The Squid's Ear Magazine


Iridium String Quartet (Rocha / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Mira): Iridium String Quartet (Creative Sources)

Unusual approaches to string improvisation from the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Maria da Rocha (violin), and Miguel Mira (double bass), using extended techniques in subtle yet detailed discourse yielding unexpected qualities to their instruments.
 

Price: $16.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units


EU & UK Customers:
Discogs.com can handle your VAT payments
So please order through Discogs

Sample The Album:




product information:

Personnel:



Maria da Rocha-violin

Ernesto Rodrigues-viola

Guilherme Rodrigues-cello

Miguel Mira-doublebass


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 5609063403503

Label: Creative Sources
Catalog ID: cs350
Squidco Product Code: 22059

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2016
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded 18th November 2015 by John Klima at Scratch Built Studio, Lisbon

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

Unusual approaches to string improvisation from the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Maria da Rocha (violin), and Miguel Mira (double bass), using extended techniques in subtle yet detailed discourse yielding unexpected qualities to their instruments.



"Also from Portugal, but then of a totally different nature, is the Iridium String Quartet. Here there are no sudden bursts of energy, or agitated changes of nervous interaction, or big intervals between high and low registers, but two long gliding improvisations with subtle and minor changes in tone, but a wealth of timbral changes and shifts in sound color and intensity.

The quartet are Maria da Rocha on violin, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Miguel Mira on double bass. Despite the horizontal structure around a single tone, the music is not slow of flat, it keeps shimmering and changing in intensity, like some raw organic process taking place, and then the album's title comes to mind: Iridium is a metal that is among the most dense and difficult to work of all known substances. The titles of the two tracks refer to the boiling point (4428°C) and its melting point (2466°) and maybe that's what you hear, the slow transformation of something unwieldy into something else, into another substance by adding energy to it, adding fire to hard matter and to gradually make it change, to make it soundshift in front of your ears, to create sonic vapours out of hard compounds, to create sonic fluids out of the very foundations of our existence. It sounds like a churning cauldron of redblack turbulence. It is fascinating and as usual, beyond any known musical category. Calling it minimal or even drone would do the music injustice, because it's too rich for that. The instruments work in different layers and change constantly despite the strong tonal centre. They add, they withdraw, they deliver piercing overtones or carefully paced plucking or endless bowed murmurs.

To listeners not familiar with the work of Ernesto Rodrigues, I can only recommend them to give it a try, and to listen a lot to this album, with undivided attention. Each listen will make it richer and more lively and deeper than before."-Stef, The Free Jazz Collective



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Get additional information at The Free Jazz Collective

Artist Biographies

"Maria da Rocha's music has emerged from an intimate connection to the violin and from the fascination how analog synthetised noises can resemble those from everyday life: nature, machines and other sounding objects, partly with a life of their own.Maria da Rocha (Lisbon, PT) plays violin & viola, researches, teaches, creates mostly in the field of new, experimental & electroacoustic music. She played various works solo with orchestra or as tutti and collaborated with ensembles in new music festivals in Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, United Kingdom and Poland. Maria is also active in other musical styles such as barroque, classical and tango. Her multimedia compositions emerged in collaboration and have been presented in various festivals, such as the release of the album Pink: daRocha/Horn (viola and live electronics). Her solo album Beetroot&OtherStories (violin&electronics) was recorded at awarded composer residencies at EMS, Stockholm and mastered in VICC, Centre for Composers in Visby."

-Cargo Collective (http://cargocollective.com/mariadarocha/About)
11/5/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"He has been playing the violin for 30 years and in that time has played all genres of music ranging from contemporary music to free jazz and improvised music, live and in the studio.

His main interest shifted towards contemporary improvised and composed music.

The relationship with his instruments is focused in sonic and textural elements.

Electronic music was an early influence on his approach to violin playing, which challenges traditional romantic concepts of the violin/viola through use of preparations and micro tuning.

Active in different settings on the Portuguese scene for free improvised music, both as a collaborator and in leading his own groups.

Music for Dance, Cinema, Video and Performance.

Has created the record label Creative Sources Recordings in 1999, which mainly concentrates on releasing experimental and electro-acoustic music."

-Creative Sources (http://creativesourcesrec.com/creative_artists.html)
11/5/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Was born 1988 in Lisboa, Portugal and started playing cello and trumpet at Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa at the age of 7. In 1999 joined Conservatório Nacional de Música de Lisboa to study classical and music theory and in the current year recorded his first album - Multiples - with Ernesto Rodrigues and José Oliveira out on Creative Sources Recordings.

Apart from work in music ensembles ranging for contemporary classical to free improvisation, also works with live music poetry, theatre and film-music. After lengthy residency in Lisboa, (1988-2016) moved to Berlin and has been active as composer and improviser in the scene.

Worked with some international and renewed artists like Ernesto Rodrigues, Jean-luc Guionnet, Margarida Garcia, Manuel Mota, Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Sei Miguel, Tim Goldie, Jeffrey Morgan, Oren Marshall, Gerhard Uebele, Klaus Kurvers, Gabriel Paiuk, Nicolas Field, Jaime Fennelly, Blaise Siwula, Will Guthrie, Pawel Grabowski, Michael Thieke, Wade Matthews, Leonel Kaplan, Diego Chamy, Gabriel Paiuk, Barry Weisblat, Joe Giardullo, Jassem Hindi, Tisha Mukarji, Masahiko Okura, Taku Unami, Toshihiro Koike, Sharif Sehnaoui, Christine Abdelnour, Alexandre Bellenger, Carlos Zingaro, Romaric Sobac, Nuno Rebelo, Nuno Torres, Naoto Yamagashi, Heddy Boubaker, Gerhard Uebele, Guillermo Torres, Tomas Gris, Carlos Santos, Bruno Parrinha, Miguel Leiria Pereira, Miguel Ivo Cruz, Alberto Cirera, Nuno Morão, Mark Sanders, Dennis Gonzaléz, Alípio Carvalho Neto, Raymond Macdonald, Neil Davidson, David Stachenas, Lisa Ullén, D'incise, Cyril Bondy, Miguel Mira, Rodrigo Amado, Abdul Moimême, Monsieur Trinité, João Madeira, Álvaro Rosso, Gil Gonçalves, Marian Yanchyk, Filipe Passos, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Christian Wolfarth, Thanos Chrysakis, Bechir Saade, Kurt Liedwart, Miguel A. Garcia, Ilia Belorukov, Andrew Lafkas, Gao Jiafeng, Eric Wong, Johan Moir, Casey Moir, Magda Mayas, Matthias Muller, Alexander Frangenheim ...

Has performed and toured in all Europe. Released more than 30 albums of his own projects."

-Creative Sources (http://creativesourcesrec.com/creative_artists.html)
11/5/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Born in 1958, studying guitar at the Academy of Music Amateurs, in the 70s, with Prof. Nagy. In the late 70 studying bass at the Hot Club, in the early '80s, with Prof. Zé Eduardo.

"Intrigue and permanent and persistent unease with stringed instruments, jazz and improvisation itself. During the last forty years, in concert, in private or in the studio, I had the honor of having played and learned (chronologically) Nuno Grande, Armindo Neves, Emilio Robalo, Celso Carvalho, António Ferro, Arthur Costa, Ze Bitch John Vinegar, John Lucas, Francisco Medina, Abdul moimeme, Rashiim Ausar Sahu, Patrick Brennan, Rodrigo Amado, Scott Fields, Francisco Trindade, Ernesto Rodrigues, Harvey Sorgen and Joe Giardullo.

Today, honor me play (and perpetuate my restlessness) with Rodrigo Amado, Abdul moimeme, John Lucas, Joseph Bruno Parrinha, John Parrinha, João Pedro Viegas, Alipio Carvalho Neto, Gabriel Ferrandini, Ernesto Rodrigues, Armando Gonçalves Pereira, Hernani Faustino, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Zé Lencastre, Louis Desirat, Peter Castello Lopes, Luís Lopes, Luís Vicente, Philip Sousa, Pedro Roxo, Johannes Krieger, George Lamprey, Marcello Maggi, Paulo Curado, Diogo Leal, D' Incise, Virginia and Eduardo Chagas. With some of my friends. I share my musical day in broader bands or ensembles, with other I highlight specific musical encounters and they are my entire curriculum." "

-JACC Records (http://www.jacc-records.com/en/musicians/miguel-mira)
11/5/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. 2466 Degrees C 16:26

2. 4428 Degrees C 27:34

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation and Experimental Forms
Quartet Recordings
Stringed Instruments
Creative Sources

Search for other titles on the label:
Creative Sources.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Floridis, Floros / Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues / Ulf Mengersen
Xafnikes Synantiseis
(Creative Sources)
Legendary Greek bass clarinetist and improviser Floros Floridis, also performing on clarinet, and German double bassist Ulf Mengersen of the Berlin Improvisers Orchestra and Ensemble MIA, meet the ever-creative duo of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues for this 6-part active studio improvisation whose title aptly translates to "Unexpected Encounters".
Baars, Girilal / Ernesto Rodrigues / Carlos Santos / Monsieur Trinite
Surrealistisk
(Creative Sources)
Three surreal improvisations with an hallucinatory edge, drawn into a dreamlike nature by the free vocals of Girilal Baars (Girilal Baars Trio, Äijä), from a 2024 concert at COSMOS in Lisbon, PT with Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, Carlos Santos on electronics and Monsieur Trinite on percussion; unconventional electroacoustic incantatory interactions.
Rodrigues, Guilherme / Ben Bennett / Ernesto Rodrigues
This Full Mouth
(Creative Sources)
An extraordinary meeting in Berlin, where Portuguese cellist Guilherme Rodrigues resides, with Creative Sources label leader and long-time collaborator as a father/son duo, violist Ernesto Rodrigues, joining as a trio with US percussionist Ben Bennett, known for his work with Michael Foster and Jack Wright, for an incredibly well-balanced album of unorthodox technique and creative expresion.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Luisa Goncalves / Flak / Bruno Parrinha / Miguel Mira
Nocturne
(Creative Sources)
The title an apt description of this dreamlike improvisation guided by the piano of Luisa Gonçalves, in a quintet with Flak on acoustic guitar & ebow, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Miguel Mira on cello and Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, the latter adding crepuscular bird calls and whispers to this nuanced nocturnal meditation of dark ambiance and furtive encounters.
Rotor (Rodrigues / Torres / Santos)
Impulses And Signals
(Creative Sources)
Seven studio improvisations from frequent collaborators Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, Nuno Torres on alto saxophone and Carlos Santos on digital electronics, quiet conversations of subtle and extended technique that adhere to the session title, emulating electronic impulses and signals through understated and impeccably controlled acoustic and electronic expression.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Dirk Serries / Joao Madeira / Jose Oliveira
Dripping
(Creative Sources)
One of the core Creative Sources trios of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, João Madeira on double bass and Jose Oliveira on percussion, is extended to a quartet with Netherland's New Wave of Jazz/Vidna Obmama archtop guitarist Dirk Serries, presenting the 9-part "Dripping" series of free chamber-oriented lowercase improvisation.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Carlos Bechegas / Joao Madeira / Monsieur Trinite
Free to Open
(Creative Sources)
On the active and experimental side of Creative Sources' acoustic configurations organized by label leader and violist Ernesto Rodrigues, this energetic chamber quartet with Carlos Bechegas on piccolo, flute & alto flute, Joao Madeira on double bass and Monsieur Trinite on percussion, explore the three-part title work through rapid action and highly textured reflection.
Symbolist (Flinn / Rodrigues / Carroll)
The Age Of Bronze
(Creative Sources)
Improvising collaborators, percussionist Stephen Flinn and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues join with Irish improviser and composer Roy Carroll, a member of Splitter Orchestra and who works with the amplification and signal processing of diverse objects, here the trio performing an extended improvisation of exotic and transformative sonic interaction through unusual, encompassing soundscapes of exotic and transformative sonic interaction.
Rodrigues / Gratkowski / Rodrigues / Griener
Unstable Molecules
(Creative Sources)
Bridging jazz and contemporary forms, this 2024 live recording of four improvisations at Berlin's Kuhlspot Social Club channels collective power with chamber jazz influences, showcasing the refined techniques and deep experience of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Frank Gratkowski on clarinets and alto saxophone, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Michael Griener on percussion.
Hunter Underwater (Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Kohn / Lin)
Archipelago
(Creative Sources)
In their second release, the Hunter Underwater quartet of four cellists — Guilherme Rodrigues (Portugal), Gábor Hartyáni (Budapest), Guido Kohn (Buenos Aires), and Hui-Chun Lin (Taiwan) — record at Berlin's Zentrifuge, creating sound sculptures and landscapes with layered harmonics and dynamic interplay through composition and improvisation.
Rodrigues / Sa / Rocha / Rodrigues / Silva / Varela / Goncalves / Flak / Trindade
Mimesis
(Creative Sources)
Primarily an acoustic ensemble of nine improvisers led by Ernesto Rodrigues on viola — including saxophonist Joana Sá, percussionist Monsieur Trindade, guitarist Flak, and pianist Luisa Gonçalves — performs a live, extended improvisation of tightly controlled, deeply detailed conversation as part of the 2024 Creative Sources Cycle in Lisbon.
Rodrigues / Torres / Hencleeday / Santos
Synopsis
(Creative Sources)
Lisbon String Trio & Carlos Santos
Cobra
(Creative Sources)
The Lisbon String Trio — Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Miguel Mira (cello) and Alvaro Rosso(double bass) — collaborates with Carlos Santos (electronics, modular synth) to create a sophisticated, assertive set that enriches the trio's soundscape with nuanced electronic textures, building on the trio's nearly telepathic coordination and harmonic depth, blending physicality and subtle electronics to evoke mysterious, wave-like motifs and dynamic subtlety.
Sjostrom, Harri / Floros Floridis / Guilherme Rodrigues / Lawrence Casserley
Fields
(Creative Sources)
Two reeds, a cello and a signal processing instrument in this live electroacoustic improvisation session captured at Petersburg Art Space, in Berlin, Germany between cellist Guilherme Rodrigues, saxophonist Harri Sjostrom on soprano & sopranino using selected mutes, clarinetist Floris Floridis and electronic improvising legend Lawrence Casserley.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Nuno Torres / Johannes von Buttlar
Cosmic Collision
(Creative Sources)
Frequent collaborators Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box and Nuno Torres on alto saxophone join with Berlin percussionist Johannes von Buttlar, a member of the Altered Forms Trio who have collaborated with Fred Frith, Raymond McDonald, &c., for four "Cosmic Collisions", highly interactive improvisations with impressive inertia and extraordinary technique.
Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Madeira / Taylor / Parrinha / Taubenfeld / Carmelo / Trinite
A Tale Unfolds
(Creative Sources)
In four parts this primarily acoustic octet of Lisbon improvisers evolve a deceptive narrative of collective interaction, highly textured through rich combinations that emerge and subside throughout the natural development of their converstations; with Ernesto & Guilherme Rodriguez, João Madeira, Noel Taylor, Bruno Parrinha, Ziv Tuabenfeld, Guilherme Carmelo and Monsieur Trinite.
Bechegas, Carlos / Ernesto Rodrigues / Carlos Santos
Echoing The Chorus Of Life
(Creative Sources)
Lisbon contemporary flutist and improviser Carlos Bechegas, an associate of Carlos Zingaro and his electroacoustic trio, joins violist Ernesto Rodrigues and long-time collaborator Carlos Santos in a uniquely electronic, chamber-oriented, mysteriously crepuscular improvisation captured live at Casa do Comum, Lisbon, Portugal during the 2024 "SpectraLx" event.
Variable Geometry Orchestra
L'Heure Derniere du Silence
(Creative Sources)
Baars, Girilal / Ernesto Rodrigues / Carlos Santos / Monsieur Trinite
Surrealistisk
(Creative Sources)
Three surreal improvisations with an hallucinatory edge, drawn into a dreamlike nature by the free vocals of Girilal Baars (Girilal Baars Trio, Äijä), from a 2024 concert at COSMOS in Lisbon, PT with Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, Carlos Santos on electronics and Monsieur Trinite on percussion; unconventional electroacoustic incantatory interactions.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Luisa Goncalves / Flak / Bruno Parrinha / Miguel Mira
Nocturne
(Creative Sources)
The title an apt description of this dreamlike improvisation guided by the piano of Luisa Gonçalves, in a quintet with Flak on acoustic guitar & ebow, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Miguel Mira on cello and Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, the latter adding crepuscular bird calls and whispers to this nuanced nocturnal meditation of dark ambiance and furtive encounters.
Uebele, Gerhard / Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues
Con versa tions
(Creative Sources)
Recordings from the Maeng Museum in Berlin, Germany from the free improvising string trio of father/son collaborators Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello with Berlin musicologist and violinist Gerhard Uebele, very much in a sophisticated chamber jazz mode that borrows from contemporary classical approaches and free improvisation.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Carlos Bechegas / Joao Madeira / Monsieur Trinite
Free to Open
(Creative Sources)
On the active and experimental side of Creative Sources' acoustic configurations organized by label leader and violist Ernesto Rodrigues, this energetic chamber quartet with Carlos Bechegas on piccolo, flute & alto flute, Joao Madeira on double bass and Monsieur Trinite on percussion, explore the three-part title work through rapid action and highly textured reflection.
Floridis, Floros / Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues / Ulf Mengersen
Xafnikes Synantiseis
(Creative Sources)
Legendary Greek bass clarinetist and improviser Floros Floridis, also performing on clarinet, and German double bassist Ulf Mengersen of the Berlin Improvisers Orchestra and Ensemble MIA, meet the ever-creative duo of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues for this 6-part active studio improvisation whose title aptly translates to "Unexpected Encounters".
Okura / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Buder
Your Dramatic Joy
(Creative Sources)
Father and son string improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello join with Berlin improvisers Fumio Okura (Ensemble 222) on violin and Hannes Buder on guitar for six collective chamber free improvisations using extraordinary technique and focus, creating parallel and converging conversations that build and recede in vigorous momentum.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Nuno Torres / Guilherme Rodrigues / Eric Bauer / Stephen Flinn
Letters to Milena
(Creative Sources)
Referencing the book Letters to Milena (Briefe an Milena) by Franz Kafka of his intense love affair with Czech journalist & writer Milena Jesenská, through four lettered parts of a subtly sophisticated set of improvisations by Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Nuno Torres (alto sax), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Eric Bauer (electronics) and Stephen Flinn (percussion).
Suspensao
Serendipity
(Creative Sources)
A fortuitous 2015 concert from the lowercase chamber/ea-improv octet Suspensão, captured live at Ler Devagar Bookstore in Lisbon from Ernesto Rodrigues (viola & harp), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Nuno Torres (alto sax), Eduardo Chagas (trombone), Antonio Chaparreiro (guitar), Rodrigo Pinheiro (piano & melodica), Miguel Mira (bass), Carlos Santos (electronics) and Jose Oliveira (percussion).



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC