Photo: Ernesto Rodrigues with Margarida Garcia

The violinist/violist Ernesto Rodrigues upsets the surface of silence once again with a new cd in which free-improvisation is once again associated to a concept: in this case, that of assemblage/assembly, the construction is made up of varied elements in which unity results precisely from diversity. A condition which does not alter his search for a discoursive and expressive state based on almost nothing, even if such an effort is constantly belied by the unrest and engagement of the performers - Guilherme Rodrigues, on cello and pocket trumpet; José Oliveira, on percussion, prepared acoustic guitar and inside piano; and Manuel Mota on flat electric guitar. The game proposed by «Assemblage» consists in this very struggle between will and praxis and in the contradictions arising from such a conflict. Few times has the practice of improvisation been so transparent. Rui Eduardo Paes