow. At times, it is very active, with a wonderful contrapuntal density, occasionally evoking the string quartet literature, usually in a more contemporary sense, but in at least one extended passage, projecting a nostalgic mood. There are traditional string gestures, as well as individual string modulations & scrapings, high whistling harmonics (and Kimmig executes these very well), as well as boisterous accents. Although the ensemble moves into & out of different sections of its two tracks with continuity, the sections do take on different individual characters, in a bit of a collage sense (which is atypical of Rodrigues). It's these transitions that lend the album much of its emotional coloring — pace my remarks last month about emotional response & affective interplay: There's a visceral character here. Altogether, it makes for less of an "open tapestry" approach, though, as the polyphonic richness tends to be confined to particular explosive passages, and contracts into a more unified gesture before irrupting again. (Whenever the sonic gesture opens, it looks, rather sounds, different inside?) Although not always audible — not so unlike Magliocchi on Five — Trilla does stand out for his ongoing sense of rhythmic modulation. (The strings sometimes lead or follow into percussive plucking, but are more often concerned with bowing.) The result involves powerful moments emerging from a more general feeling of stasis, making Blattwerk (perhaps — which I say, because it's hard to know where he's going, other than that it's getting increasingly interesting) a notable recent release in Rodrigues's string series. (It consists of an event of events, one might say.) I'd stop to ask what's next, but I already have related albums that I'm preparing to discuss soon. 14 June 2017. Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts
"Blattwerk", recorded in Galeria Monumental in Lisbon with an unconventional string quartet of one violin, one viola, but two cellos, is amazing! It is an excursion into the land of free jazz/free improvisation, dominated by the strings, but absolutely non-trivially supported and stimulated by the drums and percussion. There are two tracks on the record: "I" starts very energetically, but returns to a more peaceful shape in the final parts, where it sounds like a piece composed by Karol Szymanowski... "II" is similar and perhaps even more explosive in the beginning, but also more quiet and beautiful in the final parts. As a whole, great, excellent, close to outstanding (*****) record!!! Maciej Lewenstein
segunda-feira, 24 de abril de 2017
Sound Bridge
CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS442, Lisbon 2017
1. I - 11'35''
2. II - 15'04''
3. III - 09'24''
4. IV - 09'59''
François Lebègue - Bass Clarinet
Guillaume Gargaud - Acoustic Guitar
Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola
Eduardo Chagas - Trombone
Recorded March 2017, Lisbon
domingo, 23 de abril de 2017
Nepenthes hibrida
CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS444, Lisbon 2017
1. I - 14'34''
2. II - 10'08''
3. III - 08'12''
4. IV - 13'41''
Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola
Yedo Gibson - Soprano Saxophone
Miguel Mira - Cello
Luis Lopes - Electric Guitar
Vasco Trilla - Percussion
Recorded December 2016, Lisbon
[…] Trilla fits agreeably into the Creative Sources aesthetic, which values collective mood-building over individual displays of prowess. Nepenthes Hibrida was recorded live a few days before Christmas 2016, and features Trilla, violist and label boss Ernesto Rodrigues, cellist Miguel Mira, Yedo Gibson on soprano saxophone, and a notably minimalist Luis Lopes on electric guitar.
“I” ventures carefully, the players difficult to distinguish within the hushed activity. Eventually, Gibson begins to goad the other players into raising the volume, and the music moves fluidly between periods of agitation and near silence. By the arrival of “II”, the group have worked themselves into a knot of activity, with Trilla taking an open, aggressive approach and Lopes at one point sounding like he’s tearing the wiring out of his own amplifier. The track reaches the levels of terrible beauty that Völga have so perfected: a stationary, towering monolith of sound, conveying not narrative or moment, but only sheer presence. “IV” highlights the interesting interaction Gibson and Trilla have developed through their duo work, sounding like the groaning of swaying skyscrapers. In all, Nepenthes Hibrida captures a wide-ranging performance, one that nicely bridges some of the contrasting approaches and sensibilities the five musicians bring to the collaboration. Dan Sorrells (The Free Jazz Collective)
Przed nami niezwyk?a hybryda! Pi?ciog?owy stwór swobodnej improwizacji, na który sk?adaj? si?: Ernesto Rodrigues – altówka, Yedo Gibson – saksofon sopranowy i frula (flet ba?ka?ski), Miguel Mira - wiolonczela, Luis Lopes – gitara elektryczna, Vasco Trilla – perkusjonalia. Spotkanie muzyczne zrealizowane u progu ubieg?orocznych ?wi?t grudniowych, w Lizbonie (O'culto da Ajuda), na koncercie. Cztery utwory potrwaj? 46 minut, p?yta z dokumentacj? fonograficzn? zwie si? Nepenthes Hibrida, a ukaza?a si? dzi?ki Creative Sources. Podmiotem muzycznym s? personalia ca?ej pi?tki, wymienione w kolejno?ci, w jakiej prezentowa?em muzyków kilka wierszy wy?ej.
I. T?usty ?cieg perkusyjny jako t?o, kontrastuj?ce pasa?e trzech strunowców (w tym jednego pod pr?dem), jako danie zasadnicze. Saksofon sopranowy zapl?tany w wewn?trzn? improwizacj?, niczym Trevor Watts u boku Johna Stevensa, jakie? 45 lat temu. Ze strony ka?dego z muzyków a? iskrzy pomys?ami. Ciekawe mikrodysonanse elektroakustyczne ze strony Lopesa. W 5 minucie zwinna ekspozycja Miry, na tle pl?sów altówki, wiedzie orszak improwizacji samym ?rodkiem galaktyki. Strings Rules! Zej?cie w cisz? ambientu i sonorystyki mistrzowskie! Powrót z b?yskotliw? repetycj? sopranu (rodzaj p?tli). Kolektywna, konwulsyjna droga na szczyt, który muzycy osi?gaj? w 10 minucie.
II. Oddech ciszy. Pojedyncze d?wi?ki, szepty, chroboty, tarcia i mikroiskrzenia. Step by step muzycy wchodz? w interakcje i serwuj? wi?ksze partie d?wi?ków. Ale nadal posuwaj? si? do przodu… stoj?c na palcach (8 min). By nie sp?oszy? ciszy, by na powrót si? w niej zanurzy?. Epizody po 11 minucie znów przypominaj? recenzentowi niezwyk?e czasy Spontaneous Music Ensemble, tym razem tego strunowego, po roku 1975. Eskalacja, która nast?puje tu? potem, smakuje perfekcj? i niebywa?? wra?liwo?ci?. Spora aktywno?? Trilli i Gibsona stale dynamizuje poczynania kwintetu i nie pozwala strunowcom (zw?aszcza akustycznym) na kameralistyczne grepsy.
III. Rezonans na gryfie Lopesa! Trzaski na tomach Trilli! Suchy oddech Gibsona! Zwinne palcówki Miry i Rodriguesa! Spokojna, ale g?sta narracja, definitywnie nieha?a?liwa. Akustyczne strunowce przejmuj? dowodzenie! Odrobina poj?kiwania w estetyce call & response. Pi?kny fina?!
IV. Vasco popada z rezonans. Miguel i Ernesto wchodz? mu w pó? zdania i pyskuj?. Yedo snuje separatywn? opowie?? w molowej nietonacji. Altówka ci?gnie w raz z nim ten nostalgiczny pasa?. Niespodziewana zmiana narracji – strunowce id? w galop (ale bez Lopesa), prawdziwy taniec na gryfach! Struny a? iskrz?! Troch? molekularnych interakcji, du?o d?wi?ków w jednostce czasu. Strings rules again! W tle frula Yedo (a mo?e to sopran?). Eskalacja zdaje si? tu by? najlepszym rozwi?zaniem – pnie si? ku górze, krwawi?c obficie nieoczywist? doskona?o?ci?. Muzycy spleceni w jedno cia?o, stawiaj? stempel za stemplem. Znów szczypta molekularno?ci w estetyce SME. Trilla pod??cza jazzowy drumming! Jak?e ?wietny komentarz! Mira idzie z nim w to wulgarne tango! Gibson dorzuca do ognia niebanalne trzy grosze. Konkretnie free jazzowy galop! Whaw! Konwulsyjny fina? doskona?ej p?yty! Puenta ze strony Vasco i Yedo (okaryna?) wy?mienita!
****
W uzupe?nieniu tegorocznej dyskografii perkusisty z Barcelony, warto podkre?li?, i? wy?ej omówiona p?yta nie jest jedyn?, jak? nagra? on dla Creative Sources, w towarzystwie Ernesto Rodriguesa. T? drug? jest kr??ek Blattwerk, a muzykami j? wspó?tworz?cymi: Harald Kimmig (skrzypce), Guilherme Rodrigues i Miguel Mira – wiolonczele. Prawdziwy String Quartet w perkusjonaliami w roli czwartego strunowca. (Trybuna Muzyki Spontannicznej)
Blattwerk was followed closely by a couple of other quintets, both featuring Ernesto Rodrigues & Miguel Mira (the latter consistently on cello here), and both with not only electric guitar, but a horn as well. Nepenthes hibrida was actually recorded a couple of months prior to Blattwerk (in Lisbon this past December), and once again features Vasco Trilla, with Luis Lopes on guitar & Yedo Gibson on soprano sax & frula (a Serbian vertical shepherds' flute). I had not heard of Gibson previously, but he's from Brazil & has performed extensively in duo (& otherwise) with Trilla. I've referred to Lopes a couple of times here, most recently via his duo with Fred Lonberg-Holm: Whereas his playing sometimes involves extensive rock distortion, even a massive wall of sound, here it's much more subtle — with no "rock guitar" in evidence. The title of Nepenthes hibrida refers to carnivorous pitcher plants — not so unlike Natura venomous, perhaps, albeit with no performers in common — & further suggests human-nature interaction via hybridity. There are four tracks, and I find the first to be quite potent: The five musicians are all active, forging a dense & differentiated outpouring of polyphonic interaction right from the start. The result almost comes to seem like film music at times with its potent string "sawing" — & indeed the strings set much of the tone throughout — & bold presence via an unusual (for Rodrigues anyway) degree of rhythmic structure. (And Trilla is outstanding here.) Even the requisite fade leaves a sense of potency hanging in the air, a certain tautness, upon building from the quiet center of the track. (Gibson's particular contributions start to become more distinct, showing a tendency to come from background to foreground & back, almost mimicking the "sawing" of the strings, such that the horn can fade into the texture.) The second track opens in a rather subdued mood, however, as more than half of its length revels in calm, featuring some resonances & plucking, before emerging into more active counterpoint, to the point of almost starting to sputter (to fit awkwardly into its rhythmic jacket) at the end. The third opens in quiet again, before different (whistling, scraping — jungle?) sounds start to array themselves in space, gathering momentum into a fascinating collective texture. (I particularly find myself listening to the viola for much of this track.) After a warping percussive opening, the final track slowly becomes more string-oriented again, particularly via glissandi, and even features something of a (cello) melody amid resonant lines of flight. As the other performers become quiet or silent, it might be said to present something of the same (trio) ensemble as on Traintracks Roadsides Wastelands Debris, albeit in a different context, and before speeding up for a driving conclusion with the return of drums & horn. So where's the sense of hybrid music among such chirping & growling — among other sounds, including traffic already in the latter part of the first track? Beyond juxtaposing jungle sounds & traffic, there's also a sense of process, i.e. of where a track starts & ends up. There's also a sense of hybridizing two duos who regularly play together, e.g. Rodrigues-Mira & Trilla-Gibson, with Lopes (and his cross-genre orientation) presumably part of the alchemy (or is that genetic modification?) between them. I very much enjoy the opening, and there are a wide variety of fascinating interactions throughout the album — it seems as though many of the combinations could be developed (or hybridized) further: It's an issue with a quintet, or a strength, that there are so many combinations to explore. The sense of the carnivorous, the sense of danger, does seem to fade as Nepenthes hibrida proceeds though. Perhaps that's the idea, for us to feel more at home in the world. [...] 15 June 2017. Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts
A supergroup consisting of four stars of the Lisbon scene and one of the Barcelona scene, with some Portuguese blood, however. This album was recorded live at O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon.
Stylistically, the music is similar to other "strings" of Vasco with Portuguese viola and cello masters the big di fference is addition of the phenomenal Yedo Gibson and Luis Lopes. The opening "I" is a powerful track, with a great dialogue of the guitar and the soprano, followed by a nice duo of the viola and finger picked cello. Vasco add to all of it not only an obvious salt and pepper, but also his own in nite creativity. "II" starts with some "fake" sounds of the percussion, and a beautiful guitar lines. The viola and cello solos are very touching. "III" starts with electric guitar sounds, which are the replaced by another pizzicato cello and viola dialogue, with delicate, yet necessary drumming support. "IV" closes the set the drumming is here more intense. Strings and guitar trio is unbelievably fast. The final soprano-drums duo, with small, but essential viola accents, is a pearl. Maciej Lewenstein
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