A dynamic and exciting concert captured during the 2018 CreativeFest XII of a conduction by Ernesto Rodrigues leading an ensemble of 28 free improvisors performing on a mix of traditional acoustic & modern electronic instruments, plus a toy piano, with powerful wind & string sections, as Rodrigues directs the musicians into both passionate and peaceful sections.

A string quartet of doubled cello and viola, recording in the studio in Berlin in 2018, as free improving innovators, Creative Sources cellist and violist Guilherme Rodrigues and Ernesto Rodrigues, meet contemporary compositional and improvising cellist and violist Hui-Chu Lin and Marie Takahashi, their complementary approaches bringing unique voices to a captivating encounter.

A concise and essential concert from the Octopus octet, recorded in performances at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal during the Creativefest XII, the ensemble of mostly acoustic instrumentation (cello, viola, flute, clarinet, classical guitar, piano, percussion and synthesizer) carefully evolving a shade of blue in subtle details of tense restraint.

Recorded at CreativeFest#12 in Lisbon at O'Culto de Ajuda, the 21-piece electroacoustic ensemble Isotope takes on the chemical element Radium in a gripping piece of evolving improvisation, intensely restrained and extremely detailed, orchestrated with cello, baroque violin, double bass, acoustic & electric guitars, zither, psaltery, winds, brass, keys, electronics and percussion.

The Portuguese large improvising ensemble String Theory is heard live during the CreativeFest#12, at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal in 2018, in an extended improvisation of incredible layering and restraint, making an amalgam of mostly acoustic string sources sound electronic and hallucinatory, an incredible achievement in string sonics.

The fourth release from the Portuguese lowercase electroacoustic ensemble Suspensao, merging viola, cello, bass clarinet, alto sax, electric guitar, piano, double bass, percussion and electronics in intensely detailed, slow moving improvisation, revealing impressive tension and suspension of time in impeccably concentrative collective conversation.

A subtle album of acoustic interaction recorded at Berlin's Noiseberg from the quartet of Miriam den Boer Salmon on violin, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & zither, Fredrik Rasten on acoustic guitar, and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello & percussion, sounding almost electronic in their frictional technique and harmonic overtones, ebbing and flowing from active interaction to tranquil discourse.

Recording at the 12th CreativeFest at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal, the IKB ensemble is represented by 20 musicians for this performance, merging acoustic and electronic instruments including strings, brass, winds, self-made instruments, and percussion in a concert of intense constraint & patience, seething with detail and replete with consummate skill.

Two sets across two nights during CreativeFest #12 at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal, in a septet of six acoustic sources--viola, cellos, flute, trumpet, piano and percussion--and electronics, an extended journey approached with quiet tension and incredible detail, the recording of the first set used as the basis for the 2nd to create a virtual ensemble.

The Lisbon String Trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello, and Alvaro Rosso on contrabass continue their recent string of collaborations with a fourth player, Portuguese tuba player Gil Goncalves joining to addd a unique complement to their strings, as Goncalves adds bass, blats, growls and unique timbres of upper register low brass.

Recording live in Berlin at Werkhalle Wiesenburg, the quartet of Portuguese father/son string players Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Danish saxophonist Mia Dyberg on alto sax, and Polish double bassist Tomo Jacobson present a precisely controlled concert of subtly detailed free improvisation using impressive technique and momentum.

A mysterious album of viola, viola d'amore, organ, and field recordings, merging the compositional minimal approach of Wandelweiser artist Eva-Maria Houben with Creative Sources performers Ernesto & Guilherme Rodrigues, the field recordings creating a virtual setting of environmental stillness, evoking slow motion in the unique "thisness" of haecceity.

Named for the city in which it was recorded, the trio of Karoline Leblanc on harpsichord, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, and Paulo J Ferreira Lopes on gongs & cymbals, is a mysterious and ritualistic album, Lopes' gongs slowly intoning as the strings use unusual techniques, much of the harpsichord played inside; a subtle and beautiful reflection of historic Montreal.

Finnish guitarist Lauri Hyvarinen joins Portugues Creative Sources collective members Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Abdul Moimeme on electric guitar, and Carlos Santos on synthesizer, for a studio album whose title refers to the shell of an object, a mysterious reference peeled away by this quartet through subliminal playing of intense technique and concentration.

Joing Portuguese and Spanish improvisers for four recordings in Bilbao, Spain, this sextet presents sound works using unusual orchestration--piano harp, viola, guitar, metals, electric organ, paper, contact mics, and electronics--balancing spacious exploration with assertive moments of percussive and caustic sound, evolving bold sonic and timbral combinations.

An album for bowed strings, bowed metal, and double bass, from the quartet of Dietrich Petzold on violin, viola, bowed metal, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Matthias Bauer on double bass, presenting a seven part suite recorded in the studio in Berlin, active and exciting music that bridges classical technique with free improvisation.

The 8-limbed creature that is Creative Source's Octopus presents their 3rd album of diaphanous improvisation, using two reeds (clarinet & tenor sax), trumpet, resonator guitar, viola, double bass, snare drums and electronics, as they slowly prowl in subaqueous and subtle improvisation of powerful technique, cautiously moving with rich details and deft direction.

A quintet album of minimal/lowercase electroacoustic improvisation recordeded at Penedo in Portugal from Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Miguel Mira on cello, Anna Piosik on trumpet, and Carlos Santos on electronics, each performer using extended techniques, contrasting atmospheric tones with percussive, often pointillistic approaches.

A live recording of a subtle improvisation led by Portuguese violist Ernesto Rodrigues in a quartet with winds and brass--Paulo Curado on flute, Bruno Parrinha on soprano saxophone & bass clarinet, and Eduardo Chagas on alto trombone--each using understated approaches to their instruments using extended and unusual techniques, aptly titled but rewarding close listening.

Recording in Germany, Creative Source's two Rodrigues'--Ernesto on viola and Guilherme on cello--along with double bassist Klaus Kurvers, celebrate legendary improvising cellist Tristan Honsinger's birthday in this studio album of active playing with a chamber quartet feeling through superb technical skills yielding electrifying string improvisation.

An eruption of sound from the long-standing collaboration of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and Abdul Moimeme, here on prepared electric guitar, in a trio with unique percussionist Antez, whose intimate relationship with the percussive objects he uses creates a tectonic aural range of explosive flows and deeply churning cymbal vibration, caught live at Lisboa Incomum, in Lisbon.

Electric guitarist Olaf Rupp joins the father son/duo of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme cello, in studio recordings from Berlin in 2017, as three disparate strings intertwine in acoustics and electronics for an intensely evolving two part work, a textured tapestry of slow bowing, sustaining tones, unusual progressions, and odd percussive invention.

Nine numbered improvisations for viola, cello and analog synth from the trio of Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues and Richard Scott, recorded live at Audience, in Berlin, Scott's synth layers adding subtle nuance including vocal sampling and static and strange noise as a counterpoint to the Rodrigues' subdued but detailed techniques, textures and intense concentration.

"3 Phases", or 3 aspects of the approach that violist Ernesto Rodrigues applies to improvisation, in 3 different groupings over 3 different concerts at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, here in an electroacoustic ensemble with Miguel Mira, Guilherme Rodrigues, Joao Silva, Eduardo Chagas, Paulo Curado, Noel Taylor, Miguel Almeida, Andre Holzer, Andre Hencleeday, Carlos Santos, and Joao Valinho.

"3 Phases", or different aspects of the approach that violist Ernesto Rodrigues applies to improvisation, in three different groupings over three different days, all live at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal in 2018, here in an acoustic sax trio with strings, with Bruno Parrinha on soprano, Nuno Torres on alto, Paulo Galao on tenor sax.

"3 Phases", or different aspects of the approach that violist Ernesto Rodrigues applies to improvisation, in three different groupings over three different days, all live at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal in 2018, here in an ea-improv setting with Albert Cirera on tenor saxophone, Rodrigo Pinheiro on piano, & Carlos Santos on field recordings & sine waves.

Creative Sources collective Isotope Ensemble led by Ernesto Rodrigues performed with a large electroacoustic group continues their investigation of isotopes, focusing on Lanthanum, a soft metal used in flints, through subtly-developing interplay the band, moving as one body, reaching several highly controlled periods of passionate improvisation, contrasting with beautifully serene sections; impressive.

Three strings--cello from Guilherme Rodrigues, double bass from Adam Pultz Melbye, and viola from Ernesto Rodrigues--plus harmonium and objects from Kriton Beyer, in a live performance at Kuhlspot Social Club in Berlin, each of the 9 movements a concentrative work named with a three-letter onomatopoeia, as the players draw sound from a mysterious dark distance.

Recorded at the Galeria Monumental during the Small Format Materials II Festival, Sul is a large string-oriented ensemble led by Ernesto Rodrigues that includes percussionist Andrew Drury and double bassist Hernani Faustino, alongside Creative Sources core players, orchestrated with viola, violin, cello, double bass, classical guitar, zither, percussion and objects.

French double bassist Fred Marty joins Creative Sources core performers, violist Ernesto Rodrigues, cellist Guilherme Rodrigues and electronic artist Carlos Santos for an extensive improvisation exploring both lyrical and pointillistic improvisation, themed loosely around a garden quartet or frame, the music detailed, active and formidably sophisticated.

Dedicated to the late free jazz legend Cecil Taylor, this Lisbon sextet of Paulo Alexandre Jorge on tenor saxophone, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Eduardo Chagas on trombone, Manuel Guimaraes on piano, Miguel Mira on cello, and Pedro Santo on drums performs four energetic and well-balanced collective improvisations, respecting and evoking the incredible legacy Taylor left behind.

Recording in the studio in Lisbon, Portugal, the free improvising lowercase/subtle momentum quintet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Luis Lopes on electric guitar, and Vasco Trilla on percussion, demonstrate intense control and remarkable concentration through the five parts of "{ Lithos }".

Trumpeter Sei Miguel joins the Portuguese Lisbon String Trio, his second collaboration with the free improvising core group of Miguel Mira on cello, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, and Alvaro Rosso on double bass, adding a distinctive voice to their subtle interplay as they present this three part work based on the legendary German character who traded his soul to the devil.

Adding a fourth string to the collaborations of Portugal's Lisbon String Trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello, and Alvaro Rosso on contrabass, Portuguese violinist Carlos Zingaro adds an additional level of delicately complex interplay to the trio's exceptional free improvisation, as they pay tribute to the Greek goddess of light and extent.

Recorded on New Years Eve in Sintra in the Penedo region of Portugal, three strings--viola from Ernesto Rodrigues, cello from Guilherme Rodrigues, and a second cello from Miguel Mira--are joined by Carlos Santos on electronics for three extended and richly detailed improvisations, active yet concentratively controlled, using impressive and extended techniques.

A live performance at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon from the Lisbon String Trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello, and Alvaro Rosso on contrabass, joined in this concert by Creative Sources frequenct collaborator Eduardo Chagas (Variable Geometry Orchestra, IKB, Suspensao, &c), a large work of microscopically detailed and concentrative acoustic improv.

A live recording from the acoustic septet Free Music 7tet of Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Luiz Rocha (clarinets), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Eduardo Chagas (trombone), and (piano), Hernani Faustino (double bass) and Paulo Ferreira Lopes (drums), performing at O'Culto da Ajuda, for five improvisations from active free improv to lowercase exploration.

A lowercase duo of intense focus and concentrative dialog from Creative Sources label leader Eernesto Rodrigues on viola and trombonist Eduardo Chagas, a member of IKB, Variable Geometry Orchestra, Suspensao, &c., through five recordings using primarily extended techniques and close proximity miking to create unusual textural and alien soundcscapes of great tension and release.

Emulating the sounds and intentions of cranes through string improvisation and unusual techniques, the quartet of Estonian violinist Elo Masing, German violinist Dietrich Petzold, and Portuguese violist and cellist Ernesto and Guilherme Rodrigues name each of 8 tracks on the behavior of cranes, from forming a flock, migration, fighting, ritual dancing, to nesting.

This supergroup of strings--16 musicians on violins, viola, cellos, double basses, piano, psaltery, zither, and guitar--in an intensely restrained collective improvisation recorded live at O'Culto da Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal in 2017, as String Theory's 4th album continues their title themes from the physical universe named here for the rare metalloid "Tellurium".

A live recording at O'Culto da Ajuda, Lisbon, during the 2017 CreativeFest #11 from the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Gianna de Toni on double bass, and Vasco Trilla on percussion, a sinuous, curving extended improvisation of subtle shades, with certain rotations more forceful, but always gravitating to quietude.

An exciting meeting of multi-generational and multi-national, forward-thinking free improvisers performing live at Klub Demboh in Berlin in 2017, from the sextet of Axel Dorner (trumpet), Mia Dyberg (alto saxophone), Pierre Borel (alto saxophone), Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Tristan Honsinger (cello) and Guilherme Rodrigues (cello).

The affect of Carlos Santos' electronics and recordings are the foundation of this Portuguese quintet's improvisations, creating an environment over which Ernesto & Guilherme Rodrigues on viola & cello, Eduardo Chagas on trombone, and Andre Hencleeday add subtle gestures of unusual approaches to their instruments, in a mysterious album of lowercase improv.

The Creative Sources core string improvisers of violist Ernesto Rodrigues, cellist Guilherme Rodrigues, cellist Miguel Mira, and double bassist Alvaro Rosso, with frequent collaborator percussionist Vasco Trilla, are joined by German violinist Harald Kimmig (Trio Kimmig) for a dynamic album that fluctuates from acoustic lowercase to rapid pointillistic improv.

The third album on Creative Sources for this 10-piece ensemble with 5 string players, piano, sax, trombone, electronics and percussion, freely improvising in an extended work themed for the Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term typically translated as nature or physics, in a rich tapestry of meticulous detail and profoundly subtle communication.

Two mesmerizing, diverse, and incredibly sophisticated large scale conductions led by Ernesto Rodrigues and an ensemble of more than 30 performers on reeds, guitars, strings, electronics, pianos, voice, megaphone, brass, drums and percussion, rich yet restrained with moments of mystery and excitement, in two complete concerts from Lisbon in 2017 & 2018.

An extended studio improvisation recorded in Berlin-Weissensee, Germany in 2016 from the restrained quartet of Axel Dorner on trumpet, Nuno Torres on alto sax, Alexander Frangenheim on double bass, and Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, using advanced techniques in a monumental journey that finds the quartet in a variety of expansive and intriguing dialogs.

IKB continue their series of albums graced with taxonomic latin names for animals, here with the North Island brown kiwi bird, as the string- and wind-heavy electroacoustic ensemble led by violist Ernesto Rodrigues present this extended improvisation of subtle motion and understated complexity live at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal in 2017.

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.

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