Monochrome bleu sans titre

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS223, Lisbon 2012

1. (IKB1) - 18'53''
2. (IKB2) - 13'04''
3. (IKB3) - 10'55''
4. (IKB4) - 18'54''

IKB ENSEMBLE

Ernesto Rodrigues – Harp, Inside Piano

Guilherme Rodrigues – Cello

Miguel Mira – Double Bass

Rogério Silva – Trumpet
Eduardo Chagas – Trombone
Bruno Parrinha – Clarinet, Alto Clarinet
Nuno Torres – Alto Saxophone
Pedro Sousa – Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone
Abdul Moimême – Prepared Electric Guitars
Carlos Santos – Computer
Ricardo Guerreiro – Computer
José Oliveira – Percussion
Nuno Morão – Percussion
Monsieur Trinité – Percussion

Recorded in March 2012, Lisbon

Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/monochrome-bleu-sans-titre

Reviews

Referencing the work of French artist and composer Yves Klein, this large group of Creative Sources regulars perform the 4 part Monochrome Bleu Sans Titre, a subtle and rich work of acoustic and electronic improvisation. Squidco

A cor International Klein Blue criada pelo artista plástico Yves Klein, serve de ponto de partida para a criação do ensemble IKB, como uma afirmação estética mais vasta da criação musical contemporânea. Esta formação composta por 14 músicos foi constituída por Ernesto Rodrigues, incansável dinamizador no tecido da música improvisada nacional, e responsável pela editora Creative Sources. Trata-se de um ensemble que privilegia o espaço arquitectónico, a escuta activa e o timbre. Através da disposição instrumental, da escolha das texturas e gestos musicais que os seus membros colocam em evidência durante a performance, a pausa e o silêncio criam contraponto com a produção sonora, mais, são parte vital da mesma. Com instrumentação mista, acústica e electrónica, utilizada de um modo eclético, explora a noção de espaço composicional numa perspectiva reducionista, partindo de linhas simples que se vão complexificando dando lugar a tensões e desenvolvimentos. Trem Azul

Inspirée par le peintre Yves Klein, la musique collective de l’IKB (orchestra ?) couronne avec succès les années d’activités musicales et d’édition des animateurs du label Creative Sources, Ernesto Rodrigues, son fils Guilherme, Carlos Santos, Ricardo Guerreiro et compagnie. Seize musiciens rassemblés pour une superbe création sonore. Une musique en suspension, apaisée où une multitude de sons se croisent, naissent et meurent lentement dans un sentiment du temps et de la durée qui tende à l’infini. Les souffles, grattements, frottements, grésillements, harmoniques, vibrations et chocs légers s’interpénètrent, émergent ou disparaissent dans un flux univoque et une couleur spécifique. On en oublie la source sonore, les instruments utilisés avec des techniques étendues, de manière réservée et dans une douceur quasi cérémonielle. C’est un des plus beaux enregistrements que j’ai pu entendre parmi ceux qui résultent de ces mouvances « New Silence », « réductionnisme », « soft noise », « drone », « eai », « post-industriel ». Plus qu’un paysage sonore, c’est un univers pluri-dimensionnel complexe et changeant où chacun apporte des sonorités toujours renouvelées avec un beau sens de la continuité. Citons les tous : Ernesto Rodrigues, harpe et intérieur du piano, Guilherme Rodrigues, violoncelle, Miguel Mira, contrebasse, Rogerio Silva, trompette, Eduardo Chagas, trombone, Bruno Parrinha, clarinette, Nuno Torres, sax alto, Pedro Sousa, sax tenor et baryton, Abdul Moimême, guitare électrique préparée, Carlos Santos, ordinateur et microphone, Ricardo Guerreiro, computer, Nuno Morao, percussion, Monsieur Trinité, percussion, José Oliveira, percussions. Une harmonie bruissante dans une entente parfaite. La suite des quatre morceaux (IKB 1, IKB 2, IKB 3, IKB 4) évoluent vers la diminution de l’activité sonore de la fin. La qualité de l’enregistrement et le fait que chaque instrument est à distance égale dans l’espace font de cette belle expérience d’écoute, une aventure réellement fascinante. Un véritable événement dans l’évolution de la musique improvisée et de l’art sonore que je réécoute avec grand plaisir. Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg (Orynx-improv'andsounds)

IKB is a 14-piece improvising ensemble organized by Ernesto Rodrigues. Monochrome bleu sans titre (“untitled blue monochrome”) is a studio project recorded in March 2012. Rodrigues plays harp and inside piano. His son Guilherme and regular partners Miguel Mira, Carlos Santos, José Oliveira, Ricardo Guerreiro and Abdul Moimême are among the players. The stereo separation of the musicians is exemplary, and reproduced in the booklet, so you can localize each contribution to this extremely delicate web of sonic interactions. Sensitive electroacoustic improvisation, deliberately white-washed – or should that be blue-washed. François Couture (Monsieur Délire)

A 14-piece ensemble in homage to Yves Klein--Ernesto Rodrigues (harp/inside piano), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Miguel Mira (double bass), Rogerio Silva (trumpet), Eduardo Chagas (trombone), Bruno Parrinha (clrinets), Nuno Torres (alto sax), Pedro Sousa (tenor and baritone sax), Abdu Moimeme (prepared electric guitar), Carlos Santos (computer, microphone), Ricardo Guerreiro (computer), Nuno Morao (percussion), Monsieur Trinite (percussion) and Jose Oliviera (percussion). Four tracks, the first a fine, quietly ringing piece with high, suspended harmonics hovring over delicately scurrying percussion and several strata between, an entirely enjoyable AMM-ish exercise for large group. The work slowly gains volume though the activity is never frantic, more a gradual awakening. But things never get above a good simmer, the ensemble demonstrating fine control, varying the colors widely but not excessively. I'm not sure if there was a guiding force behind the set or if it was more purely a group improv but, either way, the results make for excellent deep listening. Good job. Brian Olewnick (Just Outside)

In spite of the semicircle on the inlay artwork, which is similar to the typical graphical representation of the seating arrangement of different musicians of an orchestra, and so many improvisational musicians involved in the project, referring to IKB as an "orchestra" could be quite misleading. IKB could better be defined an ensemble with some specific and somewhat original features: its conceptual framework focuses on French painter Yves Klein, leading figure of the artistic movement he co-founded in 1960 with art critic Pierre Restany, the so-called "nouveau realisme" (new realism), as suggested by the fact this ensemble names after the bright and intense blue hue, International Klein Blue, that Monsieur Klein first mixed and widely used for a lot of installations and paintings. According to the Nouveau Realism Manifesto, whose members autographed on a rigorously IKB panel, and the artistic perspective of this group, the surrounding world could be observed as a sort of modular picture and any artist could take single parts as well as incorporate them into their works in order to "seal" a sort of bond between art and life and a return to concrete world in opposition to abstract art. Their aggregation/congregation was considered a sort of "collective singularity" as it derived from the awareness of their differences, whose "trait d'union" was mainly methodological and based on the grabbing of reality. Whereas that movement mostly unfolded itself in visual arts, IKB ensemble could be considered the missing link with sound art. On the four sonic canvasses, it seems that they apply their precepts by means of instrumental clips and sounds derived from objects, which sound like emulations of daily sounds or rubber-stamps or casts from concrete reality and while it seems they flow into tonal streams, listeners could have the impression of a choral mimicry. Ernesto Rodrigues and his crowd of talented collaborators (Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Miguel Mira on double bass, Rogerio Silva on trumpet, Eduardo Chagas on trombone, Bruno Parrinha on alto clarinet, Nuno Torres on alto saxophone, Pedro Sousa on tenor and baritone saxophones, Abdul Moimeme on prepared electric guitar, Carlos Santos and Ricardo Guerreiro on computers, Monsieur Trinite', Nuno Morao and Jose Oliveira on percussions) presumptively invented a possible new direction for improvisational scene. Vito Camarretta (Chain D.L.K.)

L’IKB (nommé ainsi d'après la série de peinture d'Yves Klein - International Klein Blue) est un collectif portugais de quatorze musiciens, habitués pour la plupart du label CS et proche du cercle qui gravite autour d’Ernesto Rodrigues. Ce dernier quitte ici son alto pour explorer la harpe et l’intérieur du piano, et à ses côtés, on retrouve Guilherme Rodrigues (violoncelle), Miguel Mira (contrebasse), Rogério Silva (trompette), Eduardo Chagas (trombone), Bruno Parrinha (clarinette et clarinette alto), Nuno Torres (saxophone alto), Pedro Sousa (saxophones ténor et baryton), Abdul Moimême (guitare électrique préparée), Carlos Santos (ordinateur et microphone), Ricardo Guerreiro (ordinateur), Nuno Morão (percussion), Monsieur Trinité (percussions) et José Oliveira (percussion).

Les quatre pièces proposent des versions différentes d’une musique identique à elle-même. Une musique lente, calme, posée et abstraite. Une musique qui glisse insensiblement d’une matière abstraite à une autre par micro-variations. Tout ici se joue ici à l’échelle microscopique, des écarts entre les notes et les sons à la présence des musiciens qui effacent leurs instruments derrière de la matière sonore pure. Les instruments se distinguent assez bien, mais ne se hiérarchisent pas, tous ont ici pour fonction de produire des textures sonores avant tout. Ordinateurs, instruments traditionnels et préparés ne se confondent pas mais plongent sans concession au plus profond du son, dans ses propriétés souvent les plus abstraites. D’où, comme vous pouvez vous en douter, une effervescence de registres extrêmes, de techniques étendues, de notes jouées de manière machinale et neutre, de sons abrasifs et longs qui vont des peaux raclées à l’émission de salive dans les cuivres et toutes sortes de souffles spectraux.

Je ne suis pas un grand fan des travaux d’Ernesto Rodrigues avec ce genre d’ensemble très large, mais quand même, il y a toujours quelque chose de très surprenant. Car avec des formations réduites, il peut produire une musique abstraite et minimale dans la veine d’un réductionnisme radical, une musique aérienne, légère, calme, posée, au niveau de l’atmosphère et de la durée; et abrasive ou corrosive, bruitiste en somme, mais aussi collective et cohérente, au niveau du son. Et toutes ces qualités se retrouvent dans les grands ensembles qui parviennent à produire une musique aussi calme et aérée – si ce n’est plus parfois – qu’un trio ou un quartet instrumental. Le résultat est donc tout de même toujours étonnant. Julien Héraud (ImprovSphere)

De la lente suspension proposée par Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues, Miguel Mira, Rogero Silva, Bruno Parrinha, Eduardo Chagas, Nuno Torres, Pedro Sousa, Abdul Moimême, Carlos Santos, Ricardo Guerreiro, Nuno Morao, Monsieur Trinité et José Oliveira, on n’oubliera pas de sitôt la lente suspension. Ici, chacun frôle son propre effacement sans jamais s’y résoudre. L’instrument s’oublie mais pas la douceur qui s’y déploie. Le temps s’arrête, n’a plus aucune prise avec la réalité. Le songe se révèle, intense et irradiant. Luc Bouquet (Le Son du Grisli)

“Monochrome Blue Sans Titre”, CD de tributo ao pintor Yves Klein proposto pelo ensemble IKB. O interessante deste trabalho, e deste agrupamento de 14 elementos dirigido por Ernesto Rodrigues com alguns dos nomes mais importantes da improvisação lusa, não reside propriamente num esforço de contenção colectiva, e sim de focagem, de concentração. De um ponto de vista malfattiano, há demasiados sons a acontecerem, demasiados cortes na superfície do silêncio. Mas são, precisamente, os jogos de timbres aquilo que mais agrada no disco, a forma como cooperativamente se vão construindo as situações, sem atropelamentos nem colagens, cada músico estando consciente do seu lugar e percebendo que é apenas uma parte do todo. A música surge em camadas e tem uma dimensão orquestral, mas é de uma transparência que não se julgaria possível com uma formação de grande número. Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)

Surgido das cinzas da Variable Geometry Orchestra (VGO), o IKB Ensemble é uma formação de grande dimensão que trabalha a improvisação sob direcção de Ernesto Rodrigues. Para este disco de estreia reuniu um grupo alargado de músicos improvisadores nacionais: Guilherme Rodrigues (violoncelo); Miguel Mira (contrabaixo); Rogério Silva (trompete); Eduardo Chagas (trombone); Bruno Parrinha (clarinete, clarinete alto); Nuno Torres (saxofone alto); Pedro Sousa (saxofones tenor e barítono); Abdul Moimême (guitarra eléctrica preparada); Carlos Santos e Ricardo Guerreiro (computador); Monsieur Trinité, Nuno Morão e José Oliveira (percussão); e Ernesto Rodrigues (harpa e piano – excepções ao instrumento habitual, a viola). Apesar da quantidade de músicos e da multiplicidade de recursos, a música gerada pelo colectivo é marcada pela moderação, sempre controlada, sem dar lugar à expansividade. Inspirado por Yves Klein, que criou a cor “International Klein Blue” (IKB), este ensemble trabalha uma música assente em fervilhantes pequenas ideias, mas sem nunca chegar a explodir. Nuno Catarino (Bodyspace.net)

Referencing the work of French artist and composer Yves Klein, this large group of Creative Sources regulars perform the 4 part Monochrome Bleu Sans Titre, a subtle and rich work of acoustic and electronic improvisation. (Squidco)

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