Blattwerk cs436

[…] Blattwerk’s two torrents of strings move like a waveform, cresting and dipping in volume and intensity. The quintet features an unusual line-up—violin, viola, two cellos, and Trilla’s drums—and shifts between an indeterminate world of creaks and pops and one of nocturnal, romantic lyricism. Trilla is integrated seamlessly, matching his cymbals to scraped strings and fleet arco runs and meeting pizzicato plucks and thumped wood with rolling toms and bells. His touch is such that he never once overwhelms, instead finding subtle gaps and openings to bolster the strings. Both tracks convey a sense of dramatic, even cinematic, development, although the feeling of journeying is most pronounced in the darkened movements of “II”. “Blattwerk” is the German word for “foliage.” What I see in my mind’s eye when I listen is not leaves rustling in the wind, but instead the shifting black mass of their shadows dancing across the ground. Evocative music, of the quality we’ve come to expect with Rodrigues and company. Dan Sorrells (The Free Jazz Collective)

Blattwerk! Opowie?? o tym, jak perkusja sta?a si? instrumentem strunowym!

Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej znalaz?a a? 33 powody, by z muzycznego punktu widzenia zapami?ta? rok 2017, który w wielu aspektach by? wyj?tkowo dziwny, powykr?cany i … ekstremalnie fascynuj?cy.

P?yty roku, wg ultra subiektywnego widzimisi? Pana Redaktora, widniej? na tej stronie od kilku dni. Po?ród nich jest jedna, która, jak dot?d, nie doczeka?a si? jeszcze recenzji. Czas niezw?ocznie nadrobi? t? skromn? zaleg?o??.

Przenosimy si? zatem do Lizbony, a dok?adnie do Galeria Monumental. Jest przedostatni dzie? lutego 2017 roku. Na scenie niemal klasyczny kwartet smyczkowy (zamiast drugich skrzypiec jest … druga wiolonczela) i intryguj?cy zestaw perkusjonalny. Personalnie przed nami: Harald Kimmig - skrzypce, Ernesto Rodrigues - altówka, Miguel Mira i Guilherme Rodrigues – wiolonczele oraz Vasco Trilla – perkusjonalia. Panowie zagraj? dwa improwizowane fragmenty, ??cznie 42 i pó? minuty. Dokumentacja fonograficzna koncertu zwie si? Blattwerk, a firmowana jest imionami i nazwiskami ca?ej pi?tki muzyków. CD dostarcza Creative Sources Records.

Blattwerk I. Sonorystyka nylonowych (i nie tylko) strun, wspierana szeleszcz?cymi przedmiotami z przebogatego zestawu Trilli. Rodzaj rozdygotanej filharmonii, w krytycznym stanie przedzawa?owym. Sporo zawieszonych, stoj?cych pasa?y. Cmentarne ta?ce umarlaków, w oczekiwaniu na cud zmartwychwstania. Do?wiadczamy zarówno czystych akustycznie pere? d?wi?kowych, jak i brudnych, upalonych mikrodystorcji. Vasco stawia swój werbel na sztorc ju? w 5 minucie i zach?ca kwartet do bardziej energicznych poczyna?. Jednocze?nie, nie stanowi dla niego jakiejkolwiek problemu, by generowa? na swoich cudactwach d?wi?ki charakterystyczne dla instrumentów strunowych. Ta?ma magnetyczna, smyczek, zerwane struny gitary, dr??ce talerzyki i dygocz?ce chrab?szcze. To wszystko znajdziecie w jego magicznej walizce. 7 minuta, to pierwsza ekspozycja, która nosi znamiona eskalacji. Na razie, do?? skromnej. Zwinnie i zadziornie! W improwizacji pi?tki muzyków nie brakuje, rzecz jasna, tak?e drobin kameralistycznej zadumy i minimalistycznego zatopienia emocji. W 10 minucie strunowce id? w wysoki rejestr. Niewykluczone, ?e macza w tym palce tak?e drummer. Narracja wszak?e, w ka?dym aspekcie ulega ci?g?ym zmianom. Czasami nawet, co kilkana?cie sekund. Recenzent nie ma szans na nud?. G?sta, chwilami nawet demoniczna mikstura d?wi?kowa. 13 minuta, symfonia miseczkowa Trilli. Tu? potem, na moment znów jest perkusist? i nawet … b?bni. Ko?cowe fragmenty pierwszej cz??ci pachn? reichowskim minimalizmem i b?yskotliw? urod? zaniechania. Doskona?e wybrzmiewanie, w tym gronie muzyków, jest ju? oczywist? powinno?ci?. Troch?, jak wielka orkiestra symfoniczna przed prapremier? ?wi?ta Wiosny, czynion? dla penitencjariuszy zak?adu dla nierozpoznanych jednostek chorobowych. Demony nie ?pi?!

Blattwerk II. Mozolne droczenie si? ze strunami. Przepychanki, prychania i obtarcia. Vasco si?uje si? z obr?czami swoich tomów, jakby by?y odrobin? za ciasne. Innymi s?owy – przyk?ad wielkiej sonorystyki na pi?? ?róde? d?wi?ku. Wi?cej ni? pi?kne! Tu? potem, pój?cie w galop ca?ej czeredy muzyków pachnie ju? geniuszem. Miseczki szcz??cia w u?yciu! 8 minuta, filharmoniczna zaduma w bardzo niskich rejestrach, któr? puentuje Trilla, robi?c u?ytek z werbla! Strings te? potrafi? by? armi? perkusjonaln?! Brawo! Na scenie Galerii dzieje si? tak wiele, ?e prac? doktorsk? mo?na ?mia?o pope?ni?! 12 minuta – nie pierwszy ju? dzi? taniec demonów na mokrych od zimnego potu strunach, wspierany rezonuj?c? orkiestr? Vasco. Krwawa filharmonia w rytmie Bolero! Talerze w ogniu! Droga na fina?owy szczyt pachnie zdrow? sonorystyk?, ale zdaje si? mie? wznosz?c? trajektori?, definitywnie pod gór?. Wiolonczele zupe?nie niespodziewanie sprowadzaj? nas jednak do parteru, wulgarnym tembrem swych o?owianych, ci??kich strun. Gro?na, bolesna ekspedycja. Ostatnie sekundy rozk?adaj? nas na pod?odze i wprowadzaj? w stan ?miertelnej medytacji. Cisza smakuje, jak p?yn do odmra?ania szyb. (Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej)

Continuing from the (perhaps, slight) departure of Traintracks Roadsides Wastelands Debris, Ernesto Rodrigues has already recorded several string ensemble albums in 2017, with Blattwerk (recorded in Lisbon this February) initiating a series of quintets in particular. I don't know to what the "Blatt" of the title refers, if it's a reference to shuffling pages or something else suggesting composition, but the music unfolds in ways that mostly fit with Rodrigues's recent output in general — more contrapuntal & less gestural than e.g. Iridium String Quartet. The core of the quintet here is very familiar at this point: Ernesto & Guilherme Rodrigues are joined by Miguel Mira, just as they were on Xenon (discussed here last month), which was also recorded (a few weeks prior) in February, and adds guitarist Miguel Almeida to that trio. Here that "central" trio of viola & two cellos is joined by Harald Kimmig on violin & Vasco Trilla on percussion. I had mentioned Kimmig in January when discussing the album Raw, on which his string trio is joined by John Butcher: Similar concerns of audibility, nature-culture duals etc. are evident from that Swiss trio as from many of these Portuguese releases. Trilla, of course, has been appearing in many interesting places — including on new favorite Still now (if you still). Once again, it's his metallic chiming percussion that is perhaps the most striking, albeit not used very often, and supplemented by various sorts of rubbing & buzzing. Besides these references for the musicians who actually appear on Blattwerk, it also re-raises recently discussed — particularly around Five — issues regarding the improvising quintet genre in general, and can most readily be compared to Chant in its ensemble constitution. (The latter uses marimba, specifically, rather than a general percussionist, and uses two cellos instead of cello & bass. Both are basically string quartets plus percussion, though.) As with many albums from Rodrigues, it starts slowly & quietly, and tends to build in waves, often returning to a more quiescent state or flow. At times, it is very active, with a wonderful contrapuntal density, occasionally evoking the string quartet literature, usually in a more contemporary sense, but in at least one extended passage, projecting a nostalgic mood. There are traditional string gestures, as well as individual string modulations & scrapings, high whistling harmonics (and Kimmig executes these very well), as well as boisterous accents. Although the ensemble moves into & out of different sections of its two tracks with continuity, the sections do take on different individual characters, in a bit of a collage sense (which is atypical of Rodrigues). It's these transitions that lend the album much of its emotional coloring — pace my remarks last month about emotional response & affective interplay: There's a visceral character here. Altogether, it makes for less of an "open tapestry" approach, though, as the polyphonic richness tends to be confined to particular explosive passages, and contracts into a more unified gesture before irrupting again. (Whenever the sonic gesture opens, it looks, rather sounds, different inside?) Although not always audible — not so unlike Magliocchi on Five — Trilla does stand out for his ongoing sense of rhythmic modulation. (The strings sometimes lead or follow into percussive plucking, but are more often concerned with bowing.) The result involves powerful moments emerging from a more general feeling of stasis, making Blattwerk (perhaps — which I say, because it's hard to know where he's going, other than that it's getting increasingly interesting) a notable recent release in Rodrigues's string series. (It consists of an event of events, one might say.) I'd stop to ask what's next, but I already have related albums that I'm preparing to discuss soon. 14 June 2017. Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

"Blattwerk", recorded in Galeria Monumental in Lisbon with an unconventional string quartet of one violin, one viola, but two cellos, is amazing! It is an excursion into the land of free jazz/free improvisation, dominated by the strings, but absolutely non-trivially supported and stimulated by the drums and percussion. There are two tracks on the record: "I" starts very energetically, but returns to a more peaceful shape in the final parts, where it sounds like a piece composed by Karol Szymanowski... "II" is similar and perhaps even more explosive in the beginning, but also more quiet and beautiful in the final parts. As a whole, great, excellent, close to outstanding (*****) record!!! Maciej Lewenstein