Intrepid saxophone badass Ivo Perelman keeps bringing that intrepidness up to ever higher levels. Having done duo improvisations with pianist Matthew Shipp forever, Perelman began partnering with other avant-garde masters like Mat Maneri and Nate Wooley for one-on-one sessions of spontaneity. And then over seven years, Perelman took on a project ambitious even by his standards when he recorded totally improvised sets of duets with nine different top jazz pianists, many of whom he’s never performed with before.
And now, he’s outdone even that with another ginormous collection of recordings, this time with twelve fellow woodwind maestros, again all without any premeditation and also consisting of mostly first-time encounters. Reed Rapture in Brooklyn is the name of this latest Perelman epic, one hundred and three tracks of two-man reed insanity. Just check out this sax lineup of Perelman foils: David Liebman, David Murray, Joe Lovano, James Carter, Tim Berne, Roscoe Mitchell, Joe McPhee, Vinny Golia, Jon Irabagon, Ken Vandermark, Colin Stetson and Lotte Anker.
Since the music happens spontaneously without any forethought, these performances go beyond improvisation; it’s the sound of pure discovery. That’s the idea, after all.
Let’s take a look at the first of these collaborations within Reed Rapture in Brooklyn, the encounter with acclaimed saxophone king Joe Lovano. When you get two tenor giants together in the same room blowing whatever pops up in their mind at that millisecond, you acquire a deeper understanding of all the little nuances of their respective identities: their tone, how they bend and waver notes, how far they wander off the main melody. You can tell from these little things which channel Perelman is on (left) and who’s on the right one (Lovano). And though both are very soulful musicians who probably share many of the same forbears (Sonny Rollins comes first to mind), these guys have evolved long ago to very individual styles that probably couldn’t be shaken out of them if they tried.
It’s not about melody or even notes; it’s all about that vibe: for “Four,” Lovano throws off a sorrowful fervor and that’s plenty enough cue for Perelman to know where to take it. “Five,” on the other hand, is cheerful and chirpy, with the two cohorts conversing like birds do.
Where Lovano is on soprano for songs like “Three,” “Six, “Eight,” “Twelve” and “Fourteen,” , Perelman discreetly adjusts his resonance to closely match the higher-pitched sax. Even when the two climb up to the top of their respective horns’ ranges, Perelman is able to make his tenor easily keep up with the straight horn.
On the longest piece, “Two,” the two traverse through a wide range of attitudes, sometimes combative, other times following each other’s lead telepathically. Perelman ruminates for a full minute on “Ten” before Lovano responds with his counter measures. Soon, the two are locked into each other so firmly and suddenly, it seems they had been playing together for a lifetime.
By the time they get to eleventh and twelve performances, they are able to complete each other’s phrasing, know when to crescendo in sync and know when bring the song to its logical conclusion.
“Nine” wraps up the fare with its most discernible melody, a jaunty one that soon goes down other vistas during its 104-second running time.
Like Ivo Perelman’s recent one-on-ones with elite musicians of non-sax instruments, he sought out jazz players who are not like-minded. That is, those with wildly different backgrounds, approaches and characteristics than his own. The only requirement has been an advanced ability to improvise. Because of that alone, Joe Lovano – a titan of modern and mainstream jazz – found a lot of common ground with a titan of free jazz, and his turn on Reed Rapture in Brooklyn is revealing and invigorating. More than just about any other setting, you get to find out just how good Lovano and Perelman are.
Yeah, these guys are good.
Reed Rapture in Brooklyn is currently available through Mahakala Music. Get it here.
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