Ivo Perelman’s Strings 3 finds the ever-adventurous sax man adding another musician to the mix with Nat Wooley on trumpet. Meanwhile, the established pairing of Ivo with violist Mat Maneri works its wonders. The question at the start is whether adding the trumpet is bonkers or completely wonderful.
The tracks are numbered 1-11, which is typical of Ivo Perelman’s output. Track 1 opens with viola soloing, before the tenor of Perelman enters, at once creating sounds completely at odds with the melodics of Maneri’s viola, yet there is also a periodic coming together of keys, even notes and tonal emphasis. That’s enough to create sounds where each musician is interacting with the other. This continues through the track, at one point both are searing up to notes, as if weeping in tandem. It’s a sound both poignant and engaging. The ending is chordal and beautiful.
Track 2 is breathy sax over which the viola adds constancies and sounds that evolve in spiraling upsurges, which the sax follows. Track 3 is wilder, as Ivo Perelman opens with breathy tones and short melodic riffs over which Mat Maneri’s viola sputters and stutters before elongating the sounds to create arcs of sound. It all culminates in the middle section, with the viola adding scorching rhythmic interludes over Perelman’s sax bases.
This interaction continues over tracks 4, 5 and 6, but it is on track 6 where the gleeful intercepts provided by Nat Wooley’s trumpet come into their own. If you ever wondered whether brass, strings and wood go together (given that two of the instruments comprise at least two of those elements), then Strings 3 is your answer: They work very well and the answer to the opening question is completely wonderful. The trumpet’s lambastic overtones provide a sweetness and an elongation of sounds which the others don’t, though they set the tones over which the trumpet flourishes. There are some clever drop offs from viola and sax where Wooley’s trumpet solos and comes to the forefront of this musical onslaught.
Track 7 is heavy, bombastic and totally gorgeous, whilst number 8 is decorated with wonderful tenor flourishes and Ivo Perelman delights in exploring both ends of his horn. Track 9 is noisy, riotous and completely joyful in its exploration from all the musicians. From car horn-like sax notes to Mat Maneri’s wonderfully trilling viola, pizzicato, stut and arches of wailing beauty, this track is the jigsaw of Strings 3 – the box with all the pieces. Again, Nate Wooley’s trumpet adds another dimension and the quality is outstanding.
Track 10 is atmospheric, eerie and ethereal to start, before Maneri’s viola runs amok and settles the score (though there is no score) with some classically influenced techniques over the top of the slightly rambling sax. The final track opens with swingy-jazz riffs from the sax before the rhythm is taken and played with as the track develops; the viola and trumpet enjoy the taking immensely.
Strings 3 once again shows Ivo Perelman at his experimental best. His prolific output shows no diminishing of quality, and there is also a playfulness here which is missing in so much music. The players are enjoying this as much as the listener. Including the trumpet, especially when the player is a gifted improviser, was a stroke of genius. Strings 3 ends up filling the air and brain in so many good ways.
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