By Don Phipps
Freedom is a hallmark of any Ivo Perelman album – a freedom governed only by the interaction he has with his guest artists. Case in point – his double CD recording Parallel Aesthetics with drummer/pianist Tyshawn Sorey – a masterpiece of transitions – fast to slow, soft to loud, rhythmic variations and abrupt changes at a moment’s notice, the way the two musicians listen carefully and respond to each other’s phrases and momentum. These improvs are not for the faint of heart or ear. But in their stream of consciousness approach, they explore the contours of sound in a meticulous manner, not unlike a seasoned spelunker entering an eons-old cave for the first time, the darkness pervasive but the footing secure.
Sorey enjoyed an extremely fruitful 2024. The drummer/pianist/composer won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for music for his composition “Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith).” He was also nominated for the same award in 2023 for his work “Monochromatic Light (Afterlife),” which was inspired in part by the Rothko Chapel (the Rothko Chapel in Houston, TX features 14 abstract expressionist masterpieces by Mark Rothko; Rothko painted the haunting murals that adorn the chapel walls in 1967, just three years before his untimely death by suicide). Sorey also received several best of jazz 2024 album nods for his trio recording The Susceptible Now (Pi Recordings) with pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Harish Raghavan, and his supporting drum work on two albums - pianist Vijay Iyer’s Compassion (ECM) with bassist Linda May Han Oh, and bassist Kim Cass’s Levs (Pi Recordings) with pianist Matt Mitchell [check out Lee Rice Epstein’s review of Levs] .
Like Sorey, Perelman too enjoyed a productive 2024, issuing collaborative recordings with such jazz luminaries as trumpeter Nate Wooley, saxophonists Ingrid Laubrock and Chad Fowler, pianists Matthew Shipp and Aruan Ortiz, bassists Reggie Workman, Barry Guy and Mark Helias, drummers Tom Rainey, Ramon Lopez, and Andrew Cyrille, vocalist Fay Victor, and violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul. All of Perelman’s work feature mind-expanding improvisation done with a high level of precision and technique.
As is typical with any Perelman recording, the six numbers that grace this effort cover a range of feelings and atmospheres. Sorey plays drums on three and piano on three, which gives him an opportunity to create phantasmagoric interplay with the excitement and heat elicited by Perelman’s sax. Look no further than “CD 2 Two” for evidence of this. Sorey plays inside the piano, creating odd sounds and machinations with the strings. Sometimes he pairs this with rumbles in the lower register of the keyboard. The effect is one of interstellar space – a kind of Ligeti-like coloring behind Ivo’s pause and play method - like a dark dream – Alice down the rabbit hole. And Ivo’s climb to the summit and beyond highlights how the two interact to create strange new soundscapes.
There is also the doom and anxiety expressed on “CD1 Four,” which features Perelman’s outbursts and runs, that, over time, transition into siren calls above Sorey’s light dancing and pirouettes on the piano keys. Think balance beam or tightrope, as the music stagger-steps along what feels like a musical cliff, the rocks hundreds of feet below. Towards the end of the piece, Sorey creates ear bending tone clusters as Perelman jumps in with exclamations, hues, and cries.
On the pieces where he plays drums, Sorey exhibits what could be described as a master class of drumming skills, flipping from cymbal to snare to tom to bass drum like water storming over a rocky rapid. His fluid playing flows beneath Perelman’s whirls, swirls, and transpositions. And listen to the musicality of his bass drum pedal work on “CD2 One.” This same cut highlights Perelman’s speed to the top of the sax register and then back down – his dexterous action on the keys not unlike a high-speed racecar, bobbing and weaving through traffic daredevil style.
Perelman and Sorey bring boundless energy to “Parallel Aesthetics.” Balls to the walls. Thrilla from Manila. Captured perfectly by expert engineer Jim Clouse, such high musicianship and improvisatory excellence demands an audience. Highly recommended!
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