"The opening moments of "Stream of Consciousness"are disorienting. Awash in reverb, as in an empty warehouse or a bounded public square, Maria Radich's vocals mingle with those of an audience of unknown size. Camera shutters click, men ...

"Although humanity's most in-demand and pervasive instruments the popularity of drums and guitars - or their equivalents - is so universal that there's no sanctioned method to play either. This is especially true with Free Music where adven...

"The Uliben Duo's CD Shared Memory (Creative Sources CS 327 CD) more accurately describe the performance of French bassist Benoit Cancoin facing the live processing of German Ulrich Phillipp. In other circumstances Phillips also plays b...

"Argentinian pianist (by way of Amsterdam) Nicolas Chientaroli delivers a solo performance that demonstrates the piano's architectural sound beyond the usual demarcation points of its 88 keys. Cada Fuego Es El Primero opens with plucked str...

"Rumor is a studio session by four musicians who had recently performed together for the first time during the 2014 MIA improvisation festival in Lisbon. It joins two international visitors - Brazilian Marco Scarassatti on sound sculptu...

Mexican composer and vibraphonist based in Berlin since 2012, Emilio Gordoa in a duo with guitarist Nicola L. Hein, using preparations to their vibraphones, percussion, and guitar, in an 8 part composition of diverse approaches to improvisation, from exuberant interaction to Reich-like minimalism to cantankerous experimentation, a well-rounded and interesting album.

"On "Pip", we get another fabulous performance, now by Norwegians Fredrik Rasten on guitar and Torstein Lavik Larsen on trumpet. Their acoustic music is minimal, repetitive, slow and with an eery intensity. It is less dark than some of...

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"Farhadian is an American composer and performer with a base in San Francisco and one in Berlin. Her work often is about connecting solo violin and interactive electronics. Combining her classical background as violist (Berkeley Symphon...

1 Incidental Projections 25:28

Three label leaders come together for an album of free electroacoustic improvisation--Thanos Chrysakis (Aural Terrains); Kurt Liedwart (Mikroton); Ernesto Rodrigues (Creative Sources), with Nuno Torres on sax--for an extended dialog built of exotic and microscopic sound, string aberrations, and reed abnormalities; exceptional.

A large work for cello, viola, sinewaves and electronics from the quartet of Guilherme Rodrigues, Ernesto Rodrigues, Ferran Fages, and Barriere, the first two foundation members for Creative Sources, the latter two frequent collaborators, Barriere bringing a mathematical background to the improvisation that blends acoustic and electronic sources in compatibly sinister ways.

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"As always, the geometry is of the n-dimensional sort. The number of dimensions that vary is impressive: membership, instrumentation, location, duration, and so on. Certainly, the overall shape of each VGO performance is highly variable...

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"An interesting title to begin with. The situation of feeling like an extraneous body in a system that works according to peculiar principles. Or, in a more "mental" acceptation, the priceless condition of being completely delivered fro...

"In Gerald Murnane's Barley Patch, he writes of a character who, listening to music in an old timber building, would hope to find "the crowd of dust-motes that he sometimes saw swirling or drifting in a shaft of sunlight." As he listene...

As the album cover displays, basalto are the black rocks resulting from lava, here represented in the slowly flowing, hard toned electro-acoustic improv of the Portuguese trio of Ernesto Rodrigues onoctave viola & baritone violin, Abdul Moimeme on electric guitar, and Antez on percussion.

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"Although their developments took place in parallel, jazz-funk-rock and free jazz shared little, if not perhaps Miles Davis's "Live-Evil" period, due to the open "jam" character The music of the trumpeter took at the time - even when Te...

"Determined to prove a point. Swedish double bass player Vilhelm Bromander, known from Jonas Kullhammar's The New Kids On The Rock quartet and the more experimental The Agg, as well as his collaborations with pianists Sten Sandell and K...

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"The pianist Christine Wodrascka and the percussionist Jerome Lacoste, in forty-eight minutes and thirteen pieces of remarkably well-constructed works, offer a whole panorama of sounds, articulations, vibrations, timbres, crazy pulsatio...

"Among the creative production of the label Creative Sources, I pointed this album, Thuya (the title's graphic on the cover uses a Y whose case is unknown on my Mac), because the music is played by a violin trio - cello - absolutely rem...

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"When an improvised recording presents itself as a meteor, some foreign object from another civilization, like Days Are Not Days does, we should rejoice that it has entered our atmosphere and like a bolide, exploded upon contact. Okay, ...

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"Although some improvisers deny that one of the main parameters that they deal in their projects is the language, this almost always ends (I would say until always) to happen. The interest of the music that results depends on what they ...

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"Ensemble MIA unites over 60 improvisers and experimental musicians from all over the world, who participated in MIA 2016 - 7th Encontro de Música Improvisada de Atouguia da Baleia (Improvised Music Encounter) festival. The event ...

1. History Of The Lisbon Chaplaincy 43:10

An incredible example of Creative Sources/Ernesto Rodrigues' large electroacoustic ensembles, blending acoustic and electronic sources in slow moving and subtle improvised works of a large scale, here with 12 musicians layering string, brass, keys, percussion, synth and computer into a mysterious harmonic and hallucinatory convergence of powerful intention.

"[...] Blattwerk's two torrents of strings move like a waveform, cresting and dipping in volume and intensity. The quintet features an unusual line-up-violin, viola, two cellos, and Trilla's drums-and shifts between an indeterminate wor...

1. L'ennui 42:00

One of six Lisbon String Trio albums, each joining the core trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Alvaro Rosso on double bass, and Miguel Mira on cello with a 4th improviser, here with trombonist Carlo Mascolo, performing live at Mira's Palace in Lisbon, Portugal for one of the most harmonically unique albums of the set as the trombone weaves in and out of the strings.

Portugal's Lisbon String Trio with Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello, and Alvaro Rosso on double bass, in a series of releases adding one additional improviser, here joined by Etienne Brunet on soprano saxophone, for two extended improvisations of active counterpoint and beautiful open sections, an excellent and rousing collaboration.

One of five live collaborations with The Lisbon String Trio of violist Ernesto Rodrigues, cellist Miguel Mira, and bassist Alvaro Rosso, Quebec pianist Karoline Leblanc accompanying on the piano as the 4th string in this open-minded equation of slowly intersecting improvisation creating an unusual tapestry of sound that ebbs and flows in exceptional ways.

The 4th collaboration for Portugal's Lisbon String Trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello, and Alvaro Rosso on double bass, with Brazilian clarinetist based in Barcelona Luiz Rocha, all captured live at Casa dos Bicos, Fundacao Jose Saramago, in Lisbon in 2017 for free improvisation that maintains a calm center amidst seething and commanding playing.

1 Proletariat 27:40

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Recorded in Lisbon, Creative Sources core performers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello and Carlos Santos on synthesizer are joined by renowned German free improviser Matthias Muche on trombone and Cologne based guitarist Nicola L. Hein for two extended improvisations of actively subdued dialog that ebb and flow in commanding ways.

"[...] Trilla fits agreeably into the Creative Sources aesthetic, which values collective mood-building over individual displays of prowess. Nepenthes Hibrida was recorded live a few days before Christmas 2016, and features Trilla, viol...

Like the Lisbon String Trio, this trio explores strings in a viola, cello and double bass trio configuration, from Creative Sources core players Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues, and Alexander Frangenheim, exploring a classic trio concept towards new expressions and boundaries, through spritely interaction and sonic expedition.

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Drawing its name from the seven members making up this string ensemble led by violist Ernesto Rodrigues, String Theory complements the concurrent Lisbon String Trio albums by magnifying concepts in freely improvised string interactions, using unusual harmonics, melodic and percussive approaches to instruments, and quickly moving quietly intense interaction.

Two women in a duo of voice and amplified objects, Lali Barrier using a variety of devices that are clearly micro-amplifed and mixed in performance, as Marta Sainz intones vocal sounds, never speaking but creating innuendo and drama at a cautious pace, allowing Barrier's objects to interact, creating an unusual sonic environment of unpredictable and interesting discourse.

"The music that is created at the Amsterdam improvisation hall 100 will gradually be able to spread outside the capital. The debut album of the quintet Zwerv was recorded, and is filled with five free improvisations. Founder of the grou...

An album of patience and concentrated listening from the lowercase trio of David Area on electronics, Tomas Gris on guitar and objects, and Ernesto Rodrigues on harp and objects, each player subtly coaxing sounds out of their instruments while the electronics act as environmental ambience over which tones slowly voice, recede and occasionally punctuate.

The trio of Kaja Farszky on marimba & percussion, Annette Giesriegl on voice and electronics, and Katharina Klement on piano for a gripping album of free/ea improvisation, splitting the release in 3 parts from a live concert in 2015 at Sonnenhang House Concerts Series in Kumberg/Austria, and 3 parts recorded at Croatian Radio in Zagreb in 2016.

Four strings, voice and trombone make up the multinational collective quintet of Davide Piersanti (trombone), Hui-Chun Lin (cello and voice), Sergio Andres Castrillon Arcila (cello), Ulf Mengersen (bass), and Klaus Kurvers (bass) who are captured live at "t-berlin" in 2016 for a set of inventive and active cooperative conversations named for Greek letters.

Autochthon refers to indigenous language or people, tied to their land; here the trio of Hartmut Osswald (reeds & things), Stefan Scheib (prepared double bass) and Wolfgang Schliemann (drums and objects) perform a native language of their own through improvisation in this interesting concert at Freejazz Festiva in, Saarbrucken, Germany in 2016.

Spacious improvisations from the French duo of guitarist Jean-Sebastien Mariage and double bassist David Chiesa, slowly unfolding discussions of subtle nuance and contemplative colors.

A free improvisation session with Gunter Christmann on cello and trombone, Alexander Fragenheim on double bass, and extended free vocalist Elke Schipper.

Violinist Gerszewski developed an individual form of notation to create his "ordinary music", a continuation of abstract visual thinking by means of sound.

The quartet of Andreas Backer on voice, David Stackenas on guitars, Joe Williamson on bass, and Stale Liavik Solberg on drums & percussion, for open-minded, improvised chamber music focusing on interaction, textures, dynamic variations and timbre.

Inspired by Albert Ayler's work for strings, Jason Kahn wrote this graphical score for amplified percussion, Vincent Millioud on violin, Bo Wiget on cello, and Christian Weber on contrabass.

The Para trio with hornist Elena Kakaliagou, pianist Ingrid Schmoliner, and bassist/composer Thomas Skempowski contains within itself both composed and improvised musics, here in 8 pieces of exceptional and well-paced dramatic work.

The trio of Hans Koch on clarone and soprano sax, Thomas Rohrer on rabeca, soprano and c-melody sax, and Antonio Panda Gianfratti on percussion; open-ended and active improvisation.

A quirky and ingenious duo from two saxophonists using extended techniques: Alipio C. Neto on soprano sax and Thelmo Cristovam on C-melody sax, using the reeds, body and breath to create an unusual and uncommon dialog.

Violist Ernesto Rodrigues and Ricardo Guerreiro on computer are joined by saxophonist Bertrand Gauguet for two improvisations of subtle & rich sound work: intertwining sax breathing, intense sonic pressure, and long string tones developing beautiful audio environments.

The trio of Paulo Curado, Paulo Chagas, and Joao Pedro Viegas on flutes and reeds, 11 pieces of mostly improvised music that blend idiomatic music from old and new approaches, while inventing a few of their own.

One of the most active albums from the set of Lisbon String Trio (plus one) albums released in 2017, saxophonist Blaise Siwula brings a unique virtuosity to this live album from Galeria Monumental in Lisbon, prompting at times a chamber jazz feeling, alongside very free improvisation with impressive transitions from spacious to highly detailed playing.

An impressive, creative, startling meeting between Japanese trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and German double bassist Alexander Frangenheim, taking Tamura out of his more typical structured improv and Frangenhemin into more active and agressive styles than his Creative Sources output; a great album reminding just how fun and awe inspiring free improvised music can be.

Active and exciting electroacoustic improvisation with a strong emphasis on the electronics from Richard Scott and his uniquely developed modular synthesizer, from this Berlin-based collective trio with double bassist Alexander Frangenheim and trumpeter Nikolaus Neuser, exploring Trialectics, a complex system of 21st century thought and formal logic.

Correctly configured, the Portugese ensemble Octopus is an octet, and though named after the most common of the breed, this 8-tentacled orchestration of strings, flute, trumpet, piano, guitar, electronics and percussion, all using extended techniques, slides deftly and with incredible restraint through a large, detailed dark-water work of electroacoustic improvisation.

A student of Christian Dierstein and Fred Frith, French percussionist Camille Emaille, working in both modern compositional and improvised music and influenced by Middle Eastern and Persian approaches, presents an album of solo percussion work selected from eight improvisations recorded in Bromont, Canada, using a diverse and unusual set of percussive instruments.

Kern is the Berlin-based free improvising acoustic trio of clarinetist and saxophonist Edith Styer, trombonist Matthias Muller (Splitter Orchester, Xenon), and drummer Yorgos Dimitriadis (Fabric Trio, Glue), recording in the studio for 10 works of informed dialogs of great restraint and consummate control, from a mix of collective compositions and two from Steyer.

Creative Sources core artist double bassist Alexander Frangenheim met Zeitkratzer multi-reedist Frank Gratkowski, The Necks drummer Tony Buck, and free improvising vocalist Adachi Tomomi, in one of a series of concerts at the loft Studio Boerne 45 in Berlin in 2015; this, their first meeting, yielded an impressive flow of creative and far-ranging collective dialog.

Sounding almost electric through unique string manipulations and harmonic overtones and inside playing on the piano, the quartet of Ernesto Rordigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Biliana Voutchkova on violin and pianist Magda Mayas render an eerie and atmospheric examination of trees, the self, blindness, and other obscure topics through cautious and slow-moving improvisation.

Four controlled improvisations from the New York City based trio of Michael Lytle on clarinet, Denman Maroney on piano, and Stephen Flinn on percussion, non-idiomatic collective improvisations that often have the feeling of electroacoustic improv through Flinn's use of percussion, Maroney's inside piano work, and Lytle's upper register playing.

A beautiful album of darkly lyrical jazz duos from Israeli saxophonist and bass clarinetist Albert Beger and collaborator and member of the Albert Beger Quartet Shay Hazan, on double bass and guimbri, for seven pieces recorded in the studio: 6 improvised works and the composed piece "Cycles".

Three free improvisations from the Lisbon, Portugal trio of Jorge Nuno on electric guitar, Jose Lencastre on alto saxophone and Pedro Santo on drums, four pieces titled for the length of their dialog as they explore spacious sound sculpting and energetic free playing, a nicely balanced set of work that transition with finesse between ardor and tranquility.

Nine freely improvised introspections as "enlightening spots on different forms of life in a rather muddy environment" from Lucerne, Switzerland based tenor saxophonist Elio Amberg and pianist Christoph Baumann, wonderful miniatures of great style and skill, a diverse exploration of their fictional pond that's quite spellbinding and exciting.

Recording in Portugal, the quintet of Aural Terrains label leader Thanos Chrysakis on piano, Creative Sources label leader Ernesto Rodrigue on viola, son Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Miguel Mira on double bass and Abdul Moimeme on electric guitar, three parts of microscopic collective electroacoustic improvisation of highly focused, detailed interplay.

Electroacoustic improvisation from the trio of Marc Vilanova on saxophone, Sergio Castrillon on cello, and pianist James Andean also performing on objects and electronics, in nine collective improvisations of close-knit dialog balancing intense activity and silent space, building tension and releasing it in unexpected and wonderfully eccentric ways.

Porto bassist Miguel Angelo's solo release is an album of pure improvisation, unrepeatable takes, which, for the artist, makes musical and emotional sense as a satisfying moment of musical sensation, through 11 tracks on the double bass of powerful playing, creative impulse, lyrical and rhythmic inventiveness, and ultimately, great satisfaction.

"Back in July, I mentioned Skulking in the Big House from a quartet led by Alexander Frangenheim, and Frangenheim continues to release albums on Creative Sources, including more recently Kochuu, featuring French vocalist Isabelle Duthoit...

"We've written about Frangenheim before, whether playing solo, as on "The Knife Again", or in duo with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura on "Nax". On "Talk For A Listener", he goes far beyond conventions, getting rid of any foothold 'a listener"...