★Creative Sources

Le Sud trio works from the concept of lower-case free music, which has been a common European currency since the mid-1970s. Despite Brexit, violist Benedict Taylor asserts himself during this continental concert by sawing, sweeping and stretching distinctive patterns from his strings. During the two over half-hour each improvisations however there’s no lead instrument. Positioned power strokes, steel string plinks and diverted chords from Dirk Serries plus Friso Van Wyck hollow pops, metal casca…

Tip! When Dirk Serries travelled last May to Portugal for a series of concerts with José Lencastre, he didn't know he was going to be invited to record some amazing sessions with several key players from the Portuguese impro scene.  This is one.  Lively session recorded at the studio of João Madeira in Lisbon on May 7th, 2023.  A blast it was.

Limited edition of 100 copies.* Cellist Guilherme Rodrigues (Portugal, residing in Berlin) and guitarist Dirk Serries teamed up for a chamber music-esque session at the Sunny Side Inc. Studio (Anderlecht, Belgium). The Sage Flower is that collection of detailed interaction, acoustic outbursts and linear minimalisme.

"Sometimes I wonder why it takes years for something to find its way to a release, but in this case, you could think: wow, that's really fast. The concert that we find on these recordings dates from September 4. I must assume the CD went into production the day after the concert. I believe I had not yet the pleasure to hear music as part of a duo (in some bigger groups, yes), and he teams up with recent improvised music convert Dirk Serries. The latter is on guitar. I would think this CD covers …

*2024 stock* "Quagmire on “Creative Sources Records”. Album was recorded by Nina de Heney (double bass), Karin Johansson (piano) and Henrik Wartel (drums). All three musicians are interesting and talented improvisers. They’re the central figures of avant-garde jazz scene. Nina de Heney is a famous bassist. The improvisations are filled with drive, passion and expression and are based on the main elements of experimental jazz innovations and the roots of avant-garde jazz. Improviser is getting on…

Portugal's IKB Ensemble is an electracoustic improvising ensemble with a strong string and wind section, balanced with electric guitar, electronics, and percussion. This is a beautiful example of communal playing allowing textures and unique voices to surface and submerge, where no voice subsumes the other, but work together to create a unique and intriguing tapestry of sound.

2009 release ** "When an improvised recording presents itself as a meteor, some foreign object from another civilization, like Days Are Not Days does, we should rejoice that it has entered our atmosphere and like a bolide, exploded upon contact. Okay, this recording by Portuguese saxophonist and flutist Paulo Chagas, and guitarists Samuel Hällkvist, from Sweden, and Stephan Sieben, from Denmark, isn't a bomb. It is, though, an improvised explosive device, pieced together from chamber music debri…

Awesome new release by the extended Lisboa ensemble lead by Ernesto Rodrigues and his crowd of talented collaborators (Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Miguel Mira on double bass, Rogerio Silva on trumpet, Eduardo Chagas on trombone, Bruno Parrinha on alto clarinet, Nuno Torres on alto saxophone, Pedro Sousa on tenor and baritone saxophones, Abdul Moimeme on prepared electric guitar, Carlos Santos and Ricardo Guerreiro on computers, Monsieur Trinite', Nuno Morao and Jose Oliveira on percussio…

Recorded at Tcha3 studio, 12th October, Lisbon. Ernesto Rodrigues: viola, Louis Laurain: trumpet, Bruno Parrinha: clarinet and alto clarinet, Guilherme Rodrigues cello, Carlos Santos: electronics and objects

2015 release ** "Maria da Rocha's name may not be familiar to jazz and improvised music lovers in Portugal, because this Lisbon-based violinist and violist has worked primarily in the Berlin and Stockholm circuits, and much of her dedication has gone to interpreting the great composers of contemporary, classical, and baroque music. In her own projects, however, she embraces the processes and aesthetics of improvisation, and it was in this context that we heard her at Creative Fest late last year…

2015 release **  "A three part improvised work for viola, trombone, electric guitar and double bass from, respectively, Ernesto Rodrigues, Eduardo Chagas, Abdul Moimeme, and Joao Madeira, an ascending conversation that uses innuendo, mystery, subtle movement, silence and swells to create atmospheric environments, each "voice" shifting enigmatically in sublimely hazy ways."

2015 release  ** "Mexican composer and vibraphonist based in Berlin since 2012, Emilio Gordoa in a duo with guitarist Nicola L. Hein, using preparations to their vibraphones, percussion, and guitar, in an 8 part composition of diverse approaches to improvisation, from exuberant interaction to Reich-like minimalism to cantankerous experimentation, a well-rounded and interesting album."

2025 stock ** "ViaLucisTrio is a improvised training with members related to the collective Rare Musics , agency dedicated to promote primarily the free improvisation in Madrid (Spain). The four members of ViaLucisTrio they met in the meetings of improvisers (Tuesday Wednesday), musical call organized by Rare Music; precisely to encourage participating musicians and facilitate the creation of projects such as the group ViaLucisTrio. As well as those demanding musicians in its task and aesthetic …

*2022 stock.* Not exactly prolific this band: their first album "And The Missing R" dates from 2008 already, and now, seven years later we get their sophomore album, and that is many years too late, but their music is great. The band still consists of Belgian-Italian Daniele Martini on tenor sax, Belgian-Italian pianist Giovanni di Domenico, Portuguese bassist Gonçalo Almeida who resides in Rotterdam, and Portuguese drummer João Lobo.  The first track, "Non Negative Python", is a slow intimate a…

Mia Zabelka, acoustic violin, voice. Recorded in 2015.

*2024 stock*  Ernesto Rodrigues - violaNuno Torres - alto saxophoneGunnar Lettow - prepared bass guitar, electronics, objectsGregory Büttner - computer, loudspeaker, objects, fan Recorded 3th of April 2014 in HamburgMusic, mix & mastered by Gunnar Lettow & Gregory BüttnerCover design by Carlos Santos

Isabelle Duthoit, clarinet, voice. Roger Turner, percussion. Alexander Frangenheim, double bass. Recorded in Berlin 2014.

Ernesto Rodrigues, harp and objects. Katsura Yamauchi, alto saxophone. Carlos Santos, computer.    

2014 release ** "Trees brings together an unusual quintet of string trio—viola (Ernesto Rodrigues), cello (Guilherme Rodrigues) and double bass (Gianna de Toni)—with soprano saxophone (Christophe Berthet) and electric bass/objects (Raphael Ortis). The five tracks contain a deep range of sounds from all of the instruments: Sparse textures evoking creaking wood and the rustling of dry leaves (Ancient Trees); long bowed tones from the cello and double bass and suspended harmonics (Whistling Trees);…

Ernesto Rodrigues - violaMaria do Mar - violinGuilherme Rodrigues - celloMiguel Mira - double bassAndré Hencleeday - tenor psalteryMiguel Almeida - acoustic guitarMaria Radich - voicePaulo Curado - flutePaulo Chagas - oboeNuno Torres - alto saxophoneBruno Parrinha - clarinet & bass clarinetFernando Simões - trumpetEduardo Chagas - tromboneAbdul Moimême - electric guitarCarlos Santos - electronicsMonsieur Trinité - percussio