Clocks and Clouds

Jazz /
Clocks and Clouds
“...The name seems to be an invitation to explore identities within the music, at once highlighting certain predictabilities of pitch
and linearity as well as the openness of the exchange and the possibilities of new interactions. It’s a band that listens very closely to
one another, often building their collective improvisations out of an assemblage of repeated short rhythmic phrases (clocks?) that
overlap and create complex webs of sound (clouds) in which each voice maintains its individuality and its flexibility.
Trumpeter Vicente is a significant emerging talent, a brassy, forceful trumpeter with a quick mind who often provides a linear focus
around which this music assembles itself, elsewhere using the trumpet to create an expressive column of air, referencing the muted timbres of the tradition and ricocheting across that inviting chaos of disparate clocks that Pinheiro, Faustino and Franco provide
in such joyously playful abundance…”
Stuart Broomer / Point of Departure
“...They not only move as one, and sound as one, but the music has this inherent emotional beauty that is not a sought effect, but
an integral quality of these artists’ skills, yet one that can only appear through interplay with like-minded artists having the same
skills, the result of their love for sound and music, and that love, that is far beyond demonstrating skills, or virtuoso pyrotechnics,
is probably the core essence of ‘it’, this mysterious marrow of musical magic, this enigmatic essence of expressive aesthetics, this
brilliant expansiveness of breathtaking intimacy...”
Stef Gijssels / Free Jazz Blog
“…this is a free improv record that has some muscle.Vincente does a nice job expressing himself through both traditional and extended techniques, with the open horn and with a mute. Pinheiro sounds like two piano players at times, exploring the extremes of
both the lower and upper registers of his instrument…”
Craig Premo / Improvised Blog
“…O ouvinte é de imediato levado a atentar mais nas interacções e nos jogos inter-individuais, sendo isso, precisamente, o que
mais importa num contexto de música improvisada. Tudo o que se ouve neste disco é espontaneamente composto no momento da
execução, mas esta opção metodológica não chega a ganhar um cunho estético. A estética abraçada é, muito claramente, a do jazz.
Nesse aspecto, há coincidências com as fórmulas do free jazz, mas dificilmente poderíamos identificar como tal o que aqui vem…”
Rui Eduardo Paes / jazz.pt
“…Trazendo elementos do free jazz e da free impro, Clocks and Clouds apresenta um som contemporâneo de grande vigor imagético, em que o jogo improvisativo do conjunto é o que mais importa: mesmo quando o trompete parece estar em primeiro (como
em “Strangely Addictive”) é impossível os ouvidos não serem captados pelo dedilhado de Pinheiro ou ignorar o vigor do baixo de
Faustino.…”
Fabrício Vieira / Free Form Free Jazz
See more >
Clocks and Clouds / 2014 © nervo
With its own language and a peculiar approach to improvised and free jazz, the music of Clocks and Clouds explores sound
masses, polyrhythms, angular phrasing and contrasting where sound and diffuse textures gradually associate with harmony and
rhythmic forms. The music of this quartet is malleable and in continuous transformation and evolution.
Biographies
Rodrigo Pinheiro
Rodrigo Pinheiro was born in 1973 in Covilhã, a small town in the center of Portugal. He started learning the piano when he was
five at the Conservatory of Covilhã and later at the Conservatory of Lisbon until he was eighteen. He soon got involved with the free
Portuguese improvisation scene, having played with Américo Rodrigues, José Oliveira, Nuno Rebelo, Rodrigo Amado, Luís Desirat,
Bruno Parrinha or Ernesto Rodrigues.
Pinheiro’s intuitive approach to improvisation and exploration of the piano timbres, using both classical and extensive techniques,
makes his music energic, polyrhythmic and full of contrasts. Moreover, he has honed his technique at workshops of improvisation and composition where he has played with virtuous names, such as Carlos Zíngaro, Peter Kowald, Gunther Muller or Patrick
Brennan. He has also performed with several musicians, like Hiroshi Kobayashi, Cristin Wilboltz, Nathan Fuhr, Blaise Siwula, Per
Anders Nilsson, John Zorn, Nobuyasu Furuya, Jason Stein, Nate Wooley, John Butcher, Lotte Anker, Joe McPhee, Keir Neuringer,
among others.
In 2010 Pinheiro formed his project RED Trio, with Hernâni Faustino (bass) and Gabriel Ferrandini (drums). The band has recorded
four albums with Clean Feed and Nobusiness Records and performed live at jazz and improvised music festivals and concerts in
Portugal, USA, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Poland and Romenia.
He is also a member of the Nobuyasu Furuya Quintet, which has two released albums by Chitei Records e Nobusiness Records.
His most recent projects are his trio earNear, with João Camões (viola) and Miguel Mira (cello), and the Clocks and Clouds’ quartet,
with Luís Vicente (trumpet), Hernani Faustino (bass) and Marco Franco (drums).
Discography
RED Trio + Mattias Ståhl - North and The Red Stream / Nobusiness Records [2014]
Clocks and Clouds – Clocks and Clouds / FMR Records [2014]
RED Trio – Rebento / NoBusiness Records [2013]
Lotte Anker, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Hernani Faustino – Birthmark / Clean Feed [2013]
RED Trio + Nate Wooley – Stem / Clean Feed [2012]
Nobuyasu Furuya Quintet – The Major / NoBusiness Records [2011]
RED Trio + John Butcher – Empire / NoBusiness Records [2011]
RED Trio – Red Trio / Clean Feed [2010]
Nobuyasu Furuya Trio & Quintet – Stunde Null / Chitei Music [2010]
VGO [Variable Geometry Orchestra] – Stills / Creative Sources [2009]
A. Rodrigues, J. Oliveira e Rodrigo Pinheiro – O Despertar do Funâmbulo / Áudeo [2000]
New Music from Portugal vol. 2 – Way Out / Ananana [1999]
New Music from Portugal vol. 1 – Way Out / Ananana [1997]
website
Luís Vicente
Luis first picked up a trumpet when he decided to participate in a philarmonic association. Later, he first had private lessons with
Tomás Pimentel and then attended the Escola de Jazz Luiz Villas-Boas, where he had the chance to study with João Moreira, Tomás
Pimentel, Vasco Mendonça, Afonso Pais, Filipe Melo, Bruno Santos e André Fernandes.
During these years, he has frequently participated in workshops with prominent musicians, such as Evan Parker, Mário Laginha,
David Binney, Jesse Davis, Julian Arguelles, Ohad Talmor, André Fernandes, Pedro Madaleno and Phil Grenadier. He has also
played at dozens of venues and festivals in Portugal and across Europe. He has performed and/or recorded with Tim Conley, Oori
Shalev, Reiner Hess, Kaido Yutaka, Bernd Oezsevim, Vinicio Capossela, Jorg Schippa, Paulo Curado, Noriaki Hosoya, Nuno Rebelo,
Jonathan Hafner, Marco Franco, Carlos Zingaro, Roberto Negro, João Lobo, Jari Marjamaki, Anna Kaluza, Hoshiko Yamane, Hugo
Antunes, Valentin Ceccaldi, Eduardo Lála, José Ernesto Rodrigues, Francesco Valente, Ulrich Mitzlaff, Rodrigo Amado, Tó Trips,
Gabriel Ferrandini, Luís Lopes, Johannes Krieger, Jorge Moniz, Federico Pascucci, Théo Ceccaldi, Luís Desirat.
Currently, he plays his own tunes in various bands and is a member of Vicente|Marjamaki, Clocks & Clouds, Fail Better!, Deux
Maisons, Frame Trio and OME.
Clocks and Clouds / 2014 © nervo
Discography
Clocks and Clouds – Clocks and Clouds / FMR Records [2014]
Fail Better! – Zero Sum / JACC Records [2014]
Vicente/Marjamäki – Alternate Translations / MiMi Records [2013]
Luís Vicente Trio – Outeiro / JACC Records [2012]
Tiago Gomes e Tó Trips – Vi-os desaparecer na noite / Optimus Discos [2009]
website
Hernani Faustino
After establishing his name during the eighties as an electric bass guitarist in alternative rock bands, like the now legendary K4
Quadrado Azul, Hernâni Faustino turned to avant-jazz and free improvised music and chose the double bass as his self-taught
instrument.
After two decades of multiple interactions with Portuguese and international musicians, he is now considered one of the most
intense and solid bassists in the Portuguese scene. The collaboration he maintains with drummer Gabriel Ferrandini (RED trio,
Nobuyasu Furuya Trio & Quintet, Rodrigo Amado Wire Quartet) has been pointed out as a dynamic and powerful rhythm section.
His visceral playing is well showed by the contortions of his face during a performance: he goes to the limits of pleasure and pain.
Music is his life.
For ten years he was a partner of the record label Clean Feed, considered as one of the five most important on the planet concerning
jazz music. He has also composed for theatre, has produced radio programs, and has written about music in a couple of magazines.
Much of his activity as a photographer is also music oriented. Indeed, Faustino is one of the most successful stage photographers
around. This says all about his passion and commitment.
Hernani Faustino’s numerous meetings and collaborations with other improvisors is astonishing: John Butcher, Lotte Anker, Nate
Wooley, Carlos “Zíngaro”, Rafael Toral, Jason Stein, Nuno Rebelo, Ernesto Rodrigues, Vítor Rua, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Pedro Sousa, Jon
Irabagon, Taylor Ho Bynum, Harris Eisenstadt, Neil Davidson,Heddy Boubaker, Gerard Lebik, Katsura Yamauchi, Mats Gustafsson,
Chris Corsano, Nikolaus Gerszewski, Rob Mazurek, Reinhold Friedl, Blaise Siwula, Virginia Genta, Daniel Carter, Federico Ughi,
Floros Floridis, Matt Bauder, Dennis González and many more, covering a wide range from free bop to extreme experimentation,
going through electroacoustic improv, reductionism and noise.
Discography
RED Trio + Mattias Ståhl - North and The Red Stream / Nobusiness Records [2014]
Clocks and Clouds – Clocks and Clouds / FMR Records [2014]
Rodrigo Amado Wire Quartet – Wire Quartet / Clean Feed [2014]
RED Trio – Rebento / NoBusiness Records [2013]
Lotte Anker, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Hernani Faustino – Birthmark / Clean Feed [2013]
Jon Irabagon, Hernani Faustino, Gabriel Ferrandini – Absolute Zero / Not Two Records [2013]
RED Trio + Nate Wooley – Stem / Clean Feed [2012]
FALAISE / Dromos Records [2012]
Heddy Boubaker, Hernani Faustino – Domino Doubles / Re:KonstruKt [2011]
Nobuyasu Furuya Quintet – The Major / NoBusiness Records [2011]
RED Trio + John Butcher – Empire / NoBusiness Records [2011]
Nobuyasu Furuya Trio & Quintet – Stunde Null / Chitei Music [2010]
RED Trio – Red Trio / Clean Feed [2010]
Big Group in Ponta Delgada / 577 Records [2010]
Sonic Scoop 2008 – Track with RED Trio / Grain of Sound [2009]
Nobuyasu Furuya Trio – Bendowa / Clean Feed [2009]
Ernesto Rodrigues, Neil Davidson, Guilherme Rodrigues, Hernani Faustino – Fower / Creative Sources [2009]
VGO [Variable Geometry Orchestra] – Live at Casa da Música / Void Leaper [2008]
Nikolaus Gerszewski – Ordinary Music Vol. 3 / Creative Sources [2008]
VGO [Variable Geometry Orchestra] – Stills / Creative Sources [2007]
Collaborations
Signs of Silhouette + Helena Espvall + Hernani Faustino – Land Garden / SOTS [2013]
Os Quais – pop é o contrário de pop / Mbari [2012]
Rita Braga – Cherries That When to The Police / RB/NAU [2011]
website
Clocks and Clouds / 2014 © nervo
Marco Franco
Marco Franco is a Portuguese drummer and composer, born in 1972, living and working in Lisbon. He also plays the saxophone.
He started his music career playing drums in metal & rock bands such as Braindead, Cães de Crómio, Bizarra Locomotiva, Peste &
Sida. Later on, he started playing in the jazz, experimental, improvisational scene, both as a leader in Mikado Lab and as a member
in Tim Tim Por Tim Tum, an all drummers group, Alek Rein, Memória de Peixe and Clocks and Clouds.
He has played with different artists, ranging from rock to pop and jazz: Mazgani, Ernesto Rodrigues, Dead Combo, Loosers, Carlos
Zíngaro, Nuno Rebelo, Kato Hideki, Maria João, Mário Laginha, among many others. Moreover, he has performed and/or recorded
with musicians such as Kato Hideki, Gianni Gebbia, Jim Black, Chris Speed, Pete Rende, José Pedro Coelho, Shelley Hirsh, Audrey
Chen, Peter Kowald, Rafael Toral, Damo Suzuki, Massimo Pupilo.
Franco’s work also includes composing for Portuguese theatre plays and improvisational/experimental dance performances. In
the dance world scene he has played live in Europe for coreographers/dancers Steve Paxton, Lisa Nelson, Julian Hamilton, Mark
Tompkins, Boris Charmatz, David Zambrano, just to name some.
Discography
Clocks and Clouds – Clocks and Clouds / FMR Records [2014]
Rafael Toral – Space Elements Vol. III / Taiga [2010]
Mikado Lab – Coração Pneumático / author edition [2009]
Mikado Lab – Baligo / TOAP [2007]
Lisbon Improvisation Players – Live_Lx Meskla / Clean Feed [2002]
Nuno Rebelo, Kato Hideki, Marco Franco – ZDB / Raka [2002]
Nuno Rebelo – On The Edge / Raka [2002]
Ernesto Rodrigues, José Oliveira, Marco Franco – Exposures / Creative Sources [2001]
Nuno Rebelo – Azul Esmeralda / Ananana [1998]
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Technical Rider
Trumpet
1 AKG C-414, Neumann TLM 103, AKG C-460B or equivalent
Grand Piano
Tuned at the day of the performance
Mics
2 or 3 AKG C-414, Neumann TLM 103, AKG C-460B or equivalent
Double Bass
3/4 to full size 4-string acoustic double bass in good working order, with extendable tail-pin of sufficient length as to allow instrument to be played standing up by 182 cm (6 foot) tall player, with transducer. Preferably Thomastick Strings Medium. I will bring
my own bow.
Bass amp
Preferably Gallien Krueger 400RB or 800RB, Euphonic or Ampeg. MB 150S/112 combo Gallien Krueger is welcome.
Bass speaker
4 x 10 Ampeg, SWR or Hartke.
Mics
Electro-Voice RE20 or equivalent and DI
Drum Kit
Bass drum 18”
High tom 12”
Floor tom 14”
Snare 14”
2 x Snare stands
Clocks and Clouds / 2014 © nervo
1 x Boom Cymbal stand
1 x Straight stand
1 x Carpet +/- 2 x 2 m
Mics
Shure SM or equivalent
Shure 2 over hats
Shure 1 bass-drum
Shure 1 snare
Recording
We usually like to record out performances so we always bring with us a laptop and a multi-track recording sound-card. The perfect
solution to record our concert is to connect our sound card to the mixing board direct out. We also bring the cables to make this
connection.
Stage Plot
Booking Agent
Pedro Tavares
[+351] 910 513 017
[email protected]
Booking Agent
Aleksandra Hadzi-Mladzic
[+351] 969 945 796
[email protected]
Clocks and Clouds / 2014 © nervo
[email protected]
nervoagency.wordpress.com