Ivo Perelman & James Emery: The Whisperers

  Tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman & James Emery, the acoustic guitarist and co-founder of the String Trio of New York, engage in a series of spirited dialogues on The Whisperers, as Perelman’s leaps and skitters of sound find their match in Emery’s fractured guitar lines. Perelman’s sudden jumps in pitch and his exploitation of the altissimo range of his tenor are on the left side of the stereo image. Emery’s unusual voicings, and an immaculate technique which allows him to switch rapidly between single-note runs and flurries of strummed chords, plus his own grab bag of extended techniques, are all on the right. Their excursions into sound, transparently recorded by Perelman’s usual engineer Jim Clouse, make for exquisitely involving headphone listening. The delirious high-wire act of track two, a high-velocity improvisation that’s full of blustery and excitable tenor and jagged bursts of guitar, grabbed me right away. Track ten, with its twisted and abstracted take on the blues, is a marvelous concoction. Track four is another of my favorites of this set, as a braying Perelman and a hard strumming Emery come together and apart and then together again in a genuinely audacious display of the improvisers’ art. This set came out in August 2023, and got lost in the shuffle. I’m glad I found it again; highly recommended. 

Mahakala Music MAHA-065; Ivo Perelman (ts) James Emery (g); Brooklyn, NY, February 2022; Twelve untitled improvisations; 52:59. mahakalamusic.com

Ivo Perelman/Chad Fowler/Reggie Workman/Andrew Cyrille: Embracing the Unknown

  Reggie Workman’s musical saw and Andrew Cyrille’s percussion are the first sounds you hear on Embracing the Unknown, a tremendously exciting new release by the quartet of Ivo Perelman, Chad Fowler, Reggie Workman, & Andrew Cyrille. Tenor saxophone giant Perelman’s basic vision serves to embrace the unknown by leaving all preconceptions behind when starting to play. Chad Fowler, performing boisterously on stitch and saxello, makes a fine partner in the front line with Perelman’s commanding tenor playing. Both bassist Workman and drummer Cyrille, now in their 80's, are oriented to positive listening and immediate responses to what they’re hearing from the other players. Between them, they have participated in over 450 sessions over the decades, and they’ve played together many times since they both worked in the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra back in 1968. Cyrille played in the Reggie Workman Ensemble in the Eighties, Workman played in Cyrille’s quintet in the early Nineties, and the pair also appeared frequently with saxophonist Oliver Lake as Trio 3, so it is obvious that there’s a mountain of mutual respect. It’s worth noting that Cyrille’s first appearance on record was in 1961 with the master saxophonist Coleman Hawkins (The Hawk Relaxes, for Prestige). For him to play on this date emphasizes both the underlying continuity of the jazz tradition and the always forward-looking attitude of this broadly experienced musician. As the energy level rises and falls and rises again over the 21 minutes of the opening title track, it becomes clear that this is a deeply attuned unit, balanced and mutually attentive to the smallest musical gesture. Soul Searching, which starts out as a marvelous duet between an almost bluesy Perelman and Cyrille’s scintillating brush work, grows into a dramatic quartet blow-out around the half-way point. The saxophones shriek and moan together, Workman holds down the bottom with his dexterous walk, and Cyrille is all over his drum kit. Self-reflection begins with a surprisingly sweet sax duet, and evolves into a sort of free ballad. The joyous Introspection is a vigorous musical conversation that bounces happily along. Self-analysis has a curiously spiritual aspect, with moaning horns, prominent bass, and Cyrille using lots of space in his playing. I’m especially fond of the closing Self-contemplation, featuring a highly animated opening saxophone duet. In the middle of the tune comes a chipper Cyrille solo, played on what sounds like the rims of his drums and a cowbell, soon joined by Workman’s bowed bass. The piece develops into an appealing four-way conversation, and just like that, 68 minutes of intense music is over. To embrace the unknown is to be absolutely prepared to accept the world as it comes. Good advice for living, and superb advice for improvisers. Totally recommended. 

Mahakala Music MAHA-076; Ivo Perelman (ts) Chad Fowler (stritch, saxello) Reggie Workman (b, saw, perc) Andrew Cyrille (perc); Brooklyn, NY, no date specified; Embracing the Unknown/ Soul Searching/ Self-reflection/ Introspection/ Self-analysis/ Self-fulfilment/ Self-contemplation; 68:02. mahakalamusic.bandcamp.com

Dave Sewelson: More Music For A Free World

Baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson is probably best known as a member of the long-running Microscopic Septet. He steps out on his own with More Music For A Free World, a brawny, take-no-prisoners excursion into freely improvised music. His companions are the well-traveled trombonist Steve Swell, the inimitable William Parker on bass, and the relatively obscure Marvin “Bugalu” Smith on drums. Smith played in the Sun Ra Arkestra in the Eighties, then reappeared on the scene in the early part of this century, recording with pianist David Haney and saxophonist Teodross Avery. The quartet comes out wailing on Memories, with everyone listening closely and contributing to the overall effect. The attractive combination of baritone sax and trombone has not been exploited very much in jazz over the years. Offhand, I can only think of a 1957 Curtis Fuller session with Tate Houston on baritone, Gerry Mulligan with Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone in the mid-Fifties, a couple of obscure Serge Chaloff live recordings made in 1950, and Music For A Free World, this group’s debut (FMR, 2018). Sewelson and Swell have both been members of Parker’s large ensembles, and so their dynamic interplay comes as no surprise. Parker is well-known as a powerhouse soloist, and he’s adroit in that role, but it’s his rock-solid ensemble work that stands out here, along with his occasional dialogues with drummer Smith. Smith kicks off the second track, Dreams, with a grooving drum solo, and the band moves into nearly a half-hour of inspired activity. Most often, it seems like four people are soloing at the same time, popping in and out of the musical scrum as the circumstances demand. I love the way that Smith comments on the proceedings and subtly ups the tempo around the 4-minute mark, adding more grit and force to the ensemble. From that point, the music takes off for parts unknown. Once again, the horns drop out for a spell, leading to a particularly fine bass and drums section, before Sewelson and Swell come back to toss riffs back and forth over mildly agitated rhythms. The finale, Reflections, eases up on the tempo, but maintains their core approach of open-ended improvisation. This is the kind of free jazz that will have you nodding your head and tapping your feet in response to the quartet’s freewheeling power if you haven’t fled the room at the first hint of their forceful attitude. Count me as one who happily sticks around for all of it.
Mahakala Music MAHA20-002; Steve Swell (tbn) Dave Sewelson (bari s) William Parker (b) Marvin "Bugalu" Smith (d); Brooklyn, NY, December 17, 2018; Memories/ Dreams/ Reflections; 59:00. sewelsonics.com

Jordan/Futterman/Swell/Fielder + Jordan/Futterman/Parker/Drake

Percussionist Alvin Fiedler first appeared on record with a 1958 edition of the Sun Ra Arkestra. A charter member of Chicago’s AACM, he played with Roscoe Mitchell in the mid-Sixties, appearing on the seminal Sound album for Nessa. According to his Wikipedia entry, he returned home to Mississippi in 1969, and began working with saxophonist Kidd Jordan in 1975 in what became the Improvisational Arts band. A mainstay of the New Orleans avant-garde scene, Fielder had lengthy musical relationships with Jordan and pianist Joel Futterman, and getting as far as Dallas, Texas, with brassman Dennis Gonzalez. His final recording, issued by the Big Easy’s invaluable independent label Valid Records, is Masters Of Improvisation, featuring a quartet of Kidd Jordan, Alvin Fielder, Joel Futterman & Steve Swell from a live concert at the Old U.S. Mint in New Orleans in late January 2017. After a few tentative minutes to settle into the space, the second half of Expansion is a wild, no holds barred freely improvised onslaught, complete with a hip drum solo to end the piece. The exploratory 25 minutes of Residue start out with trombonist Swell and drummer Fielder in a low-key duet. Futterman joins the fray with darting piano chords as the intensity builds slowly and surely. Futterman and Fielder go at it for a spell in a busier frame of mind. Jordan then enters the scene, in a relaxed mood, and the music slows down again to give listeners a chance for some close listening. Overall, it’s quite an enjoyable exposition, with Fielder setting the pace and controlling the dynamics. The track flows directly into the finale, a cheerfully energetic conversation with plenty of interplay and direct communication, and ending the set with an unexpected sidelong glance at Doc Pomus’ Lonely Avenue! A fine night of music indeed.

   Fielder passed away at the age of 83 in January 2019, and in June of that year, the quartet of Edward "Kidd" Jordan, Joel Futterman, William Parker, & Hamid Drake offered A Tribute to Alvin Fielder, Live at Vision Festival XXIV. It’s clear from the first seconds of the single 45-minute improvisation that spirits were high and the musicians totally engaged. Bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake form one of the most potent rhythm teams around. One of the great musical experiences of my life was witnessing a quartet of Parker and Drake with the twin-tenor threat of Edward “Kidd” Jordan and the late Fred Anderson, and so I had great expectations for this Vision Festival performance. I wish I could have been there, but I’m very happy to report that this Mahakala Music release is deeply satisfying from start to finish. As is usually the case with free improvisation, a blow-by-blow account is relatively pointless and unhelpful. But I will note Jordan’s playful evocation of eden ahbez’s Nature Boy, Futterman’s lush and deep concentration at the low end of the piano, and the uncanny empathy displayed at every moment by Parker and Drake as the music ebbs and flows. As Kidd Jordan (85 in May, 2020) tells the audience at the end, he’s “blessed to play with younger fellows” and, quoting the blues song Going Down Slow, he’s had his fun, “if I don’t get well no more.” He had a ball, he told them, and now it’s your turn to have a ball at home. Happily recommended.
Masters of Improvisation: Valid VR-1016; Steve Swell (tbn) Kidd Jordan (ts) Joel Futterman (p) Alvin Fielder (d); New Orleans, LA, January 24, 2017; Expansion/ Residue/ Sawdust on the Floor; 47:50. validrecords.com
Tribute To Alvin Fielder: Mahakala Music; Edward "Kidd" Jordan (ts) Joel Futterman (p) William Parker (b) Hamid Drake (d); Brooklyn, NY, June 12, 2019; A Tribute to Alvin Fiedler; 45:03. mahakalamusic.com

Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp: Amalgam

You might think that after dozens of recordings of freely improvised music, the saxophone and piano team of Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp would have run out of things to say. They’ve thought it themselves, proclaiming on a few occasions that their duo projects were over. But time has a way of upending expectations, and after extended recording sessions in 2018 (Efflorescence, Vol. 1, with a second volume on the way) and a live recording in Nuremberg in June, 2019, the pair was back in Brooklyn’s Park West Studio in January 2020 to create their latest opus, Amalgam. There’s a peaceful feeling to the first of twelve sections as the duo seems to have reached a serene plateau of other-worldly melody. Shipp’s gently rolling phrases are met by a relatively subdued Perelman in an impressive piece that amounts to a sort of overture for the session. There’s some outright contentiousness in the second part, as if the duo was having a dispute about the direction of the music. Perelman’s endless assortment of shrieks, moans, wails and frenzied screeches is matched by Shipp’s insistent chording and rhythmic complexity. The third section is calm again, though with an undercurrent of dissonance that threatens to erupt but never does. The twelve sections of Amalgam are more introspective than usual for this pair. Close listening is absolutely critical when you’re collaborating with a partner to create music out of the thin air with no preconceptions, and here Perelman and Shipp seem to have reached a new level of instant communication. As Perelman told their tireless chronicler Neil Tesser, “We play less now and say more. We are having a new appreciation for the space between notes and between chords. So now each note carries more weight in the overall structure; each note breathes because of the space around it.” Strictly speaking, an amalgam is an alloy of mercury with another metal which may be a liquid, a soft paste, or a solid, depending upon the proportion of mercury. It’s a word nearly always associated with dentistry, but metaphorically speaking, a mixture of elements, with the result dependent on the particular proportions, is a perfect way to describe this music. Or as close to perfect as words might reach to describe the mystical communion that Shipp and Perelman attain with their instruments. A beautiful session, strongly recommended. Mahakala Music; Ivo Perelman (ts) Matthew Shipp (p); Brooklyn, NY, January 2020; Amalgam, parts 1-12; 47:29. mahakalamusic.com