Asteres Planetai

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS246, Lisbon 2013

1. Asteres Planetai I - 14'18''

2. Asteres Planetai II - 09'32''

3. Asteres Planetai III - 08'39''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Nuno Torres - Alto Saxophone

Mike Bullock - Analogue Synthesizer

Recorded in June 2013, Lisbon

Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/asteres-planetai

Reviews

Curiosamente, ou nem tanto assim, é menos gestual o sintetizador de Mike Bullock em “Asteres Planetai”, registo em que Nuno Torres completa o trio. A qualidade bruitista da música repete-se, desmistificando a ideia de que a electrónica analógica cria mais grão, e mais uma vez aplicam-se perspectivas não literais de movimento. O que, de resto, favorece a envolvência onírica desta incursão. Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)

The title of this release is Greek for “wandering stars,” the name the ancient Greeks gave the planets, whose orbits appeared irregular compared to the observed circular motion of the so-called fixed stars. It serves as a nice metaphor for the sounds created by these three instrumentalists which, like the observed paths of the planets, converge and diverge in patterns that resist reduction to simple figures.

Recorded in June 2013 in Lisbon, the three improvisations presented here feature Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Nuno Torres on alto saxophone, and Mike Bullock on modular synthesizer. All three tracks consist of sound construction built up of quiet textures and drones interspersed with moments verging on silence. The subtle dynamics are occasionally broken by upsurges in volume, which are all the more dramatic given the general understatement of the playing. The twittering, humming and burbling sounds of Bullock’s modular synth act as a sort of frame within which Rodrigues and Torres set out their own sounds. Both approach their instruments as material to be broken down into constituent parts: Rodrigues anatomizes the viola through exploratory string tapping, plucking, and a skittering bow, while Torres somehow makes reed, breath and metal tube audible as separate sound sources. In sum, this is improvisation of a gratifyingly nuanced

kind. Daniel Barbiero (AMN Reviews)

Nice title... :-) From June, 2013, a trio with Rodrigues again on viola, Torres on alto saxophone and Bullock eschewing bass in favor of his modular synth. As one might expect, quite different from the above, more visceral including the in and out usage of drones or drone-like passages effected, I think, both by the alto and the synth. It's not frenetic by any means just a few notches higher on the urgency scale than "Late Summer" as well as sporting an expanded sonic palette. Torres does a welcome job of allowing the listener to forget that there's a saxophone present while, on the other hand, Rodrigues engages in a tad more "traditional" technique extensions on the viola. Bullock seems to supply much of the material here, unless I'm confusing sources (quite possible), issuing metallic bubbles here, static there and various shades of sine-age throughout and interpolating a surprisingly loud and "inappropriate" noise on occasion which is much appreciated. It closes with watery gurgles...Not as captivating as the Malfatti trio but solid enough and well worth hearing. Brian Olewnick (Just Outside)

Os astrónomos gregos utilizavam a expressão “asteres planetai” - “estrelas errantes” - para classificar os objetos que aparentemente se movem no céu. Ao longo das três faixas deste disco o trio constituído por Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Nuno Torres (sax alto) e Mike Bullock (sintetizador modular) desenvolve uma música que parece viajar na atmosfera sideral. Não é um voo tumultuoso, é um trajecto planante em piloto automático, sem surpresas, sem grandes desvios de rota ou obstáculos de maior. De uma forma geral o trio revela estar muito focado e coeso. Os pontuais momentos de maior intensidade partem do sintetizador de Bullock. Rodrigues, Torres e Bullock podem não ser estrelas, mas vão-se movendo, ainda que de forma tranquila. Nuno Catarino (Bodyspace.net)

The rich but understated improvising trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Nuno Torres on alto saxophone, and Mike Bullock on modular synthesizer, named after the Greek term for wandering stars, an apt description of their balance of space, acoustic, and electronic sound. (Squidco)

Berlin

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS238, Lisbon 2013

1. I - 02'50''

2. II - 06'53''

3. III - 13'53''

4. IV - 10'18''

5. V - 09'56''

6. VI - 05'02''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Chris Heenan - Alto Saxophone, Contrabass Clarinet

Alexander Frangenheim - Double Bass

Ofer Bymel - Percussion

Recorded in April 2010, Berlin

Cover design Carlos Santos

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

Reviews

Mais seco é “Berlin”, edição em que Ernesto Rodrigues surge num quarteto acústico com Chris Heenan, Alexander Frangenheim e Ofer Bymel. A ausência de instrumentos eléctricos e electrónicos não reduz a dimensão noise – ela está lá, mas é humanizada, por assim dizer. O gestualismo é mais rude, mais naturalista. Há uma menor dramatização musical e por isso talvez uma menor preocupação relativamente à própria musicalidade. Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)

Recorded in April 2010 in Berlin, this set of six pieces for a mixed ensemble of strings, wind and percussion situates free improvisation firmly in a 21^st century chamber setting. The ensemble, consisting of Chris Heenan (alto saxophone and contrabass clarinet), Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Alexander Frangenheim (double bass) and Ofer Bymel (percussion) is a finely calibrated unit improvising in the vocabulary of fragmentary modernism. Variably grouped pitches organized as discrete points of sound abound, along with leaps in register and dynamics, punctuated by silences. The quartet tends to the cerebral, yet at the same time it is deeply physical in its engagement of the beauty of raw sound in a distinctly musical context. Rodrigues’ viola playing stands out by virtue of his creative use of a varied set of techniques and phrasings: Rapid bursts of notes offset by spiccato bowing, drones and stabs. Likewise Frangenheim draws on an interaction with the bass that exploits the rich span of the instrument’s range. Bymel’s percussion work is never less than astute and judiciously placed, while Heenan’s versatility on both high and low register winds complements the group’s sound with an essential array of timbres. Daniel Barbiero (AvantMusicNews)

This record sounds more coarse than Lisboa reviewed yesterday. The instrumentation (in the order above) is: alto sax/contrabass clarinet, viola, doublebass, percussion. Lots of multiphonics from the reeds, heavy grating from the strings, skin rubbing. These improvisations can be highly abstract and etheral at times, but elsewhere, and especially in Part 6, the music gains a strong animal quality, like a weird, menacing jungle. François Couture (Monsieur Delire)

The four blurred vertical lines on the cover artwork, which look like scuff marks on an asphalt-like homogeneous surface or possibly waveforms which crosses a silent space, could be a good graphical condensation of the umpteenth finding in the basket of recorded improvisations that Creative Sources decided to release and entitle by means of the names of the locations where they got recorded. Each line could be matched to the involved musicians: Ernesto Rodrigues, whose fanciful oestrus on viola should be known by my followers, talented double-bass player Alexander Frangenheim, that I already introduced here ad there, Israelian drummer Ofer Bymel on percussions and Berlin-based American saxophonist and clarinetist Chris Heenan on alto saxophone and contrabass clarinet. Besides the usual striking parade of odd techniques and dynamics, the first two parts of this suite let prefigure that no particular variations on a musical "organization", where all elements sound like strangled into a web of feeble interactions where no one can really stand out, could occur over the release and both the third and the fourth parts are in keeping with the previous expectations, but waters begin to get rippled in the final part of Part 4 and Fragenheim and Rodrigues begin to hit and scratch auditory nerves and strings on Part 5, before that sleeping wildness, which sounds like anesthetized in the previous parts of the record, explodes on the sixth final part of this session, which got recorded on 25th April 2010 at Studioboerne45, Berlin-Weissensee. Vito Camarretta (Chain DLK)

Gravado em Berlim, no ano de 2010, este disco reúne um quarteto über-internacional: o americano Chris Heenan (saxofone alto, clarinete contrabaixo), o alemão Alexander Frangenheim (contrabaixo), o israelita Ofer Bymel (percussão) e o português Ernesto Rodrigues (viola). O álbum tem por subtítulo “A Suite In Six Parts”, com os músicos a apresentarem uma peça repartida em seis momentos/blocos. Ao segundo tema ouvem-se picos de intensidade, com os instrumentos em choque; ao terceiro ouve-se o grupo unido num quase-drone; o quarto tema fecha em turbulência; ao quinto tema as cordas entram num animado diálogo/confronto. Este quarteto não repete ideias, trabalha diferentes ambientes, sempre de forma original. Nuno Catarino (Bodyspace.net)


Sur la couverture de Berlin apparaissent quatre marques de griffures. Symbolisent-elles les musiciens qui ont enregistré cette « Suite en six parties » ou sont-elles les traces de leur rencontre ? J’opterais pour la première hypothèse et j'ajouterais que la première griffure représente le violoniste Ernesto Rodrigues.
Avec Chris Heenan (saxophone et clarinette contrebasse de Trigger), Alexander Frangenheim (contrebasse) et Ofer Bymel (percussions), il improvise une petite musique de nuit et, malgré ses griffures, tendre est la nuit. L’archet tâtonne, glisse et après barre, tient le cap de l’improvisation. Devant l’inconnu que représente la minute ou la seconde qui arrive inexorablement, le quatuor peut vibrer (la clarinette en donne la meilleure preuve) et alors la nuit remue. Dans un cas comme dans l’autre c’est un beau souvenir de Berlin que nous dévoile là Ernesto Rodrigues ; un beau souvenir de nuit tendre qui remue. Héctor Cabrero (Le Son du Grisli)

Six pieces for strings, wind and percussion, free improvisation using unusual and extended techniques from the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Chris Heenan (alto saxophone, contrabass clarinet), Alexander Frangenheim (double bass)and Ofer Bymel (percussion). (Squidco)

All about Mimi

CD – Creative Sources Recordings – CS240, Lisbon 2013

1. I - 06'17''

2. II - 14'21''

3. III - 10'06''

4. IV - 08'16''

5. V - 11'20''

6. VI - 05'23''

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola

Ricardo Guerreiro - Computer

Christian Wolfarth - Cymbals

Recorded in October 2012, Lisbon

Cover design Carlos Santos

https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/all-about-mimi

Reviews

Outro disco entusiasmante é “All About Mimi”, e isso devido ao especial entrosamento entre Ernesto Rodrigues, Ricardo Guerreiro e Christian Wolfarth: poucas vezes, neste domínio da música improvisada, se obtém um tal nível de unicidade. Os sons mesclam-se uns nos outros, como se fossem produzidos pelo mesmo músico e não por três, mas fica evidente que os elementos aglutinadores são fornecidos pelo computador de Guerreiro. Está, aliás, aqui o melhor que o português tem colocado em CD, cabendo-lhe ainda uma boa parte do agrado causado por “Alba”. Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)

Si le tandem que forment Ernesto Rodrigues (alto, par ailleurs aux commandes du label) et Ricardo Guerreiro (ordinateur) apparaît dans nombre de disques Creative Sources, intégré à de vastes ensembles ou dans des formations moyennes, il est moins fréquent de pouvoir l'écouter en trio, recevant un invité choisi (comme cela se pratiquait, mutatis mutandis, dans les jazz clubs mettant leur « section » locale à disposition du « soliste » voyageur). Dans cette configuration, les superbes Late Summer et Shimosaki de septembre 2012 avec Radu Malfatti avaient de quoi allécher...

En octobre, la même année, Christian Wolfarth (aux seules cymbales) fit lui aussi le voyage de Lisbonne et c'est en studio qu'il s'attela au travail collectif de filage du son : cordes et métaux, frottés arco – du râpeux au fluide soyeux – se couchent et s'imposent, en paysages obstinés (à la manière de ceux dont Nicolas Bouvier a pu dire qu'ils « convainquent absolument à force de répéter la même chose »). A leur surface, Rodrigues ou Guerreiro s'enhardissent à venir déposer de rares accrocs, quelques étincelles, jusqu'à remettre brièvement en cause l'esthétique du strict continuum qui sied tant à Wolfarth. Peut-être cette poétique de basse tension, si l'on ose dire (alors que le chant gagne une belle ampleur au fil de la progression des six pièces), ne recèle-t-elle guère de surprises mais j'y trouve pour ma part une dimension narcotique, qui rend assurément sensible le moindre rehaut ainsi fait relief, articulation ou même clôture... Guillaume Tarche (Le Son du Grisli)

Un album très calme où frottements, crissements, souffles et sifflements se déploient avec lenteur et forment un paysage crépusculaire et pluvieux. Ernesto RODRIGUES joue de l'alto, tandis que Ricardo GUERREIRO est à l'ordinateur et Christian WOLFARTH aux cymbales. Ce dernier apporte tout au long du disque une sorte de cadence à la périodicité incertaine, comme des vagues successives résonnant dans le vide. Un travail tout en finesse, parfois de toute beauté comme dans la troisième pièce où les sonorités gagnent petit à petit en intensité, créant des tensions, des frictions que les musiciens maintiennent dans un équilibre proche de la perfection pour les faire ensuite délicatement disparaître. D'un autre côté, si l'on considère la création dans son ensemble les musiciens ne paraissent pas prendre de risques significatifs.., comme s'ils évoluaient sur un sentier plus ou moins tracé hors duquel ils ne se permettent pas d'effectuer de véritables écarts. Yann Leblanc (Révue & Corrigée)

All about Mimi [cs240] features another unusual lineup of instruments, with Rodrigues and Guerreiro once again on viola and computer, respectively, and Christian Wolfarth on cymbals. The cymbals often take the foreground role, appearing as a metallic shimmer over the serenely restrained underscore of unvoiced strings and understated electronics. Rodrigues’ viola here shows the timbral possibilities of a string instrument: Rough-edged white noise from heavily-pressured bowing, the pulse of unpitched circular bowing over muted strings, the percussive properties of the instrument tapped with bow or hand. The occasional assertion of a gong-like strike on the cymbals brings with it a dynamic contrast and a sense of discreet drama. Daniel Barbieri (Percorsi Musicali)

All about Mimi est une longue improvisation enregistrée à la même époque et divisée en quatre pistes que l'on ne distingue pas les unes des autres. On retrouve ici Ernesto Rodrigues à l'alto, Ricardo Guerreiro à l'ordinateur et Christian Wolfarth aux cymbales. Une cymbale est frottée à l'archet, accompagnée d'une note fragile à l'ato, et d'une ou de plusieurs sinusoïdes. Puis, un silence. Et ainsi de suite en gros. Le trio propose sur cette session d'improvisation une musique très épurée, minimaliste et plutôt extrême. Il ne s'agit ni de silence, ni de bruit, mais de quelque chose entre les deux : comme une harmonie silencieuse ou un subtil bruit harmonique. Il ne s'agit pas non plus de dialogue entre les instrumentistes, mais il s'agit de se fondre aussi bien dans le son que dans le silence jusqu'à ce qu'on ne reconnaisse plus les rôles de chacun. On distingue bien les sonorités, mais tout le monde joue sur le même plan. Il s'agit ici d'une musique plane, rugueuse en même temps, et surtout aussi espacée que faible. Une improvisation toute en finesse, en délicatesse, en écoute intime du lieu et de chacun, en harmonie avec l'espace, le bruit et le silence. Julien Héraud (ImprovSphere)

Even more abstract and "astringent" than "Early Reflections" the collaborative release with alto-saxophonist Bertran Gauguet, this release of the consolidated musical partnership between Ernesto Rodrigues (viola) and Ricardo Guerreiro (computer) with the guest appearance of Swiss percussionist Christian Wolfarth on cymbals is even more abstract and overlapped to reductionist aesthaetics. I could guess the title "All About Mimi" could be a reference to same-named multi-modal interactive musical improvisation system, whose linear diagrams seem to get reprised by cover artwork. Its slightly crooked green lines could be the sonic representation of the skewed declension of minimalism that this trio play where you could have the impression that each instrumental emission sometimes claws, sometimes furrows, sometimes violently cannons the surface of the seemingly silent computer-generated barrier that amalgamates the other two (sometimes unrecognizable) elements and their mimicry as if they are trying to escape from their atonal prison cells by means of painstaking grinding of the wall. Vito Camarretta (Chain DLK)

Num dos bairros históricos da cidade de Lisboa, onde foi gravado este disco, há uma prostituta de uma certa idade chamada Mimi. Não sabemos se o título evoca esta senhora ou se se refere à homónima cantora dos Hugo Largo, Mimi Goese. Talvez evoque uma outra Mimi, menos sumptuosa, mais delicada e subtil, tendo em conta a quietude da música. Com Ernesto Rodrigues viola, Ricardo Guerreiro na electrónica (laptop) e o suíço Christian Wolfarth na percussão, ao longo destas quatro faixas ouvimos alguma da música mais contida e concentrada de todos estes volumes – a quietude da metade inicial deste disco só terá rival no álbum gravado em trio com Radu Malfatti, Late Summer. Em destaque neste disco está o laptop de Ricardo Guerreiro, que tem um papel determinante na direcção da música do trio, particularmente na segunda metade do disco, roubando o protagonismo ao silêncio. Nuno Catarino (Bodyspace.net)

The intense lowercase trio of Creative Source label leader Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, percussionist Christian Wolfarth on cymbals, and Ricardo Guerreiro on interactive computer performing the 6 part "All About Mimi" in the studio. (Squidco)