César E Rodrigues' photostream

cesar@harmless.com.au

Cesar Rodrigues is a guitarist/composer/producer based in Melbourne, Australia. He picked up the guitar for the first time at the age of 16, and has since completed an Adv. Dip. (Music Performance) at NMIT and a BA in Music Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA)/University of Melbourne, where he explored improvisation, composition, and arranging. He has studied with some of the Australia’s leading performers and educators including Stephen Magnusson, Geoff Hughes, Ashleigh Cross, Andrea Keller, Adrian Sheriff, and Robert Vincs, as well as Classical Guitar with Owen Thompson. Cesar is essentially an improvising musician, though has also been involved in the Experimental, Jazz, Pop, Hip Hop, RnB, and Soul idioms. He has worked with some of Melbourne's best musicians in the Jazz scene and beyond including Scott Tinkler, Andrew Gander, Joe Talia, as well as Ella and Jesse Hooper, Phoenix Lake, and Rhonda Burchmore. Cesar has had extensive experience as bandleader in such acts as, Ctrl Alt Dlt, Cesar Rodrigues Quartet, Lethalogica, and Harmless. He is also a major contributor to bands like Flow And Plenty, and Monsoon Moon as guitarist and has co-production credits and songwriting credits with both bands and is also featured on guitar and production in the Kate Vigo Band.
Cesar is also the touring and recording guitarist with Melbourne based roots outfit Blue King Brown, and has toured nationally and internationally including the USA, Japan, and Europe, as well as major national and international festivals including The Montreal Jazz Festival (Canada), Falls Festival (Australia), The Big Day Out (Melbourne), South By Southwest (Austin, Texas), East Coast Blues and Roots (Australia) and more. Cesar has recently worked with producer and engineer, James ‘Bonzai’ Caruso (3 time Grammy Award Winner who has worked with the likes of Stephen Marley, Damian Marley, Madonna, Lauren Hill) at Sing Sing studio in Melbourne as well as recording dates with Aria Award winner Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu and Post Rock outfit, Teeth and Tongue's debut Album.

Cesars original project, Harmless, are due to release their debut album later in 2009, and have attracted interest from labels local and abroad. Harmless combine acoustic, electronic, and found sounds to create sonic landscapes whilst remaining faithful to their improvisational and instrumental roots. The Duo (Cesar Rodrigues & Monty Mackenzie) harness textures from various mediums including laptop and samples, guitar, alto sax, synthesizers, loops, percussion, bowed cymbals, and various random objects. Their extensive field recordings are played as samples in their performances and rehearsals which are often recorded, re sampled, and thrown back out in proceeding performances to create a deep and unique tapestry of timbre and texture. Harmless have recently employed the help of Melbourne based percussionist and drummer Nick Martin into the live show whose beautifully inventive and organic style complements the outfits live journeys eloquently.

Cesar has also composed music for various documentaries, Short and Feature Films, including "Without A Shadow" which was nominated for best original score at the "Queensland New Film Awards" in 2007. He has Produced, Engineered, and Recorded music for acts such as Teeth And Tongue, String Theory, John Patterson Trio, Joe Talia, Cleverhorse, Hailey Cramer, Kate Vigo and much more. Cesar is also the founder of “Blank Tape” who organizes events promoting new and local music in several venues in and around Melbourne. Blank Tape were also a part of the 2008 Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival in which Cesar also performed with Harmless. Cesar has been a Musical educator for over 10 years and continues to explore music at its boundaries and various other musical styles...