Binge Listening with Ivo Perelman: The Art Of Perelman-Shipp, Volume 1:Titan

  The unstoppable, ever-evolving tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman’s concept is both simple and profound in equal measure. The simple part is inviting musicians to play with him without any preconceived notions of what the music will sound like. The profundity lies in the music-making itself. With the resources to record and release all these encounters with the deep bench of compatible musicians in the New York area, Perelman over the last few years has been astonishingly prolific. It’s hard for this reviewer to keep up, but his work demands attention, and a prolonged exposure to his music is an experience to be savored. So spend a weekend with Ivo and friends: you won’t regret it.

Perelman followed his Art Of The Improv Trio bonanza with another lengthy series of compact discs. The seven discs in The Art Of Perelman-Shipp series feature Perelman in various combinations with pianist Matthew Shipp, with whom he appears to have an telepathic connection. Each set in the series features the pair in different combinations. The Art Of Perelman-Shipp, Volume 1: Titan begins this bonanza with a trio of Perelman, Shipp and master bassist William Parker. Parker has worked extensively with both of them on numerous recording projects dating back to 1996's Cama De Terra, a Homestead Records release by the same trio. Together, this trio makes intensely playful and bold music. The first five sections of this session are relatively short, between 4 and 7 minutes, revealing a range of expression that includes hints of swing in Part 2, the three-way chase of Part 3, and the lyrical and dreamy Part 5. The finale is nearly 20 minutes long, beginning with a graceful and subdued passage with Parker wielding his bow. The music remains alluringly peaceful for a spell, gradually increasing in intensity with the deft interactions. A perfect example of Perelman’s art, and a great way to start a Perelman marathon.
Leo CD LR 794; Ivo Perelman (ts) Matthew Shipp (p) William Parker (b); Brooklyn, NY, October 2016; Parts 1-6; 49:46. www.leorecords.com

Ivo Perelman: The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 6

Joe Morris moves over to acoustic bass for the final Volume 6 of Ivo Perelman's The Art Of The Improv Trio, a live date recorded at a club in Brooklyn. (Click here for previous volumes.) Tenor wizard Perelman is in a positively jaunty mood to open the lengthy Part 1, with a vividly energetic Gerald Cleaver providing rhythmic excitement and a deep groove. Morris, whose attack on guitar is jittery and anxious, plays the bass with a smoother approach to sound, although he retains much of his fractured approach to rhythm. The on-stage nature of the performance gives the trio plenty of opportunities to react both to one another and to the energy of the audience. As you might expect, the 42-minute Part 1 goes through a lot of changes in tempo, volume, and dynamics, along with a few embedded solos and duos. The only constant is the restless exploration of pure improvisation. exhilarating as ever, and with a brief, boisterous encore, this rare concert appearance by a Perelman ensemble makes a fitting conclusion to The Art Of The Improv Trio series.
Leo CD LR 776; Ivo Perelman (ts) Joe Morris (b) Gerald Cleaver (d); Brooklyn, NY, July 2016; Parts 1-2; 46:42. www.leorecords.com

Ivo Perelman: The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 5

In a brief statement that appears in Ivo Perelman’s The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 5, Joe Morris writes “Improvising is action ... informed by a philosophical and aesthetic disposition.” Morris wields his main instrument, the electric guitar, on this release, with drummer Gerald Cleaver aboard as well. The utter freedom of a Perelman date (previous volumes in this series are here) encourages the musicians to explore a variety of improvisational strategies during the nine numbered sections. Starting with the robust Part 1, which effectively marks the territory, the trio moves into the slow moving Part 2. Cleaver largely goes his own way while tenor and guitar compete for attention. Part 3 features Perelman and Morris playing a rapid call and response game, while contrastingly, Part 4 is denser and spikier, with descents into gloomy commentary, plenty of scrabbly interplay and, in the last few minutes, an understated duet between Morris and Cleaver. Part 5 is a moody four minutes of call and response by Morris and Perelman with minimal commentary by Cleaver. The quickly mutating Part 6 starts out rather pointillistic and atomized before settling down a little into a recognizably conversational mode. Perelman’s playing on this one exploits his range, with a long stay in the lower registers of the tenor before leaping up to the high end. If Part 6 displays the wide timbral extent of Perelman’s tenor, in Part 7 he mostly stays up in the extreme highs of the altissimo range that he can commandingly elicit from the horn. Morris follows him up the fretboard at first before weaving his own counter-spell. The longest piece is Part 8 which finds the trio in their most congenial mood. Their simultaneous solos bounce off one another with a steady pulse to guide them on this beautifully realized excursion. As a coda, the brief finale carefully limns the high end in a quietly meandering fashion. Volume 5 is often quieter than you might expect with an electric guitar in the line-up, but as always with Perelman and friends, the intensity and honesty are impressive, and this installment is well worth your time.
Leo CD LR 775; Ivo Perelman (ts) Joe Morris (el g) Gerald Cleaver (d); Brooklyn, NY, July 2016; Parts 1-9; 51:27. www.leorecords.com

Ivo Perelman: The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 4

Strength meets strength meets strength as tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman, bassist William Parker, and drummer Gerald Cleaver take over the studio for The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 4. (Reviews of previous volumes are here.) Parker writes that “we are actually painting in sound and enabling the concept of vision to live.” (An apt metaphor, since Perelman is also a painter whose images grace the covers of this series.) In one sense, Perelman’s music is miraculous, given that what we hear is the result of an ongoing series of instantaneous decisions by three musicians, somehow coördinated in the moment through the sheer praxis of improvisation. In another sense, it’s simply what these talented individuals do. This entry in the series features two shorter pieces of under six minutes that bracket Part 2. The endlessly flowing and captivating main event is a 41-minute sprint beginning with a particularly lyrical Perelman concentrating in the middle registers, dense counter-melodies from the ever-astute Mr. Parker, and utterly focused and dynamic drumming by Cleaver. Twelve minutes of high-energy playing lead to a subdued and almost bluesy section. Imperceptibly the pace quickens, then relaxes again, setting the stage for a beatifically calm bass solo by Parker. Perelman returns with some wispy sax lines that feel like questions that call on Parker and Cleaver to respond. A heated musical conversation ensues, with Perelman’s forays into the upper registers of the tenor and Parker’s bowed bass catalyzing the music into further explorations of time and timbre. The finale is slightly upbeat, an activated and nuanced continuation of this three-way colloquy. An assertive Parker is particularly impressive here before the music slowly returns to silence. Once again, Perelman and his carefully chosen associates have created freely improvised music that will last and reward repeated listening. Definitely recommended.
Leo CD LR 774; Ivo Perelman (ts) William Parker (b) Gerald Cleaver (d); Brooklyn, NY, March 2016; Parts 1-3; 52:20. www.leorecords.com

Ivo Perelman: The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 3

Ivo Perelman is in familiar musical surroundings when pianist Matthew Shipp and drummer Gerald Cleaver join him for The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 3. (Earlier volumes are here.) But of course, each day is new and each encounter is fresh. The music on Part 1, the first of nine comparatively short impros, quickly turns turbulent and raucous. Cleaver in particular is playing hard and revving up the atmosphere. Shipp takes the bait at first before settling into a head-nodding calm. Perelman outdoes himself with his strangled cry in the upper regions of his tenor. The stately vigor of Part 2, of course, is completely different, except for the intensity, which seldom flags. Pianist Shipp has been playing with Perelman in one situation or another for decades now, and the pair never fails to find something new to explore. In his appreciative liner essay, Shipp makes special note of the “defiant persistence of it all. It just keeps coming at you, keeps growing in a completely independent and organic way.” The lyrical “trio-logue” of the delicately balanced Part 3 is a fine example of Shipp’s characterization of this unit’s approach to improvisation. Other highlights include the exploratory Part 4 with its down-tempo pacing, the chipper chase of Part 5 complete with a Cleaver drum solo, and the almost jaunty Part 7. It’s yet another powerful statement from Perelman and two of his closest collaborators.
Leo CD LR 773; Ivo Perelman (ts) Matthew Shipp (p) Gerald Cleaver (d); Brooklyn, NY, July 2015; Parts 1-9; 49:17. www.leorecords.com

Ivo Perelman: The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 2

Three true originals, tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman, violist Mat Maneri and drummer Whit Dickey have a meeting of hearts and minds on The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 2. This unit seems to find its niche in relatively calm, almost delicate miniature improvisations, though that’s not all they’re up to. They turn up the heat to full blast on Part 6, the shortest track at just one minute. Part 10 gets pretty wild as well, with a high-wire chase by tenor and viola. The perfectly paced Part 12 is especially fine, with some pungent exchanges between Maneri and Perelman. Dickey drives the music forward with his imperturbable and forthright style on drums. Equally notable are the bold, propulsive and astonishingly dense soundscape of Part 3 with its slowly rising tonal center, the playful results of the “chase me, I’ll chase you” strategy of Part 5, and the unusually tentative Part 9. Volume 2 is a typically provocative and successful Perelman session.
Leo CD LR 772; Ivo Perelman (ts) Mat Maneri (vla) Whit Dickey (d); Brooklyn, NY, August 2015; Parts 1-13; 50:11. www.leorecords.com

Ivo Perelman: The Art Of The Improv Trio, Volume 1

The astonishingly prolific Ivo Perelman, finding that the trio format was the best way to realize his style of free improvisation, convened a series of disparate bands over a year or so, utilizing a rotating cast of his recent collaborators. The six volumes of The Art Of The Improv Trio are a worthy achievement on its own terms, and even more impressive when you add in all the other sessions he’s led in the same time frame. I admit to being way behind on writing about these discs, but as John Keats reminded us, "a thing of beauty is a joy forever," so bear with me as I try and catch up.
The series kicks off with Volume 1, bringing together Ivo Perelman on tenor with Karl Berger on piano and Gerald Cleaver on drums. (The versatile Cleaver appears on all the titles in the series, except for Volume 2.) Their improvisations are split into 6 numbered sections. Part 1 is relatively subdued. Berger’s calm and spacious chording puts Perelman into a rhapsodic and soulful mood. Cleaver sneaks into the music with brushes that sound like sandpaper. Part 2 is more intricate and animated. Cleaver is still using brushes, but more forcefully, as Berger ups the energy level with his insistent voicings and Perelman soars into the upper registers. The third section is quietly meditative, as a slightly sour sounding Perelman engages in call and response with Berger’s relaxed and melancholy piano. Cleaver shadows the music with deft cymbal work. The calm aura continues in Part 4, a spare and lyrical encounter with bright piano chords, fairly serene saxophone and more of Cleaver’s imaginative work with brushes. Cleaver’s broadly spreading drums and cymbals lead the way on Part 5, which turns into a thrilling swirl of sounds. Perelman, for once, mostly stays down in the lower reaches of the tenor for the first few minutes, before launching into the stratosphere once again. Berger’s mischievous piano inventions, Cleaver’s chattering drums and Perelman’s deft instant melodies all come together on this intensely beautiful performance. Part 6 is the hardest piece to listen to, with Perelman going way up high into dog-whistle territory. While his control of this extreme range is astonishing, the piercingly sustained saxophone tones and the slow nature of the lengthy piece conspire to make the last section somewhat less successful than the trio’s other improvisations. Notable for Berger’s mature piano stylings and Cleaver’s exquisitely empathetic playing, Volume 1 also showcases the relatively relaxed side of Perelman’s art.
Leo CD LR 771; Ivo Perelman (ts) Karl Berger (p) Gerald Cleaver (d); Brooklyn, NY, May 2016; Parts 1-6; 58:05. www.leorecords.com