IVO PERELMAN - Kindred Spirits / Spiritual Prayers
Kindred Spirits
Leo Records CD LR 840/841 (2 CD set)
Ivo Perelman, tenor saxophone; Rudi Mahall, bass clarinet
Spiritual Prayers
Leo Records CD LR 842
Ivo Perelman, tenor saxophone; Jason Stein, bass clarinet
Both albums were recorded at Parkwest Studios, Brooklyn, NY, June 2018
Kindred Spirits
Leo Records CD LR 840/841 (2 CD set)
Ivo Perelman, tenor saxophone; Rudi Mahall, bass clarinet
Spiritual Prayers
Leo Records CD LR 842
Ivo Perelman, tenor saxophone; Jason Stein, bass clarinet
Both albums were recorded at Parkwest Studios, Brooklyn, NY, June 2018
Should ever you wonder whether or not musicians enjoy their very serious attempts at creation, or their efforts to entertain their audiences, you will need to hear Perelman and Mahall having a laugh at each other on Kindred Spirits, having fun at nobody’s expense, as they slip nonchalantly between roles.
Extraordinary that the bass instrument matches the tenor’s legerdemain in the higher registers of which Perelman has made such a refined study. There are of course close similarities between the instruments: B-flat, fingering, single reed and etcetera, which bring to them a certain hard-wired intimacy. This is echoed in both musicians’ understanding of jazz tradition, which is heard in their musical phraseology and means of expression. All of these factors lead to an intimacy of a different kind, an emotional intimacy, an affinity with their music and a rapport with each other’s playing.
Spiritual Prayers does not at first sound much different: there is initially a sense of less frenzy, more orderliness, but soon the two instruments reach for those elements of free jazz which are often described as capricious, erratic, moody or volatile. I am inclined to add mercurial, with a ‘hooray’ to follow. One noticeable change lies in the difference in tone between the two clarinettists – Mahall is influenced by his background and training in European classical and avant-garde, while Stein’s tone is more sand-blasted, rough-cut from exposure to America’s avant-garde.
Both albums move in puzzling, enigmatic ways and to make any kind of sense of them, should that be your intention, you will need to listen avidly; as with any form of freely improvised music, you must leave behind you every garden variety, plain vanilla, prosaic or stereotypical anticipation. Ivo Perelman is not just a fine musician: he is also a catalyst for others
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
Extraordinary that the bass instrument matches the tenor’s legerdemain in the higher registers of which Perelman has made such a refined study. There are of course close similarities between the instruments: B-flat, fingering, single reed and etcetera, which bring to them a certain hard-wired intimacy. This is echoed in both musicians’ understanding of jazz tradition, which is heard in their musical phraseology and means of expression. All of these factors lead to an intimacy of a different kind, an emotional intimacy, an affinity with their music and a rapport with each other’s playing.
Spiritual Prayers does not at first sound much different: there is initially a sense of less frenzy, more orderliness, but soon the two instruments reach for those elements of free jazz which are often described as capricious, erratic, moody or volatile. I am inclined to add mercurial, with a ‘hooray’ to follow. One noticeable change lies in the difference in tone between the two clarinettists – Mahall is influenced by his background and training in European classical and avant-garde, while Stein’s tone is more sand-blasted, rough-cut from exposure to America’s avant-garde.
Both albums move in puzzling, enigmatic ways and to make any kind of sense of them, should that be your intention, you will need to listen avidly; as with any form of freely improvised music, you must leave behind you every garden variety, plain vanilla, prosaic or stereotypical anticipation. Ivo Perelman is not just a fine musician: he is also a catalyst for others
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
