Sediments

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS629, Lisbon 2020

1. I - 31'34''

LISBON STRING TRIO & GABRIEL FERRANDINI

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Miguel Mira - Cello

Alvaro Rosso - Double Bass
Gabriel Ferrandini - Percussion

Recorded November 2019, Lisbon
Cover design Carlos Santos

Collage by Dilar Pereira

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

Reviews

After I'd just discussed Trio KSZ & And George Lewis earlier this month, the similarly inspired Lisbon String Trio has released their twelfth album, Sediments featuring Gabriel Ferrandini on percussion, recorded live in Lisbon last month. It's a relatively short album, but opens with a (percussive) bang to make a strong impression: I hadn't been very familiar with Ferrandini (b.1986), that is outside of Red Trio (another group that had a run of quartet albums with various guests) & elsewhere alongside his usual bass partner, Hernâni Faustino. (It turns out that Ferrandini's more personal explorations are recently available on Clean Feed with Volúpias, an album of composed music for a classic free jazz sax trio — sonically dominated by the horn, as is traditional.) Ferrandini also joins fellow Red Trio member Rodrigo Pinheiro in recording with Lisbon String Trio, the latter's Rhetorica (discussed here this past August) having appeared recently as well. Ferrandini further joins Portuguese icons Sei Miguel (on From Faust) & Carlos Zingaro (on Theia) — both albums first discussed here in July 2018 — in recording with LST after developing a reputation elsewhere. But the most similar album, at least in some ways, might be Merz with Gil Gonçalves on tuba (discussed in July 2019), in that the soloist is relatively centered & quite audible in what comes off as a concerto format. (From Faust already showed some of this concertante character.) In this, compared to some of the subtler articulations in the series, it's relatively easier to hear & follow. The combination with strings & percussion also seemed relatively rare, but upon recalling some precedents, it's more the way that the musicians interact on Sediments that's different: There was actually a run of trio albums of this basic sort — i.e. drums, bass & either viola or cello — in 2017 for some reason (as I don't believe I've been ignoring them since): Natura morta's fourth album Environ (with Frantz Loriot) was discussed here that April, followed quickly by both Spinning Jenny (featuring Daniel Levin) & the Judson Trio's An Air of Unreality (with Mat Maneri) later that month, and then The Selva (featuring Ricardo Jacinto) in June. (Of course, there've been many other trios with e.g. guitar or electronics in an otherwise analogous sonic configuration.) What these albums have in common, though, is the basic layered format of a jazz sax trio, i.e. with the higher string as "horn" supported by a rhythm team. Sediments, besides being a quartet, adopts a different configuration, however, in centering the percussion in a concerto-like format. Perhaps a more relevant, seemingly classically-inspired example would be the album pair Blattwerk (quintet) & Zweige (sextet), likewise from Ernesto Rodrigues & featuring Vasco Trilla on subtly pervasive percussion amid string ensembles. (These albums also hinge with Trio KSZ via Kimmig's participation, and the second even seems to anticipate the LST series, as Alvaro Rosso joined the prior quintet already including Miguel Mira.... It's also interesting that, although Rodrigues records so often with other string players, his participation in such ensembles augmented by percussion — beyond those just mentioned with Trilla — has been relatively rare, the last trio apparently being the evocatively titled Aether with Monsieur Trinité, as mentioned here in October 2016.) Perhaps the most direct comparison, sometimes featuring marimba in this way, is still the quintet album Chant.... (And in another direction, I should cite the recent Trappist-1, on which Ramon Lopez & Mark Feldman perform strongly contrasting roles, but it's still creative percussion supported by classical-inspired violin, if more traditional in the latter case....) In any of these situations, it seems as though balance issues could present themselves, mandating either restraint or layering of roles: Indeed, struggling to hear everything happening has been part of the experience of listening to many of these albums in the past (although updated equipment has helped greatly), but Sediments takes a different approach. (It's also different from the similarly named Sediment — first discussed here in March 2015 — from drummer Carlo Costa: There, the geologic inspiration yields relatively impersonal layers to be traversed in time as a sort of travelogue, although it does end up being sonically similar at times....) Sediments instead begins with a sort of percussion eruption, as even the strings are percussive to start, a sort of initial uncoiling slowly sedimenting & smoothing into longer lines & legato string tones, as well as quietly rolling percussion, while retaining an original nonlinear dynamic. Later timbres can seem quite a contrast to the sharply metallic opening, passing through wood blocks & other material sonorities as they develop, until the opening seems almost to have exhausted itself — all while balance issues are ultimately handled impressively (in both loud & quiet modes). There's a lot of presence, and generally some lively figures, even as the sediments start to harden. I don't feel personally transformed as a result (although Sediments does transform its own material), but such a "percussion concerto" arrangement has much to offer: It's the flashy opening that continues to make the strongest impression, with little aura of jazz per se, but the various timbral combos & nonlinear directions generated by the quartet on Sediments already suggest many (more) possibilities for such a combination of forces. Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

Ernesto Rodrigues (altówka), Miguel Mira (wiolonczela) i Alvaro Rosso (kontrabas) powołali do życia Lizbońskie Trio Strunowe cztery lata temu, edytorsko zaistnieli zaś w roku 2017, gdy udostępnili światu od razu sześć albumów (bodaj o jednym z nich pisaliśmy na tych łamach). Kolejne epizody dostarczali wielbicielom kameralnej, swobodnej improwizacji dość regularnie, jakkolwiek z nieco mniejszą częstotliwością. W sumie doczekaliśmy się jak dotąd dwunastu płyt tria, przy czym aż w jedenastu przypadkach były to edycje trio +1.  Wydawcą wszystkich płyt w formacie CD jest – co z zrozumiałe – Creative Sources Records.

Rok 2020 Lisbon String Trio otwarli płytą Sediments, którą nagrali z gościnnym udziałem jednego z naszych ulubionych, iberyjskich drummerów Gabriela Ferrandiniego. Rok poprzedni zaś zamknęli płytą Rhetorica z udziałem innego członka słynnego RED Trio, pianisty Rodrigo Pinheiro. Właśnie o tych dwóch płytach chcemy Wam dzisiaj opowiedzieć.
 Perkusyjne otwarcie - liczeni krawędzi, sprawdzanie jakości naciągu membrany na werblu – i szmer na strunach altówki łagodnie wprowadzają nas w klimat koncertu. Ferrandini od pierwszych chwil szuka narracji, ale póki co, raczej tonie w ciszy oczekiwania. Struny wydają pojedyncze fonie dla podkreślenia owego stanu dramaturgicznego napięcia. Jednak już po 2 minutach śmiało możemy ogłosić, iż narracja została uformowana. Free chamber czynione jest w tempie dalekim od typowego slow motion, w czym zasługa głównie nadaktywnego drummera, która nie pozwala na sekundę zawahania. Następujące po kilku minutach pozorne zejście w obszar ciszy zdaje się być jedynie pretekstem do wzrostu dynamiki opowieści. Gabriel stymuluje i napędza flow, kameralna zaduma, to nie jest jego naturalne środowisko. W 8 minucie na gryfie kontrabasu pojawia się smyczek, dając sygnał do drobnego, barokowego spowolnienia. Tło trzyma jednak … dynamiczny taniec pałeczek perkusyjnych na talerzu. Prawdziwa cisza spowija nas na moment po kolejnych dwóch minutach. Struny oddychają spokojnie, a Gabriel liczy misy i małe talerzyki, które zabrał ze sobą na koncert. Kind of dark chamber in slow motion as well! – notuje bystry recenzent. W upływie 13 minuty viola zaczyna harcować, ale pozostałe smyki trzymają ją w ryzach dramaturgii. Deep drumming wzmaga nastrój tajemniczości. Rozkołysane chamber z czasem nabiera jednak pewnego rodzaju dynamiki – dobre expo staje się udziałem szczególnie altówki. Po 18 minucie łyżkę jazzu i swobodnego drummingu dorzuca Ferrandini. Strunowce w komentarzu kolebią się od prawej do lewej i wiszą w błyskotliwym suspendzie…


Ponowne pojawienie się smyczka na gryfie kontrabasu stanowi kolejny stempel jakości. W 23 minucie tempo delikatnie rośnie, co w dużej mierze jest skutkiem aktywności aktówki i perkusji. Nie na długo jednak, albowiem narracja znów staje w miejscu i cudownie rozbrzmiewa - raz rozkwita, innym razem tuli się w wielobarwne pąki. Perkusyjne szczoteczki w galopie, to następny pomysł Gabriela, który doprowadza jednak narrację na skraj … kolejnej ciszy. Pojedyncze struny altówki drżą, te z wiolonczeli płyną wąskim strumieniem. Zwinne szczoteczki, dźwięczne talerze, a także mała polerka strun budują finałową część koncertu. Perkusja w pełnym rozkwicie i lekko zwieszone strunowce kreują zjawiskowe zakończenie, które ma swoje tempo, ale czynione jest delikatnie, niemal na palcach. Brawo! Andrzej Nowak (Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej)


Portugal's Lisbon String Trio of double bassist Alvaro Rosso, cellist Miguel Mira and violist Ernesto Rodrigues, are joined by Red Trio/ Rodrigo Amado Motion Trio drummer Gabriel Ferrandini for this concert performance at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal as part of the CreativeFest XIII, finding inspired balance in introspective sections and periods of exciting activity. Squidco

Finally, another Meisterstück of Lisbon String Trio, this time with Gabriel Ferradini on percussion, recorded during the CreativeFest XIII at O'Culta da Ajuda, Lisbon in November 2019. The presence of powerful drumming of Gabriel changes the spirit: the music is closer now to free jazz mixed with free improvisation, and is simply breathtaking! Maciej Lewenstein

Aura

CD - Creative Sources Recordings – CS628, Lisbon 2020

1. I - 31'14''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Nuno Torres - Alto Saxophone

Abdul Moimême - Prepared Electric Guitar

Recorded March 2019, Lisbon
Cover design Carlos Santos

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

Reviews

Three frequent collaborators--Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Nuno Torres on alto saxophone, and Abdul Moimeme on electric guitar--captured live in 2019 at Logradouro da Compostinha, in Lisbon, Portugal, each using their instruments with unusual approaches through extended techniques, in a half hour set balancing subtle aural ambience with rich, detailed activity; spellbinding. Squidco

The Creative Sources label should be well known to anyone interested in "different music", with well over 600 titles in their catalogue. Label boss Ernesto Rodrigues appears on quite a few of them, and his modus is generally to work with quiet sounds and extended techniques, captured by close-miking and careful attention.

Here, abetted by alto saxophonist Nuno Torres and electric guitarist Abdul Moimeme, the game plan gets stretched a bit. The single half-hour piece begins with quiet tones and scrapes, in soft clusters connected by gritty ropes, like cotton balls hung from a diamond saw. Recognizable notes intermingle with inexplicable sounds in constant forward motion. Chattering and buzzing feature prominently. Somewhere around the thirteen-minute mark, things become decidedly more tonal, led by Torres' sax. The trio expands into the kind of quick fairly straight-ahead combining we might've heard during the heyday of British improv. There follows then an exhibition of chordal mixing dissolving into quieter, sparser ruminations studded with an occasional pop or crack or metallic whang. A folk fiddle tune slides by amid big electric clouds. A stringed storm front skirts the edges and handfuls of whistles extrude out of the center. The artwork on the cover, what could be a messy pile of wire(s) with a dark center, fits the sound rather well methinks. Jeph Jerman (The Squid's Ear)

"Aura" is another non-standard recording of Ernesto, realised in March 2019 live at Longradouro da Compostinha in Lisbon. It is recorded by the trio of Ernesto-Abdul-Nuno, and it is really a vehicle for the fantastic alto improvisations by Nuno Torres, who is one of the truly great figures of the alto saxophone in Europe and in the world. Which does not mean that Ernesto and Abdul do not do anything! Amazing stuff!!! Maciej Lewenstein

White bricks and the wooden mutes

Creative Sources – CS DIGITAL, Lisbon 2019

1. The Bridge - 22'36''
2. Th Key - 10'08''
3. Th Bend - 10'07''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Biliana Voutchkova - Violin

Rodrigo Pinheiro - Piano

Recorded June 2017, Lisbon
Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/white-bricks-and-the-wooden-mutes

Reviews

Nowy, prawdziwie futurologiczny rok 2020 rozkręca się, ale na łamach Trybuny czeka nas jeszcze trochę zaległości z roku 2019. Na liście 50 płyt wartych zapamiętania z tegoż właśnie roku, sformułowanej wg subiektywnych knowań Pana Redaktora, znalazły się dwa wydawnictwa, które nie były jeszcze przez nas recenzowane. Dziś prezentujemy jedno z nich.


Dwudziesty dzień czerwca 2017 roku, urocza jak najzwyczajniej Lizbona i miejsce zwane O'culto da Ajuda. Na scenie trójka niezwykle skupionych muzyków, przy okazji naszych świetnych znajomych – skrzypaczka Biliana Voutchkova, altowiolista Ernesto Rodrigues i pianista Rodrigo Pinheiro. Zagrają zmysłowy koncert, na który złożą się trzy swobodne improwizacje, czynione w duchu wyzwolonej kameralistyki, sięgające wszakże swymi ponadgatunkowymi mackami do niemal każdego zakątka muzyki współczesnej, to znaczy – muzyki współcześnie tworzonej. Jesienią 2019 roku portugalski label Creative Sources (edycja cyfrowa) umieści tę muzykę w plikach elektronicznych ku radości całego świata, po tytułem White Bricks And The Wooden Mutes. Całość zaś odsłuchu zajmie nam dokładnie 42 minuty i 51 sekund.

The Bridge/ Most. Pojedynczy akord suchego piana, szczebiot strun szykujących się do lotu i cisza otwartej przestrzeni, która drży w oczekiwaniu na rozwój wypadków scenicznych. Skrzypce podśpiewują niczym zagubiony wędrowiec na skraju pustyni, piano rezonuje czarnymi klawiszami – kameralna opowieść palona żarem zachodzącego słońca. W trzeciej minucie bystry recenzent odnotowuje ciekawy dialog skrzypiec i altówki, która brzmi jak piano, czyniony posuwistymi ruchami smyczków po gryfach. Muzycy zdają się szukać pretekstu do tańca, ale ich ruchy krępuje smutek niezdecydowania. Po chwili stawiają jednak na swoim – chamber slow dance! Pierwsza, skromna erupcja scenicznych emocji. Fortepian Rodrigo sieje post-jazzowy ferment, Biliana skrzy się instrumentalną wirtuozerią, Ernesto szuka na skraju altówki rozwiązań minimalistycznych. Opowieść nabiera gęstości w okolicach dziesiątej minuty – skrzypaczka śpiewa tuż nad powierzchnią strun, altowiolista zdaje się stać u progu czegoś hałaśliwego, pianista sugeruje masywny meta rytm wprost z czarnych klawiszy. Po niedługim czasie narracja zostaje błyskotliwie ugaszona, a violin & viola przechodzą do fazy piłowania strun. Piano czyni dokładnie to samo. Cisza wokół nabiera dronowej struktury i wiedzie muzyków na finał tej części koncertu, zdobionego krzykiem pojedynczych strun.

The Key/ Klucz. Urywane, krótkie frazy, akcenty percussion na gryfach, piano kroczące swoim wewnętrznym rytmem, wyposażone w dramaturgiczne zadziory. Po czwartej minucie opowieść zwinnie osiąga stan półgalopu, szybko jednak traci dynamikę i chwilowo wypycha muzyków na scenariuszowe manowce. Ich ruchy noszą znamiona minimalizmu i kameralnej repetycji. Reagują na siebie w estetyce call & responce. Piano jako ostatnie gasi światło.

The Bent/ Zagięcie. Koncert dumnie wkracza w fazę preparacji i wzajemnego rezonowania instrumentów. Pojękiwanie strun, skowyt klawiszy, step by step ku nieznanemu. Biliana zawodzi jak mały tygrys, któremu ktoś okaleczył stopę, altówka skrzypi niczym najstarsze drzwi w tej części świata, a klawisze fortepianu stroszą pióra. W połowie czwartej minuty narracja nabiera szczypty dynamiki. Oba strunowce szorują struny w meta tanecznym rytmie, piano szuka melodii ukrytej głęboko w pudle rezonansowym. Partia improwizacji robi się niespodziewanie głośna. Muzycy brną na sam szczyt i tkają opowieść bardzo gęstym ściegiem. Finał tego niezwykłego koncertu kipi emocjami, lśni post-freejazzowym światłem. Poszukiwanie ostatniego dźwięku urzeka akustyczną urodą – Biliana śle małe drony, Ernesto poleruje struny, a Rodrigo liczy białe i czarne klawisze. Andrzej Nowak (Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej)

Of the albums in the round-up, this is the one I had anticipated with the most eagerness. Two violas and a piano? Lisbon-scene stalwarts Rodrigues and Rodrigo Pinherio with Biliana Voutchkova of Blurred Music renown? What’s not to like?


Another live recording (though from a 2017 date), White Bricks and the Wooden Mutes promised to be bold (and understated) and forceful (but subtly so). This assumption may have encouraged me to listen harder or concede to it certain intentionality. That says, it is nevertheless a standout among this compelling set of releases. One viola turns to drones. The other, clicks plucks. Pinherio’s piano responds with metallic chords, flight runs, and rapid interior pizzicato. The music then glides into some of the most active and spirited exchanges I have heard Rodrigues engaged in. This approaches free jazz at its clunkiest and most energetic. But, it does this briefly. As with Rodrigues’ quieter releases, the group focuses on shaping sound out of a dialogical morass. It concentrates on dynamics, rather than melodicism or unfettered ebullience. Still, counter to my expectations, understatement and near-silent nuance are the exception, though they do appear at brief moments in the valleys. Much of the rest is composed of the layers of whistling notes, frayed crackles, nervous scrapes, and controlled dynamism that have come to characterize Rodrigues’ projects, albeit here at comparatively amplified volumes. It is an odd combination for Rodrigues, but a wholly satisfying one. Nick Ostrum (The Free Jazz Collective)

Prima pratica

CD - Creative Sources – CS621, Lisbon 2019

1. Dissonanze I - 17'38''
2. Dissonanze II - 31'55''
3. Dissonanze III - 12'17''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Luis Senra - Tenor Saxophone

Gianna De Toni - Double Bass

Luis Couto - Electric Guitar

Biagio Verdolini - Homemade Instruments

Recorded January 2019, Ponta Delgada, Azores
Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/prima-pratica

Reviews

Another recent album from Creative Sources, in this case taking a while to make much of an impression on me, is Prima pratica by another quintet led by Ernesto Rodrigues (on his usual viola), and recorded in the Azores this past January. Prima pratica is another long album (over an hour), and largely features musicians with whom I wasn't familiar. The exception is Gianna De Toni (double bass), who appeared e.g. on the short yet often potent quartet album Synchronous Rotation with Vasco Trilla & the two Rodrigueses (as discussed here in March 2018).... Beyond that, Biagio Verdolini (homemade instruments) is credited with zither on string 11tet+1 album Sul (mentioned here in August 2018, although not Verdolini himself), while Luis Senra (tenor saxophone) & Luis Couto (electric guitar) were unknown. (I won't assume they're all young, but they may be....) In any case, what instrument is making what sound tends toward the opaque on Prima pratica, as sounds are decontextualized (i.e. per classic musique concrète, but done live) & then used gesturally. Beyond the imposing album title, individual tracks are also titled "dissonanze" I-III (thus evoking e.g. Nashaz, on which sounds are actually far easier to place), providing an enigmatic prompt for what is otherwise rather sparse music. (And when it does emerge into a rare forte, it's usually tonal.) The sparse decontextualization involves taking another step — toward austerity or essence? — from e.g. Coluro, on which timbral spanning is rather systematic, yet also "thicker" & more individually discernible. Prima pratica is then not only more distended in its sonic materials, but adopts a more linear approach (via its gestural clarity) in order to sketch long arcs & their imputed space. It's also largely acoustic. Further, I wouldn't be discussing this album (at least in any detail) if it weren't ultimately affective, and although that affectivity does require listener investment, a potent & calming quality consistently emerges via such attention. (I'm thus unsure whether to differentiate Prima pratica from ambient music — in that, absent investment, very little seems to happen: Nonetheless, the affectivity is real.) The sparseness thus comes to suggest something essential about musical line & timbre, as well as asks one to take (often subtle) dissonance per se seriously: A plaintive quality also comes to emerge, somehow evoking its island setting (in modes seemingly allied to those of Rodrigues' work with his Suspensão ensemble...), while remaining carefully balanced. Quiet thus comes to yield transformativity, as muted colors arc like threads through invisible space.... (In this, Prima pratica is similar yet different from Stratus, which although layered in pastels, is tauter & in broader timbral strokes, featuring more general continuity....) In some ways, the sometimes mysterious origin of the sounds contributes to the impression of space, but in other ways, concerns of that sort tend to fade away: The first track is already especially satisfying in that regard, invoking a sort of kenosis that's expounded into the second (which does come to seem a bit overlong, at over a half hour by itself...) with its sometimes extended "radio signal" atmosphere. Shadows of melody do also appear, though, amid various bubbling & bouncing fluid streams. The shorter third track soon seems overlong again too, but its pulsations also continue the theme, as arcs of color continue to outline broad affective spaces. It seems that this sort of style could continue to be abstracted & elaborated quite broadly & evocatively.... Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

A very open free improvisation of Portuguese musicians recording in Azores, PT from the quintet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Luis Senra on tenor saxophone, Gianna de Toni on double bass, Luis Couto on electric guitar, Biagio Verdolini on homemade instruments, using space amid patiently evolving conversation with an overall acoustic feeling in three movements of "Dissonanze". Squidco

Slow-motion deconstruction of bassline supported by crackles, chimes, plucks, and hollow metallics. Light wafts of half-melodies. Delicate percuss and saxophone clucks. Softly but restively screeching strings. Speaks to both the common ideas and discipline of the group dedicated to discovering the minute, dissonant idiosyncrasies of the musical moment and extending them deep into time. A second can be an instant or a prolonged meditation on a single bent tone, scraped surface, or, more often, combinations of minor events.


What makes this unique in this bunch is the primary role played by Gianna De Toni’s bass. It frequently stands out in its depth and clarity and seems the linking element between prevalent atmosphere of strange sounds (Luis Senra’s contorted sax huffs, Luis Couto’s altered guitar, Biagio Verdolini’s bag of homemade devices, and, of course, Rodrigues’ viola) and more traditional and recognizable musical elements. Nick Ostrum (The Free Jazz Collective)