Penedo

CD - Creative Sources – CS516, Lisbon 2018

1. I - 24'20''

2. II - 26'02''

3. III - 22'23''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello

Miguel Mira - Cello

Carlos Santos - Electronics

Recorded December 2017, Sintra

Cover design Carlos Santos

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

Reviews

As I continue to be busy (with a more extended project to appear in this space), so does Ernesto Rodrigues, with several more new releases, both including himself & not. While I might have something to say later about some of the latter items, with the convenience of Bandcamp, I can make a few remarks about some of the former albums now: In particular, I want to continue a focus on albums oriented on violin family ensembles, perhaps with some added spice. Rodrigues continues to be one of the leading producers of improvised music for bowed string ensembles, and if anything, seems to be intensifying his explorations in this specific arena: Penedo (the name of a region in Portugal) was recorded last New Year's Eve, and is another very long album from Rodrigues, with three twenty+ minute tracks coming to well over an hour. The ensemble presents something of a continuation to the concerns of the trio We Still Have Bodies (discussed here in August), but Penedo employs a string trio with a second cello (frequent collaborator Miguel Mira, yielding a fuller sound) joining Ernesto & Guilherme Rodrigues, and Carlos Santos subbing for Richard Scott on electronics. Santos generally brings a "smoother" (or more austere) style than Scott, with less contrapuntal "melody" per se, and more looping or sustain of frequencies at the extremes. (One might thus compare Penedo to Jardin Carré, the latter being a generally grittier & more inward looking affair, using a different string trio, and yielding a sense of circular reflection....) The second cello, of course, reflects a common (string trio) configuration for Rodrigues, e.g. already on Incidental Projections & Xenon (both discussed here in May 2017), and yields a tenor emphasis: On Penedo (perhaps given its place name title), the "central" texture thus supports a broad landscape sweep, invoking & acknowledging flora & fauna amid a general windswept (including via electronics) expanse. When technology intervenes, or more simply humanity, a sense of hybrid mystery arises, such that one ultimately finds oneself transformed by the journey, yielding a calm awareness & new attentiveness to one's surroundings. (The farewell has something of the ongoing, exploratory feel of Nashaz....) Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

Recorded on New Years Eve in Sintra in the Penedo region of Portugal, three strings--viola from Ernesto Rodrigues, cello from Guilherme Rodrigues, and a second cello from Miguel Mira--are joined by Carlos Santos on electronics for three extended and richly detailed improvisations, active yet concentratively controlled, using impressive and extended techniques. (Squidco)

"Penedo" in three parts is, in a sense, a "classic" quartet with Miguel Mira on cello and Carlos Santos on electronics. This is Rodrigues family operation at its best, and another magisterial example of free minimal music. The set was recorded in December 2017 in Penedo, Sintra, Portugal, which explains the title. Maciej Lewenstein

Buratino

CD - Creative Sources – CS570, Lisbon 2018

1. I - 10'16''

2. II - 03'45''

3. III - 16'12''

4. IV - 19'32''

5. V - 09'40''

Elo Masing - Violin

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Hui-Chun Lin - Cello

Caroline Cecilia Tallone - Hurdy-Gurdy, Objects

Ame Zek - 12 String Guitar, Objects

Recorded May 2018, Berlin

Cover design Carlos Santos

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

Reviews

Also recorded by Petzold in Berlin this past May was Buratino, an album featuring Ernesto Rodrigues without either Guilherme or the former (at least not actively playing), but including previous collaborators Elo Masing (violin, from Crane Cries) & Hui-Chun Lin (cello, most recently mentioned here around Poiesis in May) to form a string trio that is further bolstered by Caroline Cecilia Tallone (hurdy-gurdy) & Ame Zek (12-string guitar). Neither of the latter had appeared in this space before (nor had the hurdy-gurdy at all, apparently), although Zek does have a solo album recently out on Creative Sources (First Bow, "dedicated to fight and fighters against corrupt capitalism"), and of course both also involve strings: Buratino thus employs an unusual string quintet, with the hurdy-gurdy providing "bowed" sustaining potential (acoustically, rather than electronically), and includes some new collaborators for Rodrigues. (And perhaps I should add a remark on recent digital-only release Efterår, pairing the two Rodrigueses & Masing in a quintet, this time with Tomo Jacobson on bass & Mia Dyberg on alto sax, neither of whom had appeared in this space previously: It's yet another appealing album, sometimes aggressive after starting on harmonics, and also apparently focusing on mental or emotional transition for the listener via a variety of evocations amid wave-like explorations of continuity — although it's rather short. I also feel compelled to note that it already appeared on Bandcamp the day after it was recorded, in Berlin, this month!) So Buratino consists of five tracks — totaling very close to an hour, and arranged as 3+2, as if two sides of an LP — and ranges from searing aggression to haunting (bizarre, sometimes naturalistic) mystery. Adding the hurdy-gurdy & (unusual) guitar yields more timbral variety, and the wealth of sonic interactions here include some of the most striking & unusual among those assembled on the set of four string albums featured in this entry. Not as traditionally contrapuntal as Dis/con/sent, the quintet instead emphasizes a "main line" that is variously accented: High pitches swirl against a drone in the opening, whereas pizzicati or glissandi might be thrown off repeatedly from a low rumble, particularly yielding to hocket & a driving (grinding) continuity on the second "side" (which seems to want to undo or unwind the calm eventually emerging from the first). The striking sounds end up being rather composite (i.e. involving multiple instruments simultaneously), in repeating stable figures, as opposed to e.g. the sense of "timbral spanning" (or disarticulation) of Coluro. That said, the prolificity & frequent conceptual overlap of these albums does inhibit one in selecting a single item to feature as "special," which of course is not a requirement in this space, but does leave me making these mixed entries: The truth is that if a single one of these albums appeared in a vacuum, I'd probably spend more time on it, but instead I've simply come to expect (yet) more. Such practical circumstances & resulting expectations sometimes make me feel uncomfortable (with my own response), but "comfort" really isn't the point: I actually enjoy & appreciate that Rodrigues releases so many albums with so many different musicians, and don't want to feel as though I'm "penalizing" anyone for doing so! Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

A quintet of strings, hurdy gurdy, and amplified objects from Elo Masing on violin, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Hui-Chun Lin on cello, Caroline Cecilia Tallone on hurdy gurdy, objects, and Ame Zek on 12 string guitar, objects, recording in the studio for this 5 part improvisation, the hurdy-gurdy adding sustained mystery to a balance of subdued and assertive interaction. (Squidco)

dis/con/sent

CD - Creative Sources – CS563, Lisbon 2018

1. I - 16'10''

2. II - 03'57''

3. III - 12'18''

4. IV - 04'15''

5. V - 12'48''

6. VI - 03'31''

7. VII - 10'44''

dis/con/sent

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Dietrich Petzold - Violin, Viola, Bowed Metal
Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello
Matthias Bauer - Double Bass

Recorded May 2018, Berlin

Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/dis-con-sent-2

Reviews

Beyond (perhaps subtly) novel combinations of instruments featuring bowed strings, Rodrigues also continues to explore more specifically traditional (& acoustic) formats, with another "string quartet" album already appearing: Dis/con/sent is also over an hour in length, this time in a suite of seven tracks (alternating long & short) recorded in Berlin in May by Dietrich Petzold (violin, viola, bowed metal), again with Ernesto & Guilherme Rodrigues, now joined by Matthias Bauer (who was new to me, although he's previously appeared on Creative Sources) on bass. In Rodrigues's recent output, Dis/con/sent might thus be compared directly to Crane Cries (discussed here in April) by a "true" string quartet (i.e. with two violins, although Petzold once again changes instruments), or to Theia (discussed here in July) by what I've dubbed a "jazz string quartet" (i.e. bass instead of a second violin). Dis/con/sent is rather different in tone from either, an impressive & imposing release that's often quite aggressive, although slower or more mysterious around extended techniques at times too: Indeed, the "bowed metal" makes a jarring entry within moments, but is used judiciously from there. Dis/con/sent also employs a wide array of 20th century string quartet technique, including in its ensemble interactions, making it an improvised successor to some of the most dissonant — yet conventionally motivic — music in that format. (It might thus also be compared to the recent Ignis Fatuus, another string quartet discussed here in August, in that case doubling cello, and with more of a romantic or wry sensibility around Honsinger....) Indeed, listeners who enjoy e.g. Bartok or Shostakovich might well enjoy Dis/con/sent, although it's that much more adventurous: It's highly contrapuntal, even as the counterpoint can be repetitive at times, extending continuity (per Eris), and even (perhaps) yielding to nostalgia by the end. (However, the fern cover art doesn't appear to be supported by the kinds of naturalistic evocations sometimes found on these string albums from Rodrigues....) Parts of Dis/con/sent end up being calming, but (perhaps as implied by the title) that's more internal to the suite of movements, rather than an overall result, which suggests something of an intentional symphonic form (presumably as spurred by Petzold) & shifting attitudinal dynamic. It makes for a weighty & sometimes almost intimidating album, difficult to hear as fully improvised.... Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

An album for bowed strings, bowed metal, and double bass, from the quartet of Dietrich Petzold on violin, viola, bowed metal, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Matthias Bauer on double bass, presenting a seven part suite recorded in the studio in Berlin, active and exciting music that bridges classical technique with free improvisation. (Squidco)

En commandant l’album d’In The Sea, le fidèle Ernesto Rodrigues a mis cet album dans le paquet parce qu’en qualité de cordiste – violoniste engagé, il se doutait bien que ce dis con sent trouverait grâce à mes oreilles. Il a tout à fait raison. Cet album dans lequel les deux Rodrigues père et fils sont aux prises avec deux pointures berlinoises, le violoniste Dietrich Petzold et le contrebassiste (et cadet des frères Bauer – les trombonistes) Matthias Bauer dans un exercice salutaire : comme l’a toujours professé, répété et inscrit dans le marbre, les instruments de la famille des violons ne donnent leur pleine mesure qu’en étant rassemblés à l’abri des éclats des cuivres, des fréquences invasives de la percussion et de devoir adapter leur doigté à la tricherie de l’accordage du piano (l’addition des fréquences des intervalles de seconde, tierce, quarte, etc… n’est pas transitive). Ce n’est pas le premier des enregistrements du tandem Rodrigues, ensemble ou séparés, en groupe exclusivement cordiste à archet, mais ce dis con sent est sans doute une trace discographique majeure dans le cursus. Bon à savoir, vu l’étendue du catalogue C.S. Pour les reconnaître l’un de l’autre, Guilherme, c’est le fils souriant et il joue du violoncelle. Le père, pensif, excelle à l’alto, un instrument difficile pour lequel Dietrich Petzold est aussi crédité, en sus de bowed metal. En traversant d’écoute les pièces numérotées de I à VII, on a droit à toute la gamme des occurrences sonores, des cadences, des émotions, des raffinements et des emportements. Il n’est pas inintéressant de comparer au Stellari Quartet de Phil Wachsmann, Charlotte Hug, Marcio Mattos et John Edwards dont Emanem a publié deux albums et dont l’instrumentation est quasi-identique. Avec deux British et un Brésilien londonien d’adoption, il y a une dose d’excentricité, d’expressions plus individualisées. Mais les moments offerts par ce quartet Lisbonne – Berlin recèlent bien des qualités au niveau des timbres et des agencements interactifs dans une synergie pleinement vécue. Lueurs vif-argent, couleurs sombres, élégies vespérales, rebondissements primesautiers, créations de formes bien marquées et évolutives, ouvertes à la contradiction, entremêlements de frottés saturés et de doigtés en saccade, torsades de sons boisés et moirés. C’est tout bonnement exemplaire. Pierre Boulez a de son vivant invité le Stellari Quartet au festival de Lucerne à l’écoute d’un CDr proposé par Charlotte Hug. Charlotte : « Maestro, c’est de la musique entièrement improvisée ! ». Le compositeur avait souvent manifesté sa « désapprobation » face à l’improvisation. Mais il fut convaincu par le résultat qui utilisant les possibilités sonores des cordes et leurs imbrications etc… qui était très proche de la consistance et de l’évolution dramatique et musicale d’une œuvre conçue par un excellent compositeur et jouée par des instrumentistes au sommet de leur art. C’est bien l’impression de cette vérité, de cette réalité que je perçois ici. Une œuvre qui appelle à la réécoute, au chérissement Rosenbergien et mérite de figurer dans les annales. Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg (Orynx)