An 8-part studio improvisation in Lisbon, 2022 from Portuguese musicians Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on flute & bass clarinet and Joao Madeira on double bass in a quartet with French tenor saxophonist Michel Stawicki, sometimes introspective and moody through highly detailed playing but building to periods of tumultuous and exciting activity.

Acoustic and sublime minimal acoustic improvisation with an emphasis on strings from the Portuguese quintet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Almeida on acoustic guitar, Andre Lanca on electric guitar, Bernardo Alvares on double bass, and Felice Furioso on percussion, performing live during the Small Format Materials Festival at Galeria Monumental, in Lisbon.

Acoustic and sublime minimal acoustic improvisation with an emphasis on strings from the Portuguese quintet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Almeida on acoustic guitar, Andre Lanca on electric guitar, Bernardo Alvares on double bass, and Felice Furioso on percussion, performing live during the Small Format Materials Festival at Galeria Monumental, in Lisbon.

Three frequent collaborators--Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Nuno Torres on alto saxophone, and Abdul Moimeme on electric guitar--captured live in 2019 at Logradouro da Compostinha, in Lisbon, Portugal, each using their instruments with unusual approaches through extended techniques, in a half hour set balancing subtle aural ambience with rich, detailed activity; spellbinding.

Norwegian percussionist Stale Liavik Solberg (Gjerstad, VCDC, &c) joins frequent collaborators Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Nuno Torres (saxophone), and Carlos Santos (electronics) for a studio album of often pointillistic interaction, Solberg punctuating the unusual voicing and techniques of acoustic and electronic interactions as they permute the word "soon".

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).

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.

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.

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.

Subtle acoustic improvisation from a global set of improvisors--Yu Lin Humm on cello, Pedro Frazao on euphonium, Ryoko Imai on marimba, percussion, Andre Hencleeday on piano, Philippe Trovao on tenor saxophone, and Ernesto Rodrigues on viola--in an attentive and tension-filled single movement, each player adding and reacting as ideas percolate and subsume.

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.

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.

Recording in Berlin in 2021, the quartet of English saxophonist Simon Rose, here on baritone sax and German double bassist and Evil Rabbit label leader Meinrad Kneer join with Creative Sources father/son string improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello for seven delicately commanding, chamber-oriented free improvisations.

Titled for the Amazonas Indians, Brazilian sound sculptor Marco Scarassatti performs on his self-made instrument the Kraiser in a quartet with Creative Sources regulars Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues, and Nuno Torres for a dream-like set of improvisations named with indigenous expressions, blending neoprimitivism with creative acoustic improvisation.

The quartet of Udo Schindler on reeds, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello and Nuno Torres on saxophone are heard in Munich, first in a wildly interactive live performance at Schindler's Salon successor: BASIS_Soundscape at MUCCA; then live in the studio for 7 improvisations with track titles borrowed from and under the influence of the poetry of Allen Ginsberg.

A live performance at CreativeFest XIII at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon in 2019 from the quartet of Emilie Skrijelj on accordion, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello, and Tom Malmendier on percussion, Lluvia referencing Rain as the quartet quietly builds and releases tension through subtle cues, persistent figures, tonal innuendo and shades.

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A sense of both lightness and weight drawn from Portuguese viola player's Ernesto Rodrigues' 18-piece String Theory, in a large and detailed improvisation using an incredible array of string sources, including viola, harp, violin, cello, viola da gamba, double bass, classical, acoustic and 12-string guitars, mandolin, zither, harpsichord, and piano.

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.

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 8-piece String Theory ensemble directed by violist Ernesto Rodrigues in a live performance at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon of a beautiful and subtle work inspired by a poem written by Rodrigues, ".. dans cette immensite ", realized through viola, violin, cellos, viola de gamba, double bass, piano, zither and objects, a deceptively tranquil work of detail and dexterous execution.

The 8-piece String Theory ensemble directed by violist Ernesto Rodrigues performs a beautiful and subtle work inspired by a poem written by Rodrigues, "Une Ombre Du Bonheur", realized through viola, violin, cellos, viola de gamba, double bass, piano, zither and objects, a stunningly beautiful and deceptively tranquil work of exceptional detail and dexterous execution.

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".

The Portuguese String Theory ensemble led by violist Ernesto Rodridgues explores the element "Tin" in this live performance at CreativeFest XIII at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, 2019, leading a 10-piece ensemble of strings — violin & violas, cellos, double basses, guitars and piano — through an extended improvisation of remarkably detailed yet controlled interaction.

1 Suspensao X 31:47

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.

The sixth release by Creative Sources' detailed electroacoustic improvising group Suspensão led by violist Ernesto Rodrigues, with Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Nuno Torres on alto sax, Antonio Chaparreiro on electric guitar, Carlos Santos on computer and Jose Oliveira on percussion & inside piano, is this impressive performance at "Temporada Miso Music 2009" in Lisbon.

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.

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.

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 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).

A substantial live work from the 2019 CreativeFest XIII at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon from the improvising ensemble Sfumato lead by violist Ernesto Rodrigues, fulfilling the title of the album in great tension and suspense as the 11 members improvise, generating waves of activity between concentrated and meditative moments, an incredible example of power and restraint.

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.

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).

"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...

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 remarkable album of masterful and wide-ranging string interaction from improviser and Creative Sources label leader Ernesto Rodrigues (viola) with active contemporary Portuguese performers Maria do Mar (violin), Helena Espvall (cello) and Berlin-based violinist of Japanese origin Marie Takahashi, accompanied by Joao Valinho on percussion & piano.

Six "Segments" A to F of powerful restraint and extended technique, recorded at Ausland in Berlin, Germany from the free improvising quartet of Quentin Tolimieri on piano, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello and Fyodor Stepanov on double bass, the close associations between the Rodrigues' and Tolimieri & Stepanov evident through their shared aesthetic.

Delicate nuance and fascinating textures from the minimal improvisations of trumpeter Birgit Uhler, violist Ernesto Rodriguez and live sampling from Carlos Santos.

"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 ...

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.

"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...

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 46-member orchestra of electroacoustic improvisers performing live at St. George's Church in Lisbon in 2015, for an extended and dynamic tapestry of sound conducted by leader Ernesto Rodrigues, with an impressive list of artists familiar to those following the CS label.

Exploratory free improvisation with an emphasis on strings from the trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Biliana Voutchkova on violin, and Micha Rabuske on flutes & sax, collective conversation with scraping and overblowing mutating their sound in interesting and curious ways.

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An impressive highly interactive and extended improvisation focused mostly on strings, with label leader Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, plus Red Trio's Hernani Fasutino on double bass and legendary Portuguese violinist Carlo Zingaro, with Jose Oliveira adding active percussive interaction, captured live at the CreativeFest XIII in 2019.

Since 2014 the collective [SNDNG STTNS] has explored theatrical situations between musictheatre, staging and composition with live music, instruments, recordings, samples, speach and live editing, this work featuring cellist Guilherme Rodrigues bridges the art of the brazilian "violeros" with contemporary music, acoustic and electronic composition and improvisation.

Since 2014 the collective [SNDNG STTNS] has explored theatrical situations between musictheatre, staging and composition with live music, instruments, recordings, samples, speach and live editing, this work featuring cellist Guilherme Rodrigues bridges the art of the brazilian "violeros" with contemporary music, acoustic and electronic composition and improvisation.