Ivo Perelman has long been in a free-improv phase that he may never pull out of, because within that broad phase, the tenor saxophonist has carved out niches whereby he changes up the mix of instruments with which he interacts. Lately, he’s been exploiting his insane abilities playing the altissimo (ultra-high) range of the sax by pairing with at least one stringed instrument player. When Perelman is performing alongside a string player, he takes on a different personality, and with that broad range of his, he can reach for timbres that are natural for a violin, viola or — Perelman’s original instrument — the cello.
Perelman’s secret sauce as an improviser interacting with other improvisers is an innate ability to instantly process the moment and chart out the next moment at the same time. But in order for the whole group improv thing to work, everyone in the group has to possess that same quality. And that’s where Perelman’s other great instinct comes into play: for all the dozens of free jazz records he’s made, he’s also found the right partners to carry out the certain missions he has in mind.
In the case of his latest pair from the Strings series, Strings 3 and Strings 4 (now out via Leo Records), Perelman’s mission sought to expand his “strings” mission into a miniaturized version of a classical orchestra. With Perelman representing the ‘winds’ section and violist Mat Maneri covering the ‘strings’ section, trumpeter Nate Wooley was brought in to provide the ‘brass’ section. The three made extemporaneous music that’s captured in Strings 3, reviewed in this space earlier by Sammy Stein. Strings 4, the topic for this article, adds the ‘percussion’ part of the traditional orchestra with the addition of pianist Matthew Shipp.
“Part 1” unfolds rather unobtrusively, Wooley and Maneri entering slightly behind Shipp and Perelman. It’s a pretty tune, helped greatly by everyone just letting it flow forth at its own, natural flow. But it doesn’t take long to understand the idea behind Strings 4: Wooley, Maneri and Perelman are heard ruminating in their own space and then spontaneously meet at a note, creating this strangely fascinating resonance. The four are clearly enjoying this festival of freedom together but the fun is especially palpable on the playful, un-melody “Part 2.”
Earlier, I wrote that Shipp fills that percussion void that wasn’t there in Strings 3, and certainly there are some moments where his piano is acting more or less as a percussive force (“Part 4”, “Part 7”, “Part 9”). But the main benefit from his presence comes from the guideposts and markers he sets down that give these pieces some sharply defined shapes. He sets a somber, spare tone for “Part 3” that the other three soak in before joining with their forlorn moods. For “Part 5,” he is charting the chord changes and shifts in directions with an invisible hand, settling on a repeating motif as the others beautifully come together in a lively, three-way conversation. Shipp’s compacted and darting single-note discourse sets a path for the song that the others follow with similar expressions and contrasting it with held notes.
“Part 8” grows out of Maneri’s monologue at the start, but perhaps the album’s most remarkable moment occurs later on when Maneri’s single-note sawing is doubled perfectly by Perelman’s tenor, while Wooley sets off on his own, choppy path that the others end up following. “Part 9” goes along much like some of the other tracks until a strange, growling sound is heard. Turns out, that’s Wooley whipping up a windstorm that brings the quartet to a climatic point.
No one will ever mistake music made collectively by Ivo Perelman, Mat Maneri, Nate Wooley and Matthew Shipp for classical music. At the same time, the unique sonorities created by following the basic template for a chamber orchestra are just the latest inspiration coming from the Perelman that makes each one of his many releases a journey down a path that the listener (or the musicians, for that matter) has never gone down before.
- David Cain – ‘Variations’ (2024) - November 1, 2024
- Will Galison, “Every Child Loved” (2024): One Track Mind - October 30, 2024
- Alden Hellmuth – ‘Good Intentions’ (2024) - October 29, 2024
