The Squid's Ear Magazine


Rodrigues, Ernesto / Carlos Santos: Metamorfose (Creative Sources)

A beautifully subtle and strange twisting of tones, timbres and strings from the duo of Ernesto Rodrigues on violin & viola and Carlos Santos on electronics, recorded live in 2018 at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, creating mysterious environments that metamorphose between sections through string interjections, each segment creating a new, mesmerizing environment.
 

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-violin, viola

Carlos Santos-electronics


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




UPC: 5609063406603

Label: Creative Sources
Catalog ID: cs660
Squidco Product Code: 29757

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2020
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded live at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal, on December 13th, 2018, by Miguel Azguime.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Ernesto Rodrigues has continued to release several new albums over the past couple of weeks, including some recorded in 2018: Given his usual very fast release pace, that seems like a while ago for Rodrigues, but perhaps the quarantine presents an opportunity to finish some older productions that may have drifted to the back burner.... Among these, I especially want to highlight Metamorfose, recorded in Lisbon in December 2018 by the duo of Rodrigues (on both violin and viola) and Carlos Santos (live electronics).

Rodrigues and Santos, frequent collaborators in various groups, had already released the duo album Piano (as mentioned here in August 2017 and January 2019), and in involving a single instrument between them, it also included distinct roles, i.e. Santos at the keyboard and Rodrigues manipulating the strings inside. Roles are distinct on Metamorfose too, with Rodrigues playing violin or viola and Santos manipulating the sound via various timbral disarticulations and echoes, but while Piano never really "sounds like a piano," Metamorfose sounds like a traditional string instrument much of the time: Indeed, the magical parts of the performance are the sudden and disorienting realizations of what seems like a violin being revealed to have been slowly and almost imperceptibly transformed into something else - more than a violin.

At times, then, there is some "real" electronic counterpoint, or more often various drones (whether above or below the texture) and echoes, but such involvements tend to be oriented around what mostly seems to be a solo string performance. And that soloistic character is also what makes Metamorfose such a striking release for Rodrigues, as his prolific contributions are often buried within various broader textures: Here they're usually front and center, though, opening with what sounds like trickling water and moving through various waves of (usually) continuous transformation, sometimes grainy and sometimes into a shimmering spaciness via high position harmonics and electronic processing in turn.... (The soloistic quality can be compared with that of the recent trio album Multiforms, as discussed here in May, albeit there in a more typically energetic free jazz setting.

In contrast, the various figures and transformations of Metamorfose do not suggest a specific prior idiom....) The sometimes subtle electronics thus serve to proliferate and ramify string figures into a variety of textures, some more expansive - not so unlike the various transformations and wave-like complexifications animating Setubal (and some other newer productions, as recently noted), there becoming more expansive and forceful via multiple acoustic instruments. The greater sense of concentration and economy - albeit boosted by electronics at various points - suggests a more specific tour-de-force on Metamorfose then, including through a variety of techniques highlighting the violin in quasi-traditional ways. (One might e.g. recall extremes of technical duration and harmonics in e.g. Irvine Arditti's "naked" performances of Cage's late violin works with their long held tones, but here a wobble can lead in turn to exposing a detail of string grain explicitly or an entire spectrum of timbre via further electronic interrogation....)

In that, it's not so different from some other duo albums featuring live electronics/sampling around a traditional instrument, e.g. as recalled here around Elective Affinities just this past March... where it's also a matter of multiplying the resources of the instrument, including while often leaving it recognizable. In this, Metamorfose further suggests a sense of evolutionary becoming and even liminality per se (more so than e.g. a travelogue, as posited around some other productions) via extended variation - and marks a new vision of contemporary violin/viola solo performance in the process: In short, it becomes its own world."-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)
3/13/2024

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

"Studied painting with António Sena (Ar.Co, 1988 -1992), worked in advertising for a period of time, but nowadays works as graphic designer in corporate identity, packaging, web and audio-video production.

Started sound/music activities in 1989 when formed the VITRIOL project with Paulo Raposo, a laboratory for experimental sound actions, in a first stage with studio work followed in 1994 by live output, mainly live electronics, concrete music with a improvised or graphic score oriented approach. Uses the laptop with software written in MaxMsp, small resonant objects, microphones and piezo elements to produce a music that deals with space and its sound characteristics. Interests in "soundscape" and field recordings are a huge part of his work, for piece preparation or just for archival purposes, Always recording, events, spaces or music. Multi-channel acusmatic music and radio pieces.

Presents himself solo in site-specific audio-video works, or in duos with João Silva (video, sound, photography), "Inhabitaded Spaces" with Ricardo Guerreiro (computer, mics), "Venús Pistolletto" with Emídio Buchinho (elec. guitar, mics, objects) and trios with Ernesto Rodrigues (violin) and Guilherme Rodrigues (cello) or ZNGR electroacustic trio with Carlos "Zíngaro and Emídio Buchinho. Member of several formations, "(Des)Integração" laptop ensemble (2001-2003) or in more electroacoustic sets, uses live-electronics and sampling which is the case of "Suspensão" septep, VGO, variable geometry orchestra and specially a trio close related to the "near silence" aesthetics, with Ernesto Rodrigues (violin, harp) and Guilherme Rodrigues (cello) with already several CD releases, always with at least one international improviser guest. Presented his work in Portugal, Spain, France, UK and Germany. Worked with artists from several media: dance, performance and video. Music and sound design for video and animation. Video and sound editing for comercial projects. Played live or in recording projects throughout the years with a lot of musician and sound artists. His sound work is documented in several CD releases. Belongs to the Granular board of directors, a portuguese association for experimental art and does the image of Creative Sources label. Broadcasts "Boca Doce" show at Rádio Zero (web) and other special shows. Workshops and seminars in digital audio manipulation, Maxmsp programming and sound art practise."

-Creative Sources (http://creativesourcesrec.com/creative_artists.html)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Metamorfose 36:06

Related Categories of Interest:


Creative Sources
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
Duo Recordings
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Staff Picks & Recommended Items

Search for other titles on the label:
Creative Sources.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Dirk Serries / Joao Madeira / Jose Oliveira
Dripping
(Creative Sources)
Belorukov, Ilia / Ernesto Rodrigues / Nuno Torres
Tak Prosto
(Creative Sources)
Two recordings from the lowercase acoustic improvising trio of Portuguese players Ernesto Rodriduges on viola and Nuno Torres on alto saxophone and objects with Saint Petersburg alto saxophonist Ilia Belorukov, recording at Belorukov's Spina! label's studio, and again live at Vertikal' Gallery in Saint Petersburg in 2016.
Rodrigues/ Rodrigues / Barbiero
(The) Nature (Of Things) Likes To Hide
(Creative Sources)
Recorded over a 3 year period, the trio of Portuguese string improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello met with New Haven, Connecticut double bassist & synth player Daniel Barbiero, developing this detailed, two part lowercase acoustic improvisation with a spacious, patient feeling that interacts with its ambient environment.
Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Torres / von Buttlar
Leipzig
(Creative Sources)
Named for the Leipzig, Poland location in which this live concert was recorded, the acoustic free improvising quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Nuno Torres on alto saxophone, and Johannes von Buttlar on percussion, explore extended ranges and approaches to their instrument in these building and detailed dialogs.
Rodrigues, Rodrigo / Abdul Moimeme / Antez
Basalto
(Creative Sources)
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.
Garcia, Miguel A. / Sebastien Branche / Abdul Moimeme / Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues
Golden Towers And Electric Frictions
(Creative Sources)
Popovskiy, Andrey / Ernesto Rodrigues / Nuno Torres
Ululo
(Creative Sources)
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Hans W. Koch
Nostalghia
(Creative Sources)
Portuguese violist Ernesto Rodrigues joins with German electronic improviser Has W Koch for an album of interactive acoustics and electronics, where textures from Rodrigues' viola are fed into Koch's electronics to create new and unanticipated transformations, both patiently evolving the textures to reveal sublime minutiae and detail.
Rodrigues / Parrinha / Madeira
Into the Wood
(Creative Sources)
Working together in a variety of setting and ensembles--Variable Geometry Orchestra, Suspensao, groupings with Hernani Faustino & Jose Oliveira, with Michel Stawicki, and with onsieur Trinite--the core trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet and Joao Madeira on double bass, is heard in three studio improvisations of dark woods explorations.
Variable Geometry Orchestra
There's Always Someone Who Says No
(Creative Sources)
One of the largest ensembles associated with Creative Sources, merging acoustic and electronic improvisers, this conduction by violist Ernesto Rodrigues at Torre Do Tombo in Lisbon in 2023 was the opening for an exhibition about the struggle of college students against the Portuguese dictatorship during the years 1970-74, leading to the Carnation Revolution.
dis/con/sent (Petzold / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Bauer)
Munchen
(Creative Sources)
A double opus of improvised String Quartets in four movements each, using impressive technique and exquisite pacing in this live recording captured at the Offene Ohren, in Munich, Germany, 2023 by Dietrich Petzold on violin, tenor violin, clavichord & bowed metal, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello and Matthias Bauer on double bass.
Rodrigues / Lonberg-Holm / Hencleeday / Oliveira
Uncommon Statement
(Creative Sources)
Two unique string players--Lisbon's Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Chicago's Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello--with pianist Andre Hencleeday and percussionist Jose Oliveira, in an exhilarating concert of dynamic free improvisation captured live in 2023 at Lisboa Incomum in Lisbon, presented as two "Statements", an apt description of their confident and declarative interplay.
Hyper.object
Inter .independence
(Phonogram Unit)
Formed in 2019 by Red Trio members Rodrigo Pinheiro on piano and Hernani Faustino on double bass plus core Creative Sources electronic musician Carlos Santos, with Joao Almeida on trumpet and Joao Valinho on drums, the "inter.independence" referencing an experimental approach to collective improv through independent layers that interact to create unexpected intersections.
Rodrigues / Parrinha / Flak / Levine
Quadruple Quadrature Questions
(Creative Sources)
While theremin & synth specialist Andrew Levine was on a 2023 tour of Portugal he met with a core trio of Creative Sources improvisers--Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & Crackle Box, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet & objects, Flak on electric guitar & effects--meeting in Flak's countryside studio for one detailed, extensive improvisation and 6 short works of differing sonic characters and colour.
Bechegas / Rodrigues / Rodrigues
Secrets Under Trees
(Creative Sources)
Recording at Berlin-Wedding's performance space Werkhalle Wiesenburg in the summer of 2023, the free improvising chamber trio of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues meet with Portuguese flutist Carlos Bechegas, bringing contemporary classical technique to an extended and energetically tempestuous improvisation and a sprightly "Time Between".
Kim / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Cholet
Taedong
(Creative Sources)
Emulating the Korean river Taedong through it's undulating flows, uproar, flux and treachery in eleven succinct chamber-oriented improvisations from the quartet of South Korean tenor saxophonist Jung-Jae Kim, French-born South Korean-based drummer Quentin Cholet, with the Portuguese father/son duo of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello.
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.
Claman / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Tallone
Three Shadows
(Creative Sources)
Berlin recordings from the lowercase chamber improvising string quartet of New Zealand violinist Sarah Claman, Portuguese violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist son based in Berlin, Guilherme Rodrigues, with Swiss sound artist Caroline Cecilia Tallone on electroacoustic hurdy gurdy & amplified objects, exploring three shadow aspects of "Umbra", "Penumbra" and "Antumbra".
Suspensao
Frottage
(Creative Sources)
Configured as an electroacoustic chamber nonet led by Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, with two saxophones, bass clarinet, piano, electric guitar, double bass, electronics & percussion, in two live, highly concentrative and subtly detailed improvisations performed in 2023 at O'Culto da Ajuda, during Ciclo Indeterminação na Música do Séc. XXI.
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).
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.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC