The Squid's Ear Magazine


Rodrigues / Stoffner / Parrinha / Madeira: Altered Egos (Creative Sources)

A highly interactive and textural set of chamber-oriented free improvisations with an often pointillistic approach from the quartet of Portuguese improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, Bruno Parrinha on clarinet & alto saxophone, Joao Madeira on double bass with Swiss electric guitarist Florian Stoffner, in three detailed and engaging conversations.
 

Price: $15.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List Shipping Weight: 2.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Ernesto Rodrigues-viola, crackle box

Florian Stoffner-electric guitar

Bruno Parrinha-clarinet, alto saxophone

Joao Madeira-double bass


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




UPC: 5609063407839

Label: Creative Sources
Catalog ID: cs783
Squidco Product Code: 33523

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded in Lisbon, Portugal, on March 10th 2023, by Joao Madeira.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Turning straight back to another (quartet, in this case) release from Ernesto Rodrigues, and apparently my first review of a performance recorded in 2023 (in Lisbon last month), Altered Egos continues not only to elaborate a personal-collective style in the post-pandemic era, but prolific ongoing collaborations with Bruno Parrinha (here on both clarinet and alto sax) and Joao Madeira (double bass) in particular. Indeed, it seems an album such as Derive (a quintet, recorded at the end of last year), featuring all three, comes to mark the forging and refining of a new body of musical figures and practices, transformational practices once again as invoked by the Altered Egos title.

Joining that core trio for the latter then is Florian Stoffner (electric guitar) - whom I'd mentioned (in a March 2021 review) for his duo album with Paul Lovens, Tetratne on Hat - and Stoffner does inject some timbral variety, but mostly understated and seeking to blend. There's sometimes a ringing sense of electric guitar, especially for the first track of this relatively short album, but also a variety of glissandi and "elasticity" in general, a stark concluding landscape leading into more four-way free jazz counterpoint for the second track, more percussive and pointillistic, a more industrial (yet somehow zoomimetic...) feel developing only to fade away for the third and final....

There's thus a fairly typical arc for a new interaction, finding its way into what can become clearly articulated intricacy, in what can also seem (at least in the beginning) like a trio against a soloist. (And the eventual quartet sound is not so different from that of e.g. Aeon, as reviewed here in July, albeit with Flak on acoustic guitar and Rodrigues on violin.... Moreover, the latter is on crackle box here as well, something he also played on the new - likewise recorded in 2023 - Impromptu from Suspensao. For both though, the horn tends toward subtlety and color, less often centered or as strongly contoured as the strings....) In any case, it can be difficult to pick and choose what to discuss here, but the results from Rodrigues and Creative Sources seem to be in another particularly fertile (yet concentrated) period. In that fast-moving context then, Altered Egos did stand out to my ears overall for its detailed textural interactions and subtly lingering affect."-Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts


Get additional information at Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

Artist Biographies

"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)
11/27/2023

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

"Florian 'Flo' Stoffner ( 1975 ) is a Swiss jazz guitarist and composer.

Stoffner made his first experiences through performances with Harald Haerter and Erik Truffaz , including at the Lugano Festival. From the beginning of the 21st century he worked with musicians such as Marius Peyer ( Unsung Songs , 2000), Gitta Kahle , Christian Weber , Lionel Friedli , Hans-Peter Pfammatter , Manuel Mengis ( Into the Barn , 2004), Christoph Grab and Hilaria Kramer. , and in the Fat Son, Lauschangriff, Lila and Science Fiction Theater groups. In 2012 he came with a solo album... and Sorry ( Veto Records ). With Paul Lovens and Rudi Mahall he recorded the trio album Mein Freund der Baum ( Wide Ear , 2017). In jazz, he was involved in 15 recording sessions between 1990 and 2011."

-Wikipedia (Translated by Google) (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flo_Stoffner)
11/27/2023

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

"Bruno Parrinha - alto sax / soprano, Clarinet Sb / Alto, flute

Around the age of 10 began playing the clarinet. At 17 he bought a flute and entered the Academy of Music where he Amateurs solfeggio and instrument with Paulo Curado for two years . Later he was always playing clarinet and tenor saxophone ( self-taught ) and at age 21 he was invited to join the band Pop Radar Gaddafi with whom he recorded . Later he was cast of musicians on the play " Vieux Carré " in teatro da Graça playing tenor sax . Spent a year on the scene . At 87 he began to attend formations of Sei Miguel resulting in vinyl LP recorded at 88 " Songs love and against terrorism ." Since then he has dedicated his commitment to free improvisation and has participated in numerous trainings and concerts with illustrious musicians including Rodrigo Amado , Rodrigo Pinheiro , Miguel Mira , João Lucas , Paulo Curado , Ernesto Rodrigues , Guilherme Rodrigues , Ulrich Mitzlaff , Manuel Guimarães Cyril Bondi , " D' Incise ," Raphael Ortiz , Nicolaus Gerwinsky , Phill Niblock , Raymond McDonald , Victor Nubla , Nuno Rebelo , Marco Franco, Gabriel Ferrandini , Hernani Faustino , Luís Lopes , José Oliveira , Carlos Santos , Carlos " Zingaro " João Pedro Viegas , Victor Rua , Abdul " moimême " , Luís Vicente , João Lancaster , Luis Gil , Paulo Pimentel , Francisco Andrade , Albert Cicera and many others.

Presently a part of groups : ARGUE, IKB , VGO , Miguel Mira Quartet , Open Mind and Puma. "

-Bruno Parrinha MySpace Page (https://myspace.com/brunoparrinha/bio)
11/27/2023

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

Joao Madeira: "I was born in Lisboa and I've dedicated most of my energy to the doublebass since I was 12. When I went to study at the Conservatório de Lisboa my role model was doublebassist João Panta Nunes, and lately my studies were oriented by Jorge Lee, at Cascais. I have a degree in Musicology, investigation work on Fado's candidature to World Immaterial Heritage by UNESCO, and coordination of the Music Department at INATEL/FNAT. Since 1999 I have a strong activity (studio and performance) in several styles and genres, but improvised music and original composition (whatever the style...) are the places where my musical language riches its higher satisfaction and plenitude. In the recordings you are about to hear it's me who plays all the instruments. My passion is at the simple act of artistic creation. For me, music is all about musicians and genuine expression! It doesn't matter the genre neither the instrument per si. In theater I have collaborations (musician, composer, actor) with Companhia do Chapitô and Artistas Unidos, amongst others. I also love books (...) I've studied aesthetics and Portuguese literature since I remember, and love to read and write poetry."

-Reverb Nation (https://www.reverbnation.com/eudemadeira/song/9496502-mejardim-joo-madeira)
11/27/2023

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


Track Listing:



1. Bitter Butter 13:30

2. Tolerant Talent 13:28

3. Beautiful Irritation 7:12

Related Categories of Interest:


Creative Sources
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Jazz
Chamber Jazz
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Quartet Recordings

New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

Search for other titles on the label:
Creative Sources.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Bechegas / Rodrigues / Rodrigues
Secrets Under Trees
(Creative Sources)
Kim / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Cholet
Taedong
(Creative Sources)
Okura / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Buder
Your Dramatic Joy
(Creative Sources)
Claman / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Tallone
Three Shadows
(Creative Sources)
Suspensao
Frottage
(Creative Sources)
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)
Suspensao
Teufelmuzik
(Creative Sources)
Portugal's suspenseful reductionist improvising ensemble, blending acoustic and electronic instruments in delicately detailed motion, heard in this live recording at SMUP in Parede from Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Nuno Torres (sax), Bruno Parrinha (bass clarinet), Luisa Goncalves (piano), Flak (electric gutiar), Joao Madeira (bass), Carlos Santos (analog synth) and Jose Oliveira (percussion).
Suspensao (Rodrigues / Torres / Parrinha / Goncalves / Flak / Madeira / Santos / Oliveira)
Impromptu
(Creative Sources)
The Suspensao octet are heard in this live performance at SMUP, in Parede, Portugal in 2023, blending primarily acoustic instruments with electric guitar and analog synth, using a reductionist approach to highly concentrative and suspenseful free improvisation, their long-running collective history allowing an impressive level of articulation and control through the integration of diverse voices.
Lopes, Luis Abyss Mirrors
Echoisms
(Clean Feed)
Citing references including Sun Ra, electric Miles, Ornette, Wadada Leo Smith, Stockhausen & Gabriel Prokofiev, guitarist Luis Lopes's Abyss Mirrors brings together artists drawing on European & Brazilian performers from Clean Feed, Shhpuma and Creative Sources for these evolving and often ecstatic collective, experimental improvisations; unpredictably edgy and exciting!
IKB
Limosa Limosa
(Creative Sources)
IKB, a ten-piece reductionist electroacoustic ensemble of strings, reeds, guitar, computer, percussion, piano, drums & objects, continues their exploration of exotic animal species with this 2020 live performance at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, Portugal, detailing the long-billed shore bird Limosa through intricate, restrained and remarkable expression.
IKB
Rhinocerus
(Creative Sources)
One of Portugal's most interesting large scale lowercase ensembles led by violist Ernesto Rodrigues, with frequent Creative Sources collaborators including Nuno Torres on alto sax, Carlos Santos on electronics, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Miguel Mira on bass, 14 musicians move with subtlety in a tapestry of electroacoustic resonance and mystique.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Guilherme Rodrigues / Stephan Bleier
Anamorphose
(Creative Sources)
A confluence of strings from the trio of Portuguese improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, performing in Berlin with double bassist Stephan Bleier, the title referring to a gradual ascending progression formed through small changes, an apt analogy for the illusory and shape-shifting approach their 5-part improvisations lead.
Rodrigues / Carvalho / Rodrigues / Valinho
Eclipse
(Creative Sources)
Emulating a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse in two evolving improvised chamber works that take the quartet of Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Mariana Carvalho on piano, Joao Valinho on percussion and Ernesto Rodrigues (switching from viola to harp & deploying electronics) through mysterious soundwork that move from darkness to light in detailed and subtle ways.
Rodrigues / Parrinha / Hencleeday / Valinho
Flat Music
(Creative Sources)
Two extended acoustic improvisations of reductionist approaches recorded in the studio in Parede, Portugal in 2021 from the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Andre Hencleeday on piano and Joao Valinho on percussion, guided by a poem from Rodrigues as they slowly and exquisitly explore a "Closed Window" and an "Open Window".
Suspensao (Rodrigues / Torres / Parrinha / Goncalves / Flak / Madeira / Santos / Oliveira)
Impromptu
(Creative Sources)
The Suspensao octet are heard in this live performance at SMUP, in Parede, Portugal in 2023, blending primarily acoustic instruments with electric guitar and analog synth, using a reductionist approach to highly concentrative and suspenseful free improvisation, their long-running collective history allowing an impressive level of articulation and control through the integration of diverse voices.
Rodrigues / Madeira / Faustino
No Strings Attached
(Creative Sources)
A deep string trio of two double basses and violin/viola from double bassists Joao Madeira and Hernani Faustino, whose duo albums on the FMR label are under the group name dB Duet, with Creative Sources label leader Ernesto Rodrigues, recording in the studio in Lisbon for 8 succint improvisations and an expanded live version at Cossoul during the 2023 Creative Sources Cycle.
Rodrigues / Parrinha / McDonas / Flak / Oliveira
The Fleeting Nature Of Time
(Creative Sources)
Excellent pacing with introspective richness and detail through five improvisations, as US pianist Thollem McDonas joins Portuguese improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on alto clarinet, Flak on acoustic guitar and Jose Oliveira on percussion for this studio recording in Lisbon, each passage reflecting a word from the title; inspired and beautiful.
Rodrigues / Wassermann / Rodrigues
L'Age De L'Oreille
(Creative Sources)
Ute Wassermann adds a unique expressiveness to this Berlin studio session, bringing her impressive talents as a free improvising vocalist along with her bird calls and objects, providing an unusual yet extremely complementary foil to the intertwined strings of the father/son collaboration of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues; idiosyncratically wonderful!
Parrinha, Bruno / VINE LEAF (Parrinha / Lopes / Valinho)
Tales of Sense
(Clean Feed)
Named for the translation of alto saxophonist Bruno Parrinha's last name into English--"Vine Leaf"--the trio of frequent working partners Luís Lopes on electric guitar and João Valinho on drums are heard in two recordings at SMUP, in Parede, PT and one studio recording in Lisbon, for sophisticated collective improvisation that indeed flows like a beautifully intricate vine.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Guilherme Rodrigues / Joao Madeira / Bruno Parrinha / Monsieur Trinite
Derive
(Creative Sources)
Improvising over strings, winds & percussion from the Portuguese quintet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Joao Madeira on double bass, Bruno Parrinha on flute & bass clarinet and Monsieur Trinite on percussion, in a studio session of active, often pointillistic interaction offset with periods of introspection, reflecting concepts of Baudelaire & The Surrealists.
Suspensao
Spur
(Creative Sources)
The seventh album from Creative Sources' detailed electroacoustic improvising group Suspensão led by violist Ernesto Rodrigues, recording at SMUP in Parede, Portugal in 2022 with Joana Sa on soprano sax, Nuno Torres on alto sax, Luisa Goncalves on piano, Joao Madeira on double bass, Carlos Santos on synthesizer and Jose Oliveira on percussion.
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Bruno Parrinha / Guilherme Rodrigues
Signes Emergents
(Creative Sources)
The trio of violist Ernesto Rodrigues, cellist Guilherme Rodrigues and clarinetist Bruno Parrinha on alto & bass clarinets are captured live at Lisboa Incomum, during the 2022 Festival DME, performing two sophisticated chamber improv works, their titles translating to "The aging skies - it's all illusion" and "Pass The Bridges If It's Windy - The Flame Of The Solemnity".
Flak / Guilherme Rodrigues / Bruno Parrinha / Ernesto Rodrigues
Aeon
(Creative Sources)
The cosmological concept of the aeon, the conflict between matter and spirit, is explored in eight "Chronicles" of collective free improvisation using impressive technique and concentrative interaction from the Portuguese quartet of Flak on acoustic guitar, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet and Ernesto Rodrigues on violin.
Mortagua, Goncalo / Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues / Gunter "Baby" Sommer
Not Bad
(Creative Sources)
Spanning three generations of improvisers, the duo of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues join with tenor saxophonist Gonçalo Mortágua and legendary percussionist Gunter Baby Sommer to record eleven diverse improvisations in the studio in Berlin, naming the quartet "Not Bad", an extreme understatement for their unique chamber influences of European Free Jazz.
Lopes, Luis Abyss Mirrors
Echoisms
(Clean Feed)
Citing references including Sun Ra, electric Miles, Ornette, Wadada Leo Smith, Stockhausen & Gabriel Prokofiev, guitarist Luis Lopes's Abyss Mirrors brings together artists drawing on European & Brazilian performers from Clean Feed, Shhpuma and Creative Sources for these evolving and often ecstatic collective, experimental improvisations; unpredictably edgy and exciting!



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC