With two violins (Mat Maneri & Mark Feldman) and one viola (Jason Kao Hwang), Ivo Perelman initiates his 7-CD "Strings" series, freely improvising in an unusual collective setting as an illusionary string quartet, Perelman functioning as a virtual cello on the saxophone, another tenor instrument he played for years before turning to the sax; stunning.
Out of Stock
Quantity in Basket: None
Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 5.00 units
Sample The Album:
Ivo Perelman-tenor saxophone
Mat Maneri-viola
Jason Kao Hwang-violin
Mark Feldman-violin
Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.
UPC: 5024792085026
Label: Leo Records
Catalog ID: LEOR850.2
Squidco Product Code: 26973
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2018
Country: UK
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded at Parkwest studios, in Brooklyn, New York, in March 2018, by Jim Clouse.
"Strings 1 is the first disc in a series of recordings that will focus on Perelman's affinity for the violin family. With Mark Feldman and Jason Hwang playing violin, Mat Maneri playing viola, Ivo takes the role of a cello, and although he plays tenor saxophone he easily slips into this role. He played cello for several years before turning to saxophone and even recorded a duo CD with Joe Morris some quarter of a century ago."-Leo
"For saxophonist extraordinaire Ivo Perelman's latest twist in his never-ending plot, he "explores give-and-take with virtuosic string players. Strings 1 and Strings 2, now out on Leo Records, isn't the first time Perelman has placed his reed alongside a violin or viola, but he's probably never dived so deeply into that type of arrangement. This is a quest to fully realize the juxtaposition of wind and vibrations and take it as far as it can go. Both releases are quartets with somewhat different combinations of players; Strings 1 covered here is an encounter with Mat Maneri (viola), Mark Feldman (violin) and Jason Hwang (violin).
A standard string quartet consists of two violins, a viola and a cello. Strings 1 hues to that standard, except that the cello is replaces by Perelman's tenor sax. But listening to these recordings reveals that this isn't quite the radical departure from the string quartet norm as that might suggest. Perelman, after all, took up the cello as his original instrument, and he has so deftly adapted the language of the cello to the horn, able to bend notes and enunciate sawing-like patterns in his intonation.
Moreover, his movement is in sync with Maneri, Feldman and Hwang on these totally improvised pieces; that kind of telepathy was remarkable when it was just Perelman and Maneri but adding Feldman and Hwang to the mix does nothing to push proceeding any closer to anarchy.
Some highlights occur throughout as on Track One when Feldman's classically styled soliloquy invites halting responses from Hwang, and eventually, Maneri and Perelman discreetly enter the fray to change the two-way dynamic into a four-way one. On the second track, Perelman makes that 'sawing' motion as the string players respond in kind but does so at an unusually high register. For Tracks 4 and 5, we hear guitar-like plucking and Perelman uncannily adapts his saxophone approach to that. On the sixth track, Perelman applies heavier vibrato, which coaxes the string players to do the same, creating a profoundly sorrowful mood. The final track employs all sorts of neat tricks, including a siren-like pitch shift in unison.
Ever adaptive to his environment while maintaining his unique imprint, Ivo Perelman finds another steep challenge to take on and conquers it with a deep well of innovation and genuine fervor. Perhaps the only way a saxophone player can truly replace a cello player in a string quartet is if the saxophone player is also a cello player. That unique perspective certainly helped in making Strings 1 a successful endeavor."-S. Victor Aaron, Something Else Review
Get additional information at Something Else!
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Ivo Perelman "Born in 1961 in São Paulo, Brazil, Perelman was a classical guitar prodigy who tried his hand at many other instruments - including cello, clarinet, and trombone - before gravitating to the tenor saxophone. His initial heroes were the cool jazz saxophonists Stan Getz and Paul Desmond. But although these artists' romantic bent still shapes Perelman's voluptuous improvisations, it would be hard to find their direct influence in the fiery, galvanic, iconoclastic solos that have become his trademark. Moving to Boston in 1981, to attend Berklee College of Music, Perelman continued to focus on mainstream masters of the tenor sax, to the exclusion of such pioneering avant-gardists as Albert Ayler, Peter Brötzmann, and John Coltrane (all of whom would later be cited as precedents for Perelman's own work). He left Berklee after a year or so and moved to Los Angeles, where he studied with vibraphonist Charlie Shoemake, at whose monthly jam sessions Perelman discovered his penchant for post-structure improvisation: "I would go berserk, just playing my own thing," he has stated. Emboldened by this approach, Perelman began to research the free-jazz saxists who had come before him. In the early 90s he moved to New York, a far more inviting environment for free-jazz experimentation, where he lives to this day. His discography comprises more than 50 recordings, with a dozen of them appearing since 2010, when he entered a remarkable period of artistic growth - and "intense creative frenzy," in his words. Many of these trace his rewarding long-term relationships with such other new-jazz visionaries as pianist Matthew Shipp, bassists William Parker, guitarist Joe Morris, and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Critics have lauded Perelman's no-holds-barred saxophone style, calling him "one of the great colorists of the tenor sax" (Ed Hazell in the Boston Globe); "tremendously lyrical" (Gary Giddins); and "a leather-lunged monster with an expressive rasp, who can rage and spit in violence, yet still leave you feeling heartbroken" (The Wire). Since 2011, he has undertaken an immersive study in the natural trumpet, an instrument popular in the 17th century, before the invention of the valve system used in modern brass instruments; his goal is to achieve even greater control of the tenor saxophone's altissimo range (of which he is already the world's most accomplished practitioner). Perelman is also a prolific and noted visual artist, whose paintings and sketches have been displayed in numerous exhibitions while earning a place in collections around the world." ^ Hide Bio for Ivo Perelman • Show Bio for Mat Maneri "Mat Maneri was born in 1969, and started studying violin at age five. He studied privately with Julliard String Quartet founder Robert Koff, and with bass virutuoso Miroslav Vitous. Mat received a full scholarship as the principal violinist at Walnut Hill High School, but left school to pursue a professional career in music. By 1990, Mat founded the critically acclaimed Joe Maneri Quartet with Randy Peterson. Mat started releasing records as a leader in 1996, and has developed four working ensembles. Pianists Paul Bley, Cecil Taylor, Matthew Shipp, and Borah Bergman have called upon Matt to perform with them in such venues as the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Library of Congress, and concert stages across Europe. Mat also enjoys a strong relationship with bassists Ed Schuller, Mark Dresser, William Parker, Michael Formanek, Barre Phillips, and John Lockwood. Never to be boxed in, Mat has also worked with Joe Morris, John Medeski, Tim Berne, Cecil McBee, T.K. Ramakrishnan, Franz Kogelman, Roy Campbell, Spring Heel Jack, Draze Hoops, and appears on an Illy B Eats remix CD. Mat presently teaches privately and through the New School / NYC, and performs and records worldwide." ^ Hide Bio for Mat Maneri • Show Bio for Jason Kao Hwang "Jason Kao Hwang (composer/violin/viola) recently released the CD Sing House, featuring his quintet, and VOICE, which features several ensembles with poetry. Sing House performances include the Vision Festival and Edgefest (MI). Burning Bridge, his octet of Chinese and Western instruments was one of the top CDs of 2012 in Jazziz and the Jazz Times. Performances include the Festival International de Musique Actuelle (Canada) and Freer Gallery (D.C.). The 2012 Downbeat Critics' Poll voted Mr. Hwang as "Rising Star for Violin." In 2011 he released two critically acclaimed recordings, Symphony of Souls, for improvising orchestra, and Crossroads Unseen, the third CD of his quartet EDGE. His opera, The Floating Box, A Story in Chinatown, was one of the top ten recordings of 2005 in Opera News. As violinist, he has worked with Wadada Leo Smith, Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Anthony Braxton, Steve Swell, Tomeka Reid, and others. Mr. Hwang has received support from Chamber Music America, US Artists International, the NEA, Rockefeller Foundation and others. Mr. Hwang currently teaches sound design at New York University." ^ Hide Bio for Jason Kao Hwang • Show Bio for Mark Feldman "Mark Feldman (born 1955 in Chicago) is an American jazz violinist. Feldman worked in Chicago from 1973-1980, in Nashville, Tennessee from 1980-1986, in New York City and Western Europe from 1986. He has performed with John Zorn, John Abercrombie, The Masada String Trio, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, and Billy Hart. He was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and played in many bar bands in Chicago. He played on over 200 recordings in Nashville as a studio musician, was a member of the Nashville Symphony, and was a member of the touring groups of country western entertainers Loretta Lynn and Ray Price. In 2003 he was soloist with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Guus Janssen's Violin Concerto and with the WDR Jazz Orchestra in Concerto for Violin and Jazz Orchestra by Bill Dobbins. At Newf York's Lincoln Center he performed in duo with pianists Paul Bley and Muhal Richard Abrams. He has recorded with Michael Brecker, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and Chris Potter and has played on over 100 recordings in New York City as a soloist in contemporary music and modern jazz. Feldman has released several albums, including Music for Violin Alone (Tzadik, 1995); Book of Tells (Enja, 2000); What Exit (ECM, 2006 with British pianist John Taylor; To Fly to Steal (Intakt, 2010) with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerry Hemingway; and Oblivia (Tzadik, 2010) with his wife, Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier. In September 2012, he and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty produced the debut album of Scott Tixier. Feldman wrote the liner notes." ^ Hide Bio for Mark Feldman
10/2/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
10/2/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
10/2/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
10/2/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. Pt. 1 9:56
2. Pt. 2 7:13
3. Pt. 3 4:14
4. Pt. 4 15:42
5. Pt. 5 3:12
6. Pt. 6 17:32
7. Pt. 7 2:32
8. Pt. 8 3:25
9. Pt. 9 9:03
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Quartet Recordings
Stringed Instruments
Collective Free Improvsation
Leo Records
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Search for other titles on the label:
Leo Records.