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Experimental ensemble formed in 2020 by the guitarist and composer George Christian, who, along with the producer and sound engineer Heitor Dantas and the performer and vocalist Maria Futurista, form the nucleus to the group, which includes as guests:  Fernando Fernandes (drums and percussion), Vítor Rios (banjo), André Miranda Filho (cello), Paulo Roberto Pitta (tenor sax), Yrlan Guedes (alto saxophone, violin, trumpet, flute), Juan Almeida (bass) and Peter Marques (piano and keyboards). Eventually the band also had the guest Talionpills (vocals and electronics). Ensemble Phuturista was the host band of the biweekly multiartistic event Onda Futurista, which happened in Salvador (Bahia, Brazil) at the Galeria Paciência in 2020. Also, guest musicians come alongside members in free-improvisation sessions.

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There were two incarnations of Ensemble Phuturista; the first one (Mark I) was:

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George Christian – violão elétrico e guitarra (acoustic-electric guitar, electric guitar)
Heitor Dantas – eletrônica ao vivo, samplers (live electronics, samplers)
Maria Phuturista –  vocal e performance(voice and performance)
Talionpills – vocal e eletrônica (voice and electronics)
Fernando Fernandes – percussão e bateria (percussion and drums)
Vítor Rios – banjo
André Miranda Filho – violoncelo, baixo elétrico (cello, electric bass)
Paulo Roberto Pitta – saxofone tenor (tenor saxophone)

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And the second (Mark II) was:

George Christian - violão elétrico, vocais, direção musical (electric flat-top guitar, vocals, musical direction )
Fernando Fernandes - percussão, bateria e vocal (percussion, drums and vocals)
Heitor Dantas - produção, eletrônica (production, electronics)
Maria Futurista - vocais (vocals)
Yrlan Guedes - trompete, saxofone tenor, violino, flauta, vocal (trumpet, tenor saxophone, violin, flute, vocals)
Juan Almeida - contrabaixo fretless (fretless bass)

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ALBUMS

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12 de Janeiro, 2020 - Antesdurantedepois (Mahorka Netlabel, 2021)

by Ensemble Phuturista (Mark I)

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Recorded in Jan. 12th, 2020 - 1st edition of Onda Phuturista.
Album released in Feb. 13th, 2021.

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about the dances of reality

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Reducing as translating. as exploding or scattering. describing a multi-media experience, portraying it in words, is almost as difficult as recording it. harrowing the illusion of any recording. bringing the real thing to you via the real-thing medium, the vibrating cone, the flashy image. no images here. only the vibrating speaker cones. brain decodes breath, people, tumult, a room, the guitar plays a figure, another guitar (or a loop of the same guitar -- one can't see --). the notes say there's banjo. is that a tinny banjo I hear? no way to be sure. drums: they weave under and crest up occasionally against the guitar, incessantly honking like a car-horn but perhaps guided by something the player is watching, the steps of a dancer perhaps. some moaning voices, a horn perhaps, a bowed simulacrum of a horn, the cello below the bridge. a reed enters very confident and off color from the rest, forcing the others into response, they bend up, or disappear. cricketty tapping of percussion. some voice. at the bar, on the street, in the cafe, in the mind. toy horns, bugles, samples according to my decoding apparatus. a guitar arpeggio. categorization and identification of sounds become mentally draining. but the dark and mellow figure played on the cello takes the mind away from left brain calculation. then it disappears in a wave pulling back. finally an image emerges: a harbor, vessels bobbing in the surf, waves, people shouting directions, wires clanking on poles, whining of wood against docks, barrels rolling down planks, birds, sirens. then the image vanishes. small percussion flourishes and samples.

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I read the notes and see details concerning the event, a gallery, two rooms, visual art, performance, things I can only guess about and not experience here while listening. Does the absence of multi-dimensional things mean anything? At certain moments, no, at certain moments the sound carries something on it's own, even if it's quite lo-fi, in the second track, there is brooding cello, orchestral samples, sound chunks heave like wreckage of ships floating in storm winds, slashing guitar, purely elemental forces.

 

At other times one feels in the presence of a film set where the actors have not entered the frame yet, the illusion of the music creating a scenario for something that for them is there and for the listener something they must supply with fantasies.

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Into the third track a desolate deserted blues wrangling hollers at the moon, guitar and saxophone as if two different canine  species howling for the lost pack, a bass figure moving in figures, notes, it takes some thinking to resolve, a drum pulse starts to pick up the pace and a lumbering pattern provides the support for the various solos, until they break down, the figure picked up by the banjo and the entry of pitch-shifted dwarfish voices until at moments it sounds a bit like a wild party jam to "while my guitar gently weeps" played by the voidoids and the vocals of a acid-drenched bootsy's rubberband had walked in off the street to manifest their funk. then there is a howling feedback break down with the drums trashing out metallic dirges and high pitches voices manifesting their funk and a general swamping swirl of noises for some time before new guiding vectors of glissandi appear and a sandstorm begins. impossible to see what's happening. a voice, apparently female, speaks, there's mumbling all around, pitch-shifted, chorus: a sudden reorganization, a drum-roll energy picks up the pace...then it fades out. reading the notes again one learns this was originally a 3-hour event. the recording has been edited. the build up again of whirlwinds of sound become oriented around a repeated pattern in bass and intensification by the drumming sending it to a peak, throbbing via very dramatic, dark, gothic psychedelic vibe the voice chanting and eventually it all retards into some arpeggiated banjo or perhaps electric keyboard until there comes, abruptly, but fittingly, the end, with applause.

 

what I haven't said already I won't be able to say again. what I heard seems to be the exciting search of a large ensemble for a mutual cooperative language of some kind. guided by some scripted frameworks. the notes describe it all more accurately from the point of view of one of the players. the phrase he uses is worth repeating "a great mutant sound enigma from the urban tropics". what I admire most is the collective energy and genuinely explorative nature of the players, all of whom seem to have skills and listening abilities. the recording points us to a social event, a happening, taking place before the pandemia displaced all such activities, if not dismantling their possibility for ever. something to think about for the moment as the world forces of control and conservative steering of the manufactured reality postpones acts of resistance and creative being togetherness. time to take back the stages. first step is to become immunologically sound.

 

-- jeff gburek, 2/15/2021
http://transparent-abelard.blogspot.com/
http://soundcloud.com/jeff-gburek
https://jeffgburekprojects.bandcamp.com/
www.djalma.com

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(PT-Br)

12 de Janeiro, 2020  –  Antesdurantedepois
Um depoimento de George Christian

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Ensemble Phuturista foi formado em janeiro de 2020, mas tem estado na minha cabeça desde quando conversei com Maria Joana Cajado – ou Maria Phuturista – no final de 2019. Ela é uma artista performática, multimídia que, na época, queria flertar com a música (hoje em dia, ela faz música autoral). Ela me contou o quanto sentia falta de um evento multimídia que costumava ter aqui na cidade de Salvador, chamado Dominicaos, criado e produzido por Orlando Pinho e Heitor Dantas. Maria e eu fomos participantes desse evento em várias ocasiões. Maria me manifestou a vontade de me ter como uma banda da casa (ou seu namorado na época) para o novo evento que ela queria criar, mas eu senti que poderia ter mais músicos para ajudar. Uma semente do Ensemble Phuturista foi plantada em minha mente. Ainda no final de 2019, eu e Maria estávamos pensando na possibilidade de convidar Heitor para nos ajudar a construir o evento. E nosso amigo em comum, o compositor, músico e produtor Heitor Dantas aceitou.

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Assim, foi criado o Onda Phuturista (na época, escrita como Futurista). Um evento multimídia que organizei com Heitor Dantas e Maria Phuturista. Foi criado espelhando-se no Dominicaos, mas com um desvio: uma banda de casa para a ocasião. Como no Dominicaos, teríamos uma exposição de arte sendo ocupada no mesmo lugar em que a música aconteceu. E esse lugar foi a Galeria Paciência, de Luiz Fernando Landeiro. Dois jovens artistas foram convidados, com suas pinturas ocupando seus respectivos cômodos na galeria:  Vivão  e  Ísis. A última também contribuiu com uma escultura de uma pequena torre de partituras e luz – pode ser vista em uma das imagens (a da capa que ilustra o álbum), juntamente com a presença de Maria Phuturista nela. Bárbara Pessoa era a fotógrafa e Caetano Britto era o VJ. Todos os convidados foram decisivos na captação da aura do evento, assim como também os artistas mostrando frescor para a cena. Não é tão diferente do que Andy Warhol imaginou com o Exploding Plastic Inevitable, que também tinha projeções ao vivo e uma banda de casa: The Velvet Underground.

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O álbum aqui foi uma improvisação coletiva gravada ao vivo de um evento que, apesar do pouco público, foi significativamente histórico. Foi um produto de mentes que queriam abalar a inércia cultural de uma cidade. Eu queria que o Ensemble Phuturista fosse um grupo coletivo de livre improvisação. Eu não sabia exatamente como fazer para dar certo, a não ser chamando amigos que poderiam ser úteis para dar mais música à ocasião:  o baterista/percussionista Fernando Fernandes, o baixista e violoncelista André Miranda Filho, o tenor-saxofonista Paulo Roberto Pitta e o banjoista Vítor "Gigito" Rios. Maria Phuturista, por sua vez, chamou sua amiga Natália Garcez – cantora e intérprete sediada em São Paulo, cujo nome artístico é Talionpills.

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Heitor, usando sua experiência com o Dominicaos e também como compositor, realmente nos ajudou com a modelagem do roteiro/partitura da nossa performance, organizada por ele durante um encontro que teve comigo, Maria, Tallionpills e Fernando. Decidiu-se que era feito  em duas partes - uma acústica e outra elétrica (que foi minha ideia), com uma pausa durante os atos. Tal organização foi realmente útil para todo o evento, que foi introduzido. Paulo Roberto Pitta apresentou o evento com seu solo de sax em improvisação na varanda da galeria. Alguns minutos depois, toquei violão amplificado e nosso grupo com Gigito, André, Fernando e Paulo Pitta (depois) fez essa improvisação acústica conversacional que eu chamei de "Dança da Realidade". Após o intervalo, mudamos a instrumentação: mudei para a guitarra elétrica (Telecaster), também usando efeitos de delay e fuzz; André, que tocava violoncelo, agora toca o baixo elétrico; Fernando passou do conjunto de percussão para a bateria; Gigito passou do banjo acústico na primeira parte para o banjo elétrico com distorção e delay; apenas Paulo Pitta permaneceu em seu saxofone tenor, mas com o microfone com um efeito flanger. O segundo set foi chamado de "Estranhos  Elétricos  Balbucios". Heitor Dantas ajudou mais na parte eletrônica do som (samplers e mixagem ao vivo) durante toda a ocasião. Maria Phuturista foi a vocalista da parte elétrica,  junto com Talionpills, que cantou com seus pedais de efeito. Heitor  também manipulou eletronicamente a voz de Maria. Ajudei a direcionar a música da banda, assim como Maria nos guiou para a duração dos eventos e, também, nos inspirou com sua performance física e vocal, enquanto Heitor foi o principal responsável por orquestrar o ambiente sonoro e a gravação. A gravação do álbum, no entanto, é quase uma hora de edição de um evento que foi mais longo, de cerca de 3 horas.

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Então, por trás dessa aparente confusão caótica, mas linda nesta gravação, havia magia coletiva...  Uma utopia de um projeto que visava dar vida e futuro para o subterrâneo. Estávamos falando sobre dar vida e voz a uma arte que é extraviada em uma metrópole. Na verdade, éramos a voz de uma metrópole no litoral de um país que ainda lida com condições desprivilegiadas. Nós, agora, estamos em um período pandemia global e vivendo os piores tempos éticos e políticos nos dias de hoje. Tais pensamentos me dão verdadeira decepção. Mas eu continuo lembrando do nosso trabalho como o Ensemble Phuturista como um último suspiro de uma cena coletiva de vanguarda. E isso me deixa muito orgulhoso de fazer parte. Houve outro evento Onda Futurista em fevereiro, mas parte da magia se foi ou mudou. Prefiro considerar esta gravação de 12 de janeiro como uma declaração definitiva do que a música do Ensemble Phuturista deveria ser. Um grande enigma sonoro mutante vindo dos trópicos urbanos. Uma voz de um futuro que não era para ser daqui a alguns dias.

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(EN)

"12 de Janeiro, 2020 – Antesdurantedepois"
a testimonial by George Christian

"Ensemble Phuturista was formed in January, 2019, but it had been on my mind ever since I talked with Maria Joana Cajado – or Maria Phuturista – around the end of 2018. She is a performance, multimedia artist who, at the time, wanted to flirt with music (nowadays, she writes music of her own). She told me about how much she missed a multimedia event that used to take place here in the city of Salvador, called Dominicaos, created and produced by Orlando Pinho and Heitor Dantas. Maria and me were participants of that event on several occasions. Maria talked to me about having me as a house-band (or her boyfriend at the time) for the new event she wanted to create, but I felt we could have more musicians to help. So, a seed of Ensemble Phuturista was planted in my mind. Still in the end of 2018, me and Maria were considering the possibility to invite Heitor to help us build the event. And our mutual friend, the composer, musician and producer Heitor Dantas accepted.

So, Onda Phuturista (at the time, written as Futurista) was created. “Futuristic Wave” in Portuguese. A multimedia event I ran with Heitor Dantas and Maria Phuturista. It was created mirroring Dominicaos, but with a detour: a house-band for the occasion. Like Dominicaos, we’d have an art exhibition occupying the same place in which the music was happening.

And this place was Galeria Paciência (Patience Gallery), by Luiz Fernando Landeiro. Two young artists were invited, with their paintings occupying their respective rooms in the gallery: Vivão and Ísis. The latter has also contributed a sculpture of a little tower of music scores and light – it can be seen in one of the picture, along with Maria Phuturista’s presence. Bárbara Pessoa was the photographer, and Caetano Britto was the VJ. All were decisive in capturing the aura of the event, as well as the artists, showing freshness to the scene. It’s not that different from what Andy Warhol envisioned with Exploding Plastic Inevitable, which also had live projections and a house-band: The Velvet Underground.

The album here was a collective improvisation recorded live on an event that, despite the little public, was significantly historic. It was a product of minds that wanted to shake the cultural inertia of a city. I wanted Ensemble Phuturista to be a collective free-improvisation group. I didn’t know exactly how to make it work, except by calling friends that might be helpful to give more music to the occasion: the drummer/percussionist Fernando Fernandes, the cellist André Miranda Filho, the tenor-saxophonist Paulo Roberto Pitta, and banjoist Vítor 'Gigito' Rios. Maria Phuturista, on her part, called her friend Natália Garcez – a singer and performer based in São Paulo, whose artistic name is Talionpills.

Heitor, using his experience with Dominicaos and also as a composer, really helped us with the modelling of the script/score of our performance, organized by him during a meeting he had with me, Maria, Tallionpills and Fernando. It was decided to have two parts - one acoustic and another one - electric (that was my idea), with a break during the acts. Such organization was really helpful for the whole event, that was introduced. Paulo Roberto Pitta did introduction with his solo improvisation at the balcony of the gallery. After some minutes, I played amplified acoustic guitars and our group with Gigito, André, Fernando and Paulo Pitta (later on) made this conversational acoustic improvisation that I called “Dança da Realidade”. After the break, we changed instrumentation: I moved to electric guitar (a Telecaster), also using delay and fuzz pedal effects; André, who was playing cello, played electric bass; Fernando went from the percussion set to the drums; Gigito went from the acoustic banjo in the first part to the electric banjo with distortion and delay; only Paulo Pitta remained on his tenor saxophone, but microphoned with a flanger effect. The second set was called “Estranhos Elétricos Balbucios”. Heitor Dantas helped more in the electronic part of the sound (samplers and live mixing) during the whole occasion. Maria Phuturista was the vocalist for the electric part, along with Talionpills, who sang with her effect pedals. Heitor also manipulated electronically Maria’s voice. I helped directing the band’s music, as well as Maria guided us towards and during the time of the event and, also, inspired us with her physical and vocal performance, while Heitor was the man responsible for orchestrating the sound environment and recording. The released album, however, is almost-an-hour cut of an event that was longer, of about 3 hours.

So, behind this apparent chaotic, but beautiful mess of this recording, there was collective magic... A utopia of a project that aimed at giving life and future for the underground. We were speaking of giving life and voice to art that is misplaced in a metropolis. In fact, we were the voice of a metropolis at the seaside of a country that still deals with underprivileged conditions. We, now, are in a global pandemic period, and living through the worst ethical and political times these days. The thoughts of these give me real disappointment. But I keep remembering our work as Ensemble Phuturista as a last breath of a collective avant-garde scene. And it makes me really proud to be part of it. There was another event in February, but some of the magic was gone or changed. I prefer to regard this January 12th recording as a definitive statement of what the music of Ensemble Phuturista was meant to be. A great mutant sound enigma coming from the urban tropics. A voice of a future that wasn’t meant to be of these days."

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Suíte Xorume (2020) 

by Ensemble Phuturista (Mark II)

Recorded in Feb. 8th, 2020 - 2nd edition of Onda Phuturista.

First released in March, 20th, 2020 (as SoundCloud playlist).
Album release: GCSA, February 5th, 2023.

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Trilha sonora ao vivo para o filme "Xorume" do Coletivo Inconsequências,

gravada na Galeria Paciência, Rio Vermelho./

Live soundtrack for the movie "Xorume" by Coletivo Inconsequências,

recorded in Galeria Paciência, Rio Vermelho.

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SINGLE

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O futuro é uma revista
Amarelada, amassada, rabiscada na antesala do dentista
Na balança do açougue
Ensanguentado, mutilado, temperado na nova capa da Vogue
Onda Futurista
Um chá de fraldas com João Evangelista
Onda Futurista
Entre na onda antes que o futuro desista

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Canção Incidental: "Comportamento Geral", de Gonzaguinha

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Voz: Inaê
Intervenção vocal e texto: Maria Phuturista
Música, letra, arranjo e mixagem: Heitor Dantas

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Apoio:
Menasnota Criação
www.menasnota.com

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PICTURES

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ONDA FUTURISTA - 1a edição/ 1st edition

Fotos/ Pictures: Bárbara Pessoa

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ONDA FUTURISTA - 2a edição/ 2nd edition

Fotos/ Pictures: George Christian, Geovana Pinheiro and others

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VIDEOS

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Estranhos Elétricos Balbucios I
Video by George Christian
Filmed by Geovana Pinheiro and Alexandre Guena in Jan 12th, 2019.

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Trio Phuturista (GC-FF-AM)

Filmed at Bardos Bardos in January 29th, 2020, by Geovana Pinheiro and Tony Lopes.

Compiled and edited by George Christian

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Bahia que Não Me Sai do Pensamento
Video by George Christian
Filmed by George Christian and Geovana Pinheiro in Feb. 8th, 2020.