By Don Phipps
No matter how free or abstract the playing, Ivo Perelman (on tenor sax) and
Nate Wooley (on trumpet) are always in control. Polarity 3, their
latest collaboration, is a clever and at times striking conversation of
musical thought, not unlike professors at a university working out complex
problems of ethics, logic, and math, in a probing, delicate, and
introspective manner.
What is notable about Perelman’s duets with a wide range of collaborators
[over the last year, Perelman has recorded duets with Ingrid Laubrock,Tom Rainey,
Matthew Shipp,
Fay Victor,
Gabby Fluke-Mogul,
and even Nate Wooley, on the magnificent Polarity 2],
is the wonderful way he converses with his guest artists – the dedicated
form of listening while improvising, the careful construction of free form
playing, the call and response technique honed to perfection.
There are many intriguing highlights in the ten improvs that grace this
outing. Wooley’s pianissimo playing on “One” – the gray blue haze of “Two”
– the jazzy dance of “Three” – the cave-like experience of the opening of
“Four” and how it transitions and transforms to a bluesy ending – the
coiling apart and winding back together of the musical phrases of “Five” –
the grasshopper leaps and rapid hummingbird wingbeats found on “Six” – and
the climb to the stratosphere of “Ten.”
But one would be negligent without calling attention to the special
sequence of improvs “Seven,” “Eight,” and “Nine.” “Seven” starts out
wild, wooly, and ferocious with lines that zig and zag like a ping pong
ball on fire. The pair work closely together, as evidenced by Perelman’s
daredevil runs that terminate with Wooley’s blurting trumpet note. And the
rhythm, its evolution over the course of the piece, rotating slow and fast
like a struck cue ball. “Eight” is the musical inverse – Wooley starts off
muted, a kind of cool loneliness. And the piece feels like isolation in a
beautiful Sedona desert landscape. “Nine” follows, with a heated exchange.
The maestros banter back and forth in soulful gestures. And it is on
“Nine,” where one can hear Jim Clouse’s recording technique capture not
only the intensity of the music, but the musician’s actual breathing
through their instruments.
Beautifully rendered, challenging and sonically robust, the music of
Polarity 3 once again drives home the remarkable approaches and
articulation of two of free music’s top improvisers, Perelman and Wooley,
in their prime. Enjoy!
Polarity 3 can be purchased here.