Trumpet and saxophone are an iconic match-up forming the front line of many a jazz unit, from as early as Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins, Bix Biederbecke and Frankie Trumbauer, on through the likes of Harry Edison and Ben Webster, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Booker Little and Eric Dolphy, Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman, Bobby Bradford and John Carter... the list can go on and on.

On Polarity 4, the latest installment in the Polarity series by saxophonist Ivo Perlman and trumpeter Nate Wooley, one gets a taste of an approach that is quite different from most of the aforementioned pairings, which often relied on the American songbook and the blues for its harmonic and thematic material (even when performing original material). Here, saxophonist Ivo Perlman and trumpeter Nate Wooley create their music from a whole other set of parameters, with some occasional references to the traditional sounds of the instruments in question, but with a focus on the extended techniques that are an essential aspect of the language of improvisation and composition in this day and age.

We are far from the world of Storyville, Tin Pan Alley, or 52nd Street. This is 21st century music, through and through, from the titles of the pieces (just numbered one-nine) to the timbres explored, to the forms and melodic concepts. Wooley and Perlman are masters of the art of real-time composition and have an enviable rapport, often echoing each other's ideas, but then running off with them in their own direction, all while keeping close touch with what the other musician is doing....an essential skill in collective improvisation, as people like Wadada Leo Smith have noted in discussing this demanding art form; you have to follow your own ideas all while listening closely to what is happening around you. This Wooley and Perlman succeed at marvellously well, setting high standards for the practice and making some fun and engaging music in the process.