In an affiliation that began nearly a quarter century ago, the symbiosis between Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp continues to get stronger. Live In Nuremberg documents a festival date from June, 2019 that finds the two continue to relentlessly push the envelope after all these years.
There is too much that goes on in this sixty-minute presentation to adequately document here but on a broader level, the duo deeply explores spontaneous microtonality, which must be particularly challenging when one instrument is constrained by full intervals between notes. But as Ivo Perelman explains in the album’s liner notes,
“Matthew is that rare pianist who doesn’t fear untempered music systems, and I keep developing and evolving in long strides to control the higher registers of the sax, which began with my studies of baroque literature on the trumpet adapted to the saxophone.”
“Live In Nuremberg, Part I” goes for nearly an hour, but it’s best to think of it as a set of discreet, musical discussions, created in real time. Some notable moments: Matthew Shipp’s densely packed notes starting around the six minute mark, revealing a nimbleness and an unwavering sense of where he’s headed. Ivo Perelman re-enters the fray and the two enjoin in a chase for notes. Later on, Shipp makes a succession of short stabs on the piano, goading Perelman to do the same before the saxophonist coaxes the pianist to go from staccato to legato. Another rapid run ends with Perelman landing softly into sweetness. An all-out eruption occurs near the twenty-seven minute mark as Shipp brings down a torrent of notes and Perelman tests the limits of his horn. Around the twenty-nine minute spot, Shipp and Perelman work over a rapid, repeating figure together with stunning coordination.
Matthew Shipp is the rare pianist who excels at both the harmonic and percussive sides of the instrument, and all throughout he is pulling double duty providing pulses that shapes the ever-changing direction. Ivo Perelman as well is able to do things to his sax not commonly possible: behold his writhing soprano sax-like tones from his tenor saxophone near the fifty-two minute mark and instantly pivot down to the horn’s natural range with natural beauty and huskiness bathed in rich lyricism.
After an overture like that, there wasn’t any way the audience was going to accept seeing them off so soon. “Live In Nuremberg, Encore” is limber and lively from start to finish, packing a wealth of inspiration in a tidy, four-minute space.
Live In Nuremberg is now available via SMP Records
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