History of the Lisbon Chaplaincy cs432

Não tenho registo de alguma vez se ter utilizado dois instrumentos tão diferentes quanto um órgão de igreja (pelo pianista Rodrigo Pinheiro) e um par de gira-discos (por Pedro Lopes), representativos de duas realidades musicais bem distintas, uma de tradição sacra, a outra bem mundana, nascida nos circuitos da música de dança – ainda que os ditos gira-discos sejam aqui tocados como um dispositivo de percussão e não segundo as técnicas de “scratch” do DJing. Já vários exemplos de associação de um saxofone (o soprano e o alto de Per Gardin) e um órgão de tubos existem na música improvisada, como o muito especial co-protagonizado por Evan Parker e Sten Sandell. O curioso nestas últimas incursões é que o factor de elevação mística induzido pelo mais cristão de todos os espécimes da organologia ocidental se manteve intacto, já não acontecendo isso neste “History of the Lisbon Chaplaincy”.

A abordagem percussiva de Lopes não retira às “turntables” a sua natureza instrumental electrónica, e tanto assim que o próprio Fincham (o da St. George’s Church de Lisboa, também conhecida como Igreja dos Ingleses) de Pinheiro soa frequentemente como um sintetizador – nesse aspecto aproximando-se mais do que o mesmo faz com um iPad ou com um Fender Rhodes traficado por pedais de guitarra eléctrica do que com o piano preparado. Pesada, densa, obscura, misteriosa, esta música não é uma versão negra das missas brancas, mas outra coisa. A dimensão espiritual do disco não é necessariamente menor – o que ouvimos convida-nos igualmente à meditação e à instrospecção -, mas sem dúvida que tem muito menos conotações religiosas. Um saxofonista como Gardin, com um percurso de experiências tão distintas quanto as de interpretar as músicas de Terry Riley e Don Cherry, está neste contexto como peixe na água e, tal como os seus parceiros portugueses, pega nas linguagens-tipo escolhidas como base para criar um esperanto que largamente as transcende. Mas se dá gosto ouvi-lo a serpentear por entre as massas de som dos seus companheiros, são estes que mais nos chamam a atenção. O que Lopes e Pinheiro vão fazendo surpreende-nos a cada instante… REP (Jazz.pt)

It's interesting just how much place influences a recording. Was the session captured in a hermetically sealed studio or a noisy jazz club? Is the sound engineered or merely captured? And how does the architecture of the recording space effect the sound? Sound experimentalist Pauline Oliveros often recorded in an empty water cistern, timing notes against the ping-pong reverberations. The trio of Per Gärdin, Per Gärdin/Pedro Lopes/Rodrigo Pinheiro, and Rodrigo Pinheiro recorded with what can only be described as their fourth member, St. George's Church, which was consecrated in 1889. To be more specific, the church holds the Fincham Pipe Organ, which plays a major role here.

Rodrigo Pinheiro sat at the keyboard of the mighty organ. He is probably best known as the pianist for the acclaimed Red Trio and has recorded with John Butcher and released Oblique Mirrors (Creative Sources, 2015) with Gärdin. Per Gärdin's saxophone immediately calls to mind Evan Parker's Whitstable Solo (psi, 2010) recorded in the UK's St. Peters. However, it may recall the sound of John Lurie, the mastermind of the 80s/90s Downtown sound, even more. The third member (or fourth, depending on your math) is turntablist Pedro Lopes.

Their concert, captured in this single 43 minute track, has an otherworldly quality. Not so much spiritual, as supernatural, with Gardin's saxophone taking flight with the sound of bird calls, and Pinheiro's organ resounding like the wind carving out caverns. The addition of Lopes' turntable isn't so much sampling as it is percussive and a drone generator. The entire performance is not unlike a futuristic arboretum or sanctuary for robots. A dream Philip K. Dick once had. Highly recommended. Mark Corroto (All About Jazz)

«History Of The Lisbon Chaplaincy» was recorded on September 2013 in Lisbon’s only Anglican church, St. George’s, a 19th century high Victorian building with a two-manuals pipe organ, built by Henry Fincham from London more than one hundred years ago. The church unique acoustics defines the atmosphere of this recording, a free-improvised meeting between Swedish soprano and alto sax player Per Gärdin, organist Rodrigo Pinheiro, known as the pianist of the local RED Trio, a trio that performed with Gärdin, who has recorded separately before with Gärdin («Oblique Mirrors», Ibn Musik, 2015), and sound artist and turntables player Pedro Lopes.

Pinheiro set the course of this 43-minutes title-piece and his playing of the old Fincham pipe organ fills the church space with patient waterfalls of resonating sounds. Gärdin and Lopes assume different roles. Gärdin responds directly to Pinheiro explorations of the pipe organ spectrum with free-associative, sympathetic lyrical improvisations, clearly owe much to Evan Parker innovative solo improvisations. Lopes uses what he calls as turntable percussion as a subtle, subversive voice, contrasting the supposedly spiritual sounds of the pipe organ and the melodic ones of the saxes with profane sonic distortions. Lopes introduces otherworldly, textual dimensions of danger and unpredictability to the massive flow of organ plus sax sounds, charging this restless flow with sudden dramatic tension.

Slowly, Pinheiro alternates the peaceful spirit of this improvisation, offering a more versatile and adventurous interplay, focused on searching dissonant, abstract textures. This development challenges both Gärdin and Lopes to adapt their strategies to these new, barren sonic terrains. Eventually Pinheiro leads again the trio to a peaceful, majestic coda. Eyal Hareuveni (Salt Peanuts)