Cosmos by Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues, João Madeira

Ernesto Rodrigues - Viola
Guilherme Rodrigues - Cello
João Madeira - Double Bass
Recorded live at Cosmos, Lisbon, on January 19th 2022

Reviews:
"Rodrigues family is very productive, so closing this
book is very hard for me... Here is their recording at
Cosmos, Lisbon in January 2022 with a trio with my
beloved João Madeira on double bass. The music is
similar to the one of the "Echoes in a Further Rand½ge",
see above. It is also a suite in four movements, but the
main dierence is that this a pure string trio. In a sense
this is "Rodriguesism" at its essence and roots: the
world at the end is nothing else, but is a string ensemble.
Marvelous!" Maciej Lewenstein
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"The trio of Portuguese musicians at work in this recording celebrates the music for string instruments, it is a long improvisation divided into four parts in which the ghosts of what is the avant-garde music of American origin, the String Trio of New York or the violinist Leroy Jenkins and his Revolutionary Ensemble, and the most modern European music for trio or string quartet. The three are João Madeira on double bass, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigueson the cello. They proceed compactly as a group exploring the possibilities of their instruments, both with the bow and in pizzicato, offering very intense moments, in which the strings build moments of tension that slowly melt, an empathic progress between the three while the sounds overlap like waves that reach the listener involving him in what seems like a ritual. The four movements flow quickly, between solos and groups, between more rarefied moments and others more magmatic, in a continuous kaleidoscope of ideas." Vittorio, Musiczoom.it
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"Gravado ao vivo no Cosmos Campolide, este disco junta o violinista Ernesto Rodrigues com o seu filho Guilherme Rodrigues no violoncelo e João Madeira no contrabaixo, numa exploração da improvisação livre.

A discografia do improvisador Ernesto Rodrigues é quase impossível de acompanhar. Ao longo dos últimos vinte anos, através da sua label Creative Sources, Rodrigues tem editado centenas de gravações (está a aproximar-se das 800!), e neste seu catálogo incluem-se alguns grupos regulares - particularmente o Lisbon String Trio (com Miguel Mira e Alvaro Rosso), o String Theory e o ensemble IKB - , mas sobretudo formações ad-hoc, muitas vezes com esses encontros musicais a acontecerem pela primeira vez.

A produção discográfica de Ernesto Rodrigues continua neste ano de 2022 a ser alimentada por múltiplas colaborações, sobretudo parcerias com músicos nacionais como Bruno Parrinha, Luís Gonçalves e Maria da Rocha, entre outros - como porta de entrada para este enorme universo, vale a pena espreitar a sua página Bandcamp. A música de Ernesto sempre revelou um gosto pelo detalhe, pelo pormenor, e a sua aproximação a abordagens musicais minimalistas (near silence, lowercase, reducionismo) levou-o a ser considerado um dos expoentes mundiais dessa exploração. Contudo, a sua música, embora também inclua esses elementos, não se fica por aí.

Da produção mais recente destaca-se “Affinity Suite”, registo de um concerto na SMUP, na Parede, onde Ernesto Rodrigues sai da sua zona de conforto, estando acompanhado por um grupo de músicos mais ligados à improvisação livre/free jazz: José Lencastre (saxofone), Miguel Mira (violoncelo), Hernâni Faustino (contrabaixo) e João Lencastre (bateria). Também registado ao vivo, “Cosmos” foi gravado em trio, com o seu filho (e parceiro habitual) Guilherme Rodrigues no violoncelo e João Madeira no contrabaixo. Este disco documenta uma atuação do trio no Cosmos Campolide, um espaço cultural recente que partilha instalações com o Campolide Atlético Clube, em Lisboa.

“Cosmos” funciona como uma suite que se divide em quatro partes. Ernesto (violino), Guilherme (violoncelo) e Madeira (contrabaixo) formam um clássico trio de cordas e desenvolvem uma música improvisada que se aproxima da música de câmara. O trio vai trabalhando uma improvisação que assenta na comunicação e diálogo, com os três músicos a lançarem ideias, responderem, interligarem-se, fazendo a música evoluir. Sendo o disco marcado sobretudo pelo som do arco, os três músicos servem-se também de técnicas extensivas, criando outros sons, menos convencionais, que levam a música a seguir por outras direções.

O trio atravessa diferentes ambientes, de momentos de maior contenção até explosões de alta intensidade; e o ouvinte fica envolvido ao acompanhar no processo, vai ficando sempre curioso. Particularmente interessante é a parte III, nas suas variadas oscilações. Sendo impossível acompanhar toda a produção de Rodrigues, vale sempre a pena dar atenção a alguns dos seus trabalhos. Neste “Cosmos” o violinista joga em casa, num terreno musical que lhe é familiar - embora, como acontece na improvisação, exista sempre espaço para a surpresa." Nuno Catarino, jazz.pt

"Although the primacy of small string ensembles for superior musical expression has been confirmed since at least the 18th Century, there are still adornments that can be added to those configurations. While Portugal’s Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello) and João Madeira (bass) expand their Cosmos with a trio variation in traditional instruments, New York’s’ VEER led by violinist Sarah Bernstein and Montréal’s Quatuor Bozzini innovate using standard string quartet instrumentation. The resulting performances pinpoint the division between the creativity reacted to from the improvised or the notated side of musical performance.
Working through the four-part Cosmos suite, the Rodrigues duo and Madeira turn away from the melodic mores of their instruments to scratch, stretch and strop timbers even as the piece evolves in broken octave triple counterpoint. Halving and doubling the tempo at various junctures, the two higher-pitched instruments use spiccato jumps and jolts to advance the exposition while the bassist’s thumps and pulls steady the advancement. As the tri-layer narrative is established, all three torque the presentation with additional buzzes and strains. Energy expressed in whistling string squeaks and guiro-like ratcheting creates the discordant but open presto strokes that conclude the combinations “Cosmos III” provides the greatest improvisational scope. At 18-minute plus, the simple moderato tempo moves up to staccato sawing so that the 12 strings respond with such vigor that the bows appear to bounce off the strings into the air. Wood vibrating hard plucks from the cello and bass become so percussive that they reorient the track towards full dissonance, only to be drawn back when near-cooing lyricism from the viola transforms contrast into connection." Ken Waxman, jazzword.com

"Trio viola (Ernesto Rodrigues), cello (Guilherme Rodrigues) and double bass (João Madeira). There's nothing to be done about it, I'm fond of improvisation groups bringing together exclusively string instruments from the violin family. Whether it's the associations around the Rodrigues father and son, especially with their friend Madeira who knows them so well, or the String Trio of Harald Kimmig Alfred Zimmerlin and Daniel Studer or the Stellari Quartet which brings together Phil Wachsmann, Charlotte Hug, Marcio Mattos and John Edwards, I'm always delighted by the quality of the sound, the intimate closeness of each of the string players and the conviction that this is the best instrumental combination for violin, viola, cello and double bass. Moreover, the viola, a very demanding instrument, has the particularity of being richer in terms of textures and density of timbres than the violin. That's it! We can't stop listening to their infinite spirals and volutes, powerful and wild pizzas, filtered harmonics, nasal accents, spontaneous counterpoints, and their moving assemblies of ideas and concerted and disconcerting sketches, broken cadences, leaps forward, vibrating tutti, feverish echoes, subtle col legno, bushy ralentandos, hysterical messes, subtle col legno, sonorities amplified by the magic of more intense bow pressure, ... . Waterfalls and thick undergrowth, desolate moors and a wide river flowing almost in silence. The figures and their evolutions traverse many soundscapes and multiple colourations. The listener is left with a feeling of infinity, a nameless plenitude, that of intense listening and a relentless trialogue where the slightest sound counts even if it is swallowed by time. The energy of primal free music combined with a refined musical science. Without doubt one of their best achievements among many others.
P.S.: We have heard the Rodrigues with Matthias Bauer and Dietrich Petzold (dis-con-sent) or Klaus Kürvers and Julia Brussel (Fantasy Eight) or in the Iridium String Quartet, choice pieces of the all-violin-alto-cello-bass on the Creative Sources label, to which you would do well to rush, as a change from testosterone saxophonists and destructive guitar players." Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg, orynx-improvandsounds.blogspot.com

Musician, Composer.

João Madeira has been totally committed to discovering new processes of creating and composing music, whilst, at the same time, exploring new concepts of musical performance.
Soundcloud upload with constant activity! Follow!
“A Fábrica de Nada”, 2005, and “A Máquina Hamlet”, 2020 - “Parece que o Mundo”, 2018, (contemporary dance).

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