Ivo Perelman Returns to Recording with Release of
Three New Albums Callas, Counterpoint
Available on May 26 via Leo Records
Rare New York Performance in Duo with Matthew Shipp -
July 17 at Michiko Rehearsal Studios
"...one might fear that tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman may begin to repeat himself. To put it succinctly - not a chance." - All About Jazz
It's been almost a year since Ivo Perelman
has issued a new recording. For most artists, that would represent a
normal release schedule; for Perelman, who had produced 20 or so albums
in the previous four years, it marks a significant gap in his creative
output. Now come three new albums (Callas as a double-CD, Tenorhood and Counterpoint)
at once, which for most artists would signify an attempt to catch up
after the year's inactivity. For Perelman, however, it merely returns
him to his regular schedule.
Perelman's
latest collection of simultaneous releases, all on Leo Records,
celebrate artistic heroes new and old, and musical relationships that
fall somewhere in the middle. Taken together, they capture much of this
remarkable artist's range of technique, emotion, and imagination; any
one of them, taken separately, stands as a significant addition to his
by now overwhelming discography. They also announce to the listening
public that, after a significant physical crisis, Perelman is back in
full force.
In
2014, Perelman began to experience pain and bleeding from his mouth.
Thinking this signified dental problems, he arranged to visit his native
Brazil for oral surgery. But before his trip, he learned that the
problem actually originated in his larynx, which had suffered damage
from Perelman's preternatural reliance on, and mastery of, the tenor
saxophone's altissimo
register - the extremely high notes above the instrument's written
range. Perelman has made the use of these notes an integral part of his
hyper-expressive, enormously flexible saxophone style; indeed, he has
brought a previously unimagined command and control to these timbral
frontiers. Perelman discovered that his methodology had stressed the
larynx; moreover, the stress bore a distinct similarity to that
experienced by vocalists, and specifically operatic singers.
Temporarily
putting aside the saxophone, Perelman began to contact singers who had
suffered the same condition. "I started to take voice lessons, and
lessons in breathing technique - and I started to heal," he explains.
"If I hadn't done this, I would not be able to play the way I want, and
to continue to grow. Now I breathe as if I were a singer; I think as
if I am a singer." By incorporating these changes, and by
reconstructing his embouchure, Perelman soon healed (and without the
services of a dentist). During this time, he began listening intently to
opera, and eventually to the recordings of Maria Callas, the "new hero"
that inspired his double-CD Callas, featuring Perelman's longtime collaborator Matthew Shipp on piano.
Each
of the utterly spontaneous duo performances in this set bears the name
of a character portrayed by Callas, the Greek-American diva whose
meteoric and tumultuous career in the 1950s remains the stuff of
artistic legend. Among the title protagonists brought to mind by these
improvised arias are Medea, Lucia di Lammermoor, Norma, and Aida, as
well as Mimi from La Bohéme and Rosina from Barber of Seville.
Perelman's music has always displayed an almost operatic nature, in its
grand emotions and in the epic proportions of his improvisations. But
now, as he points out, the influence of Callas has given his sound "a
subtle new vocal quality.
"We
saxophonists have this thing with reeds: 'You're only as good as your
reed.' The free-flowing perfection of a perfect reed is like nirvana for
us. And Callas is like the perfect reed, the perfect vibration, because
of the perfect use of her vocal apparatus, brought about by her
superhuman dedication. This has deeply affected my approach." For Ivo
Perelman, Maria Callas is more than a "new hero," and her music more
than a helpmate in his recovery; she has become a soulmate across
centuries. "I fell in love with her," he says, "It's as if know her. I
know what she felt; the feelings she had, I have felt."
Whether
because of Callas or due to his joy in the resumption of performing,
Perelman's saxophone creations have perhaps never had more emotional
resonance. What's more, on this album his collaboration with Shipp has
achieved a new high point in what was already a stunning example of
musical clairvoyance. Shipp's relationship to Perelman has previously
been described as "the Lewis to his Clark" on a "shared expedition of
discovery." On Callas,
it goes even further, in the words of Leo Records founder Leo Feigin,
who writes: "Nobody sounded like this before. These are not just free
improvisations; it is a kind of new genre. It is not two people playing
but one. It is more than telepathy - so organic, so natural."
For more information on Counterpoint and Tenorhood click here.
Upcoming Ivo Perelman Performances:
July 17 / Michiko Rehearsal Studios / New York, NY
Ivo Perelman · Callas,Counterpoint,Tenorhood
Leo Records · Release Date: May 26, 2014
For more information on IVO PERELMAN, please visit: IvoPerelman.com
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Greg Angiolillo · greg@dlmediamusic.com
Don Lucoff · don@dlmediamusic.com
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