CD - Creative Sources Recordings – CS642, Lisbon 2020
Carlos "Zíngaro" - Violin
Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola
Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello
Hernâni Faustino - Double Bass
José Oliveira - Percussion
Recorded November 2019, Lisbon
Cover design Carlos Santos
Reviews
Another masterpiece from the quintet of Portuguese Giants of chords, supported by the incredible José Oliveira on percussion. This live recording by Miguel Azguime on November was realized during the Creative-Fest XIII at O'Culto da Ajuda, Lisbon. It is a 30 minutes of incredibly creative conversations between the true masters, who mostly use bows, but not only. For me the particularly amazing is the sound and form of 70 years old Carlos, whose freshness is simply unbelievable. I like especially the pre- final part of the track that reminds me of contemporary classical string music of Helmut Lachenmann or Giacinto Scelsi. And, the final with is explosive. Muito obrigado, Carlos et consortes!!! Maciej Lewenstein
Creative Sources releases are seeming a little slow to appear of late — something to which the label had seemingly been immune, in the midst of its massive outpouring... — but Ernesto Rodrigues does continue to post his own work regularly on Bandcamp: In particular, the new string-focused quintet album Pentahedron, dating from CreativeFest XIII this past November, offers yet another collective interaction around a member of Red Trio: Bassist Hernâni Faustino had appeared elsewhere with Rodrigues, e.g. in Octopus on Mimus (as discussed here in January 2019), but he's much more a pole of the interaction on Pentahedron, to the point that I found myself spontaneously asking on first audition, "Wait, is that a bass solo?" In that sense, the music on Pentahedron is then rather more traditionally jazzy than e.g. that with the Lisbon String Trio (perhaps recalling some of the idioms from the first phase of Rodrigues' III Phases series, as coincidentally also noted here in January 2019) — such an impression being bolstered by the other musical pole on Pentahedron, Carlos Zingaro on violin. (Zingaro had of course already appeared with Rodrigues & LST on Theia, first discussed here in July 2018.... But the actual ensemble here, albeit around rather different formal investigations, is much more similar to the quintet with percussion around João Camões on Chant....) There's thus very much a sense of (e.g. FMP) tradition, as well as an investigation of momentum — including somewhat uncharacteristically around groove — more generally, via almost a world-weary working-through, (at times) pace some traffic figures & extended string timbres, especially from the middle of the texture. (There's also a sense of completion that arrives several minutes prior to the real close to the proceedings, resulting in a more timbrally transformative approach being engaged, nonetheless soon coming to reconfigure around momentum again, before fading to close.... One might thus speak of two tracks, although the total album length remains under half an hour....) And those middle textures are, in part, where Rodrigues has been so transformative in general, here with Guilherme Rodrigues (cello) as well, in addition to José Oliveira on percussion — the latter generally taking a more traditionally rhythmic "accent" approach, after being absent from the Creative Sources catalog for quite some time, especially relative to his early involvement (during which Oliveira appeared on the first three albums released by the label — & on the first five to include Ernesto Rodrigues himself). The result is that Pentahedron is relatively aggressive for much of its length, somewhat in keeping with e.g. the "concerto" style on Sediments with Gabriel Ferrandini on drums (as discussed here in December 2019), and certainly with the quasi-extroverted presentation on Rhetorica with Rodrigo Pinheiro on piano (as already discussed here in August 2019), such that it forms something of a set (i.e. around Red Trio) with those two (most recent, as it happens) LST issues. (That the participation of Faustino on bass would conflict with Alvaro Rosso of LST thus apparently figures this particular combination, although that's more about the way the bass specifically functions on Pentahedron: Generally adding another bassist to LST seems feasible to me, although it hasn't occurred....) Anyway, it doesn't seem that Pentahedron is especially innovative, at least compared to some of Rodrigues' other work, but it does make for an enjoyable, and presumably relatively approachable, release featuring more improvised string music in a virtuoso concert setting. Might it even be described as a crowd pleaser? Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts
Foi tardia a inclusão de Carlos “Zíngaro” no catálogo da Creative Sources (tal aconteceu apenas em 2018, como convidado do Lisbon String Trio no álbum “Theia”), e anos depois de ter desaparecido da lista de novas edições da também portuguesa Clean Feed. Eis que o violinista surge agora num registo da editora conduzida por Ernesto Rodrigues, ao lado deste, de Guilherme Rodrigues e de Hernâni Faustino nos restantes cordofones (viola, violoncelo e contrabaixo, respectivamente), com o acrescento do regressado percussionista José Oliveira, que durante algum tempo esteve afastado da cena nacional da improvisação. A gravação de “Pentahedron” foi realizada ao vivo, no concerto que o quinteto deu o ano passado no Creative Sources Fest (O’culto da Ajuda) e essa dimensão “live” faz-se sentir ao longo da audição, habilmente captada por Miguel Azguime.
“Pentahedron” pode não surpreender aqueles que procuram novos caminhos improvisacionais, mas tem diversas virtudes. Uma é dar-nos uma perspectiva do ponto em que estamos desse subgénero a que se chamou de “música de câmara improvisada”. Esclarece-nos quanto à dívida que esta tem para com os legados da música erudita e também quanto às formas como se tem emancipado da dita, e coloca a claro tanto as heranças vindas do free jazz como o modo como estas são diluídas em algo de diferenciado. Outra mais-valia está na ultrapassagem da estagnação sofrida pelo reducionismo, tendência com que Ernesto Rodrigues é conotado. Poucas das premissas desta sobrevivem aqui – não obstante a abordagem iminentemente textural e tímbrica, não há economia de notas nem aproximações ao silêncio, e sim expressão, narrativa e esse factor distintivo que é o gesto. Cada som implica movimento, performatividade, entrega física, aquilo precisamente que pedimos à improvisação e este título consegue transmitir-nos sem que usemos os olhos. Quando os ouvidos vêem, é porque a música atinge a aspirada plenitude. Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)
Quintet à cordes plus percussion dans un mode improvisé contemporain à la fois dense et aéré, éminemment collectif et tout en finesse. Violon – Carlos « Zingaro » Alves, alto – Ernesto Rodrigues, violoncelle – Guilherme Rodrigues, contrebasse – Hernâni Faustino et percussions - José Oliveira. L’ensemble opère avec des interventions millimétrées de chaque cordiste individuellement et des voicings à deux, trois ou quatre telle une constellation de frottements d’archets en métamorphose permanente aux sonorités étirées, compressées ou élancées traçant des volutes sinueuses ou des ostinatos d’harmoniques se transformant en cadences composites. Une seule longue improvisation évolue par paliers d’agrégats opaques ou diaphanes, séquences fugaces ou drones agglutinantes en mutation constante ou un silence passager interrompu par des entrechocs col legno, point de départ d’un mouvement plus complexe où les éléments du collectif s’écartent mu par une force centrifuge invisible... alternant avec une autre séquence minimaliste. Le percussionniste commente et colore l’ensemble avec une belle dynamique et une inventivité qui découlent des principes mis en exergue par le grand John Stevens. On découvre les possibilités infinies de toucher- gratter – frotter – secouer de la percussion et leurs dimensions finement aléatoires. Finalement, le travail d’Oliveira vient alimenter les réactions instinctives du quatuor cordiste vers un final dont l’intensité et la fréquence des frappes et chocs décroît subitement vers le silence. Que la durée réelle soit de 28 minutes importe peu car les cinq musiciens ont investi le temps en l’étirant, le fragmentant jusqu’à le rendre imperceptible par la grâce des infinies variations musicales, d’arabesques éphémères, de croquis touffus, de pointes élancées, de strates de textures mouvantes … À la fois musique en chantier spontanée et construction raisonnée faite de mouvements distincts et coordonnés soulignant l’intense et lucide écoute mutuelle interactive et proactive. Un véritable chef d’œuvre qui transcende les ismes et tendances inhérentes à la pratique de l’improvisation libre. J-M van Schouwbourg (Orynxx)
Alguns dos nomes mais representativos da cena de Portugal se uniram neste quinteto. Em gravação ao vivo que aconteceu em novembro de 2019, durante o Creative Fest XIII, no O'Culto da Ajuda, em Lisboa, Pentahedron concentra essas vozes em uma peça de improvisação coletiva altamente madura e perfeitamente equilibrada. Formado por Carlos Zíngaro (violino), Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Hernâni Faustino (baixo), Guilherme Rodrigues (violoncelo) e José Oliveira (bateria), o quinteto exibe apenas 29 minutos de música (não sei se ao vivo rolou mais). No que poderia ser um quarteto de cordas, temos a interessante adição do trabalho percussivo de Oliveira, que oferece outras possibilidades rítmicas ao desenvolvimento da música apresentada. A peça já começa com força, com a percussão rasgando o ar em entradas e saídas precisas, enquanto as cordas vão encontrando seus rumos, se preparando quer seja para interações entre elas, quer seja para momentos de protagonismo deste ou daquele instrumento. Sólido exemplar da potência atual da música improvisada portuguesa. Fabricio Vieira (FreeForm, FreeJazz)
An impressive highly interactive and extended improvisation focused mostly on strings, with label leader Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, plus Red Trio's Hernani Fasutino on double bass and legendary Portuguese violinist Carlo Zingaro, with Jose Oliveira adding active percussive interaction, captured live at the CreativeFest XIII in 2019. The Squid's Ear
