Recorded on July 4th 2018 at Timbuktu studio, Lisbon.
Recording and graphic design by Carlos Santos.
Mixed and mastered by Rodrigo Pinheiro.
Collages by Dilar Pereira.
Production by Ernesto Rodrigues.
REVIEWS
Returning already to Creative Sources, the Lisbon String Trio series continues with Rhetorica — as noted last month in the discussion of Merz (which was actually recorded a few months later) — a studio recording from Lisbon in July 2018, with pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro joining the Rodrigues/Mira/Rosso lineup (that's been consistent on all eleven albums so far). Regarding my comments on timbre & transformation from the recent Mycelial Studies discussion, the limitations of a piano sometimes leave me ambivalent, including regarding its historical associations, but nonetheless there do continue to be many fine improvising pianists: LST had already embraced piano (in the person of Karoline Leblanc) with Liames (as discussed here in August 2017), and I'd specifically featured Pinheiro himself here around Earnear, beginning with a discussion from December 2015.... Indeed the latter comparison is doubly significant in that Miguel Mira appears on both albums, such that Rhetorica includes two thirds of the trio from Earnear: Both often invoke a classical feel, albeit with a contemporary edge, and of course employ a variety of techniques, with the latter tending to be more focused on specific techniques in different tracks (& so perhaps a bit more like studies), while the latter moves into more broadly impressionist & dreamy territory. (Perhaps it can also be compared to parts of "arToxin" from Mycelial Studies in aspects of its orientation & technical scope.) Both are also rather assertive much of the time, with Rhetorica adding bass to good effect. There's also a sort of intimacy that arises (including, presumably, from the studio setting) that can contrast with some of the more public or concertante LST productions: Rhetorica is then far-ranging & ambitious, and not really about "studies" (per recent discussions) at all. It's also rather more directly engaged with Western tradition than the more "pure sound" approach found e.g. on much of Liames — more linguistic (in an abstract poetic sense, perhaps), per the title. (And with relatively little "inside the piano" playing as well.) It enacts its rhetorical orientation via frequent polyrhythm, but also by cultivating a sense of delicacy at times, further suggesting something of a classical piano quartet (with strings shifted downward a register) in its sometimes moody affective qualities (almost, say, as a contemporary stylistic synthesis à la Fauré). These concerns are then wrapped up in the quick exchange of figures that's both a strength of Pinheiro & so very characteristic of LST & related groups, here emphasizing more conventionally classical string technique than on some other albums. Rhetorica thus seems like both a forceful & graceful album, and one that could be enjoyed by a wider audience. (I actually tried suggesting it on a classical group, but I don't know if anything will come of that....) It's definitely one of the more appealing (rather traditionally) piano-centric, improvising ensemble albums I've heard of late. Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts
O Lisbon String Trio (não confundir com o Lisboa String Trio de José Peixoto, Carlos Barretto e Bernardo Couto) continua a convidar outros músicos para explorações conjuntas no domínio da música de câmara improvisada, e desta feita o convidado é o pianista Rodrigo Pinheiro. A combinação entre uma viola (Ernesto Rodrigues), um violoncelo (Miguel Mira) e um contrabaixo (Alvaro Rosso) com um piano poderia resultar em algo que sublinhasse especialmente o factor “câmara”, mas assim não acontece e o título escolhido para este CD, “Rhetorica”, é esclarecedor quanto ao que está em causa. O carácter não só conversador como argumentativo que a música vai adoptando faz com que as quatro improvisações reunidas tenham mais vínculos com o jazz (muito explícita e assumidamente em “III”, por meio dos fraseados de Pinheiro) do que com a própria música dita clássica.
Muito longe daqui estão as lógicas “near-silence” com que o mentor desta formação, Rodrigues, costuma estar conotado. Expressão, emotividade, entrega ao som e fluidez desenvolvimentista são os factores distintivos desta música, e momentos há em que o trio de cordas nos remete para um grupo pioneiro nestas andanças, o Revolutionary Ensemble de Leroy Jenkins. O Ernesto Rodrigues deste disco toca com gestos largos e não teme ser palavroso – nisso chega a ter uma maior generosidade com os materiais em uso do que Miguel Mira, quando o mais natural (o percurso do violoncelista tem sido sempre mais jazzístico do que o do violetista) seria o inverso. O mais interessante desta edição é, de qualquer modo, outra coisa: a forma como os entrosamentos colectivos ocorrem sem ser por meio de compromissos individuais, numa sucessão de encaixes contributivos que, não obstante serem por vezes diferentes, se complementam. Em certos momentos conseguimos, inclusive, ouvir um comentário ao mesmo tempo em que se faz uma afirmação, algo que, nos domínios da música improvisada, só é possível explicar com a palavra “magia”. Rui Eduardo Paes
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.
Pojedyncze dźwięki klawiszy, strun, smyczków, mała, jakże kameralna rozgrzewka, w trakcie której każdy z instrumentów frazuje odrobinę inaczej. Struny wyswobodzone ze schematów, klawisze piana bardziej w klasycznej toni. Skupienie, któremu towarzyszy wewnętrzny niepokój, aura tajemniczości. Narracja systematycznie narasta, bardzo kolektywnie, z dbałością o niuanse brzmieniowe, rodzaj free chamber z post-jazzowym zębem. Na finał pierwszej z czterech zaplanowanych historii piękne expo ze strony altówki. Introdukcja drugiego epizodu odbywa się na lekkich strunach, przy wtórze deep piano – wszystkie wszakże reakcje na zaciągniętym ręcznym. Filigranowa, ale i mroczna opowieść. Znów perełki na gryfie altówki, piano, które brzmi jak czwarty strunowiec, wreszcie szelest swobodnych preparacji. W drugiej części opowieści nadchodzi czas na smukłe drony wprost ze strun, rodzaj delikatnych macanek z ciszą. Powrót do dynamiki czyniony jest po mistrzowski, przy perfekcyjnej komunikacji. Na finał muzycy stąpają na placach, produkując niemal metafizyczne, mikroskopijne fonie!
Trzecia opowieść budzi się przy pojedynczych frazach klawiszy, a struny akcentują swoją obecność dokładnie w tej samej konwencji. Po chwili piano zapuszcza jazzowego bakcyla, kusi, ale altówka, wiolonczela i kontrabas zachowują bezpieczny dystans. Flow cudownie faluje – od kameralistyki do open jazzu, od open jazzu do kameralistyki. Świetna dramaturgia! Pianista wydaje się ustanawiać tu zasady, pięknie towarzyszy mu alcista, a pozostali muzycy bystrze reagują. Równie błyskotliwa jest kolejna faza – krok ku dynamice, półgalop, w którym muzycy są precyzyjni i dosadni, podobnie jak to miało miejsce w okowach ciszy. W drugiej części najdłuższej historii, garść jazzu spod klawiszy, w komentarzu zaś strunowym moc zmyślnych preparacji, co tworzy intrygujący dysonans estetyczny. Krok do przodu, dwa kroki do tył, raz szybciej, raz wolniej - what ever we want! Gdy piano płynie po klawiszach, strings budują drony, gdy piano postawi na kreatywny minimalizm, te drugie, każde ze smykiem, doprowadzą opowieść do zakończenia wyjątkowej urody.
Wreszcie finał owego studyjnego koncertu – mocne uderzenia w klawisze, szorowanie przedmiotem o przedmiot, dźwięki nad wyraz głośne, jak na kanony tego spotkania. Metoda call & responce – ta jedyna zawsze ma rację bytu! Chamber na wolnym wybiegu, gdy swobodny jazz stoi u bram! Kolejne smyczki stawiają stemple barokowego piękna, piano aktywizuje ruchy. Dynamiczny finał może zaskakiwać, ale zdaje się być najwłaściwszym wyborem artystów. Na koniec definitywny schodzą w mrok wyjątkowo tajemniczej kameralistyki. W roli gaszących światło, smukłe, drobne smyki.
Podziękowania dla Krzysztofa za udostępnienie nagrań! Andrzej Nowak (Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej)
credits
released July 30, 2019
Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola
Miguel Mira - Cello
Alvaro Rosso - Contrabass
Rodrigo Pinheiro - Piano
Ernesto Rodrigues (Lisbon, August 29th 1959) has been playing the violin / viola for 50 years and in that time has played
all genres of music ranging from contemporary music to free jazz and free improvisation, live and in the studio.
The relationship with his instruments is focused in sonic and
textural elements as well as the use of extended techniques....more
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