The Squid's Ear Magazine


Perelman, Ivo Trio: Garden of Jewels (Tao Forms)

A meeting of three master improvisers but also three friends and frequent collaborators of Ivo Perelman on tenor sax, Matthew Shipp on piano, and Whit Dickey on drums, their familiarity showing in a collective compatibility and assurance heard especially in this studio album of exploratory discourse, each piece aptly dedicated to a precious jewel.
 

Price: $14.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 2.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Ivo Perelman-tenor saxophone

Matthew Shipp-piano

Whit Dickey-drums


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 642623800423

Label: Tao Forms
Catalog ID: TAO 004CD
Squidco Product Code: 30095

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2021
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel
Recorded at Park West Studios, in Brooklyn, New York, by Jim Clouse.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Their collective sound is sophisticated in its inventiveness and elegant in its fury. Garden of Jewels demonstrates, once again, that Perelman is a uniquely accomplished artist whose prolific output is matched only by his brilliance. This intriguingly explorative work delights with its textured construct, thanks in great part to Perelman's equally innovative colleagues. The sublime album is cerebral without being abstruse and visceral while eschewing self-indulgence and, as such, is a gem in its own right." -Hrayr Attarian, Chicago Jazz Magazine

One of the most exhilarating qualities shared by great improvising musicians is the ability to bring one's immediate situation - the joys, sorrows, fears and desires of the day - into each unique performance. What made this most recent convening of the Ivo Perelman Trio so singular was the fact that not only were all three musicians - prolific saxophonist Ivo Perelman, pianist Matthew Shipp, and drummer Whit Dickey - immersed in the same present-day miasma, so was every potential listener, wherever they might be.

Garden of Jewels was recorded in June 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic raged across the globe. On the day that these three longtime collaborators warily (and safely) entered the studio for the first time since the virus forced us indoors, the un-precedented circumstances provided the trio a profoundly urgent source of inspiration. At the same time, the country was in the midst of a series of turbulent protests that added an additional layer of vitality to the proceedings.

"There was so much creative tension in the air," Perelman recalls. "It was the first time that I came out of hibernation in my Brooklyn apartment, where I'd been focused on playing the saxophone for many, many hours every day while listening to sirens outside and wondering what life was about. Matt, Whit and I came together and cathartically created music out of all this mess."

While Garden of Jewels is only the second time that Perelman, Shipp and Dickey have recorded as a trio - the first, Butterfly Whispers, was released in 2015 - all three share a long and rich history. Shipp and Dickey, of course, worked together as integral members of the David S. Ware Quartet & in Shipp's own Trio, while the pianist and Perelman have spent the last decade creating one of the most well-documented partnerships in improvised music history.

The trio entered the studio without having discussed what might transpire at the session - the eight tracks that resulted provide vivid evidence of the band's deft spontaneity, kaleidoscopic versatility and deeply felt camaraderie. It's also the latest glimpse of the ongoing evolution of their collective identity. "We're like scientists dealing with sound," Perelman says with a chuckle. "Each recording is a means to check our development."

Also of note here is Perelman's revived interest in jewelry-making, which Perelman initially took up 20 years ago and resumed shortly before the pandemic. One example of his recent work graces the cover of Garden of Jewels. In addition to suggesting its title, the graceful, elegant piece seems to materialize the fluid swoops and whorls of Perelman's tenor sax lines into golden arabesques.

These pursuits not only provide an outlet for Perelman's indefatigable creativity, but a source of light amidst the darkness of the present era. That balance is one that Perelman says the trio felt that June day in New York, and one whose energy pervaded beyond the studio walls.

"There was a dark energy surrounding all of us, counterbalanced by the sheer power of creation. We had to become an antenna to capture the angst and anxiety of the times and transform it into art and catharsis. There was a social function to that music, not just for us but for anyone who might hear it one day. I left the studio with a new soul."

"-Tao Forms


Artist Biographies

"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."

-Ivo Perelman Website (http://www.ivoperelman.com/bio/)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Matthew Shipp was born December 7, 1960 in Wilmington, Delaware. He started piano at 5 years old with the regular piano lessons most kids have experienced. He fell in love with jazz at 12 years old. After moving to New York in 1984 he quickly became one of the leading lights in the New York jazz scene. He was a sideman in the David S. Ware quartet and also for Roscoe Mitchell's Note Factory before making the decision to concentrate on his own music.

Mr Shipp has reached the holy grail of jazz in that he possesses a unique style on his instrument that is all of his own- and he's one of the few in jazz that can say so. Mr. Shipp has recorded a lot of albums with many labels but his 2 most enduring relationships have been with two labels. In the 1990s he recorded a number of chamber jazz cds with Hatology, a group of cds that charted a new course for jazz that, to this day, the jazz world has not realized. In the 2000s Mr Shipp has been curator and director of the label Thirsty Ear's "Blue Series" and has also recorded for them. In this collection of recordings he has generated a whole body of work that is visionary, far reaching and many faceted."

-Matthew Shipp Website (http://www.matthewshipp.com/bio.html)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Whit Dickey (born May 28, 1954, New York City) is a free jazz drummer. He has recorded albums as a bandleader, with David S. Ware, Matthew Shipp and others.

Free jazz drummer Whit Dickey first stepped into the spotlight as a leader with the release of his Transonic album from Aum Fidelity in 1998. Two years later, Wobbly Rail issued his Big Top release. Previously, he was best known for his solid work with Matthew Shipp and David S. Ware, with whom Dickey split in 1996. Early the following year, the drummer began composing the works that would be included on Transonic. Dickey penned all but two songs, "Kinesis" and "Second Skin," on the collection, and he even had a hand in those with the help of his fellow musicians on the album. The original compositions give a nod to the influence of "Criss Cross" and "Off Minor" from the legendary Thelonious Monk. Dickey recorded the album with the aid of Rob Brown on flute and alto saxophone, and Chris Lightcap on bass. In 2001, Dickey recorded half a dozen of his compositions with Mat Maneri, Shipp, and Brown under the name Nommonsemble, and put out Life Cycle through Aum Fidelity.

Whit Dickey made a name for himself as the former drummer of David S. Ware's famous quartet. Since then Dickey's musical contributions have gone well beyond his work as Ware's drummer. He is capable of tremendous power and yet has the ability for subtle gesture. Dickey is a composer as well as a drummer and his music has reached new heights in his recent small group work, with a coterie of great musicians including alto saxophonist Rob Brown. He has been performing with Matthew Shipp since 1991 and continues to play and record with Roy Campbell Jr., Mat Maneri, Chris Lightcap and many others. Since 2007 Dickey has been focussing on developing an integrative improvisational style while working with Shipp's Trio.

Daniel Carter and Dickey recorded an album pianist Eri Yamamoto in 2008.

The album Art of the Improvisor from The Matthew Shipp Trio received much critical acclaim and was listed as one of the year's best of 2011. Dickey has started a cooperative unit with Sabir Mateen & Michael Bisio, which is another example of post- Coltrane integral unity, and is call Blood Trio.

Shipp, Bisio and Dickey have also been working with Ivo Perelman in various configurations."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whit_Dickey)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Garden Of Jewels 6:09

2. Tourmaline 4:51

3. Amethyst 6:51

4. Onyx 7:12

5. Turquoise 7:20

6. Emerald 6:48

7. Sapphire 6:20

8. Diamond 5:25

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Trio Recordings
Collective Free Improvsation


Search for other titles on the label:
Tao Forms.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Bisio, Michael Quartet (w/ Berger / Maneri / Dickey)
MBefore
(Tao Forms)
With the chamber-like orchestration of vibes and viola in the front line, the debut of bassist Michael Bisio's quartet with Karl Berger on vibes and sharing compositional credits, Mat Maneri on viola and Whit Dick on drums, is fueled by masterful improvisation and astute communication, an exemplary album of open-minded creative jazz executed with consummate skill.
Perelman, Ivo (Duos w/ Burrell / Crispell / Ortiz / Parks / Courvoisie / Fernandez / Taborn / Sanchez / Iyer)
Brass And Ivory Tales [9-CD BOX SET]
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Referring to the brass saxophone and the piano's ivory keys, Brazilian saxophonist based in New York City Ivo Perelman celebrates his 60th birthday with this 9-CD set of diverse approaches to sax & piano duos, performed with some of world's finest improvising pianists: Dave Burrell, Marilyn Crispell, Aaron Parks, Augusti Fernandez, Craig Taborn, Angelica Sanchez and Vijay Iyer.
Dickey, Whit / Mat Maneri / Matthew Shipp
Vessel In Orbit
(Aum Fidelity)
While working with Matthew Shipp on an Ivo Perelman album, drummer Whit Dickey and pianist Shipp agreed to record an album of their own and enlisted violist Mat Maneri to record this album of deep space-themed improvisations, collective music of heavy propulsion that bursts from impassioned exchange to convoluted clusters of sound.
Shipp, Matthew Trio
Root Of Things
(Relative Pitch)
Pianist Shipp's long-standing trio with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey, complex and inspired compositions that makes modern creative approaches to jazz beautifully accessible and essential.
Davidson, Scott with Shipp / Shorter / Bisio / Dickey
Dreamland
(NO LABEL)
Percussionist Scott Davidson, whose music is informed by jazz, classical Indian and Middle Eastern music, teamed up with pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist Michael Bisio, drummer Whit Dickey and reedist Lloyd Shorter for this album of world encompassing and rhythmic jazz.
Perelman, Ivo / Matt Shipp / Michael Bisio / Whitt Dickey
The Edge
(Leo Records)
A quartet session led by saxophonist Ivo Perelman, with pianist Matthew Shipp, drummer Whitt Dickey and bassist Michael Bisio performing 9 works penned by Perelman, succinct and superb NY jazz.
Shipp, Matthew Quartet
Points
(Silkheart)



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Johansson / Fite / Grip
Swinging at Topsi's [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Astral Spirits)
An evening of free improvisation recorded in Berlin at au Topsi Pohl in 2020 from the Swedish trio of Euro Free Jazz legend Sven-Ake Johansson on drums, Niklas Fite on acoustic guitar and Joel Grip on double bass, performing two extended and dynamic improvisations, and then settling into jazz standard form for "Isn't It Romantic" and "Out of Nowhere" sung by by Johansson.
Remote Viewers, The
The Remote Code [3 CDs]
(Remote Viewers)
Three CDs of three concerts at London's Iklecktik Club, presenting primarily compositions by David Petts plus collective improvisations, from Adrian Northover, David Petts, Caroline Kraabel and Sue Lynch on saxophones, John Edwards on bass and Rosa Theodora on piano, with Northover, Edwards & Petts adding percussion and electronics to their cryptically rich music.
Zingaro, Carlos & Pedro Carneiro
Elogio Das Sombras
(Clean Feed)
Translating to "Eulogy of the Shadows", the free improvising duo of violinist Carlos Zingaro and percussionist Pedro Carneiro performing on marimba with a damper pedal, structure their work as though emerging out of the dark night, each step subtly increasing the glow of luminescence through intensity of interaction until receding again into obscurity; sublime.
ISM
Japanese Flower [VINYL]
(Umlaut Records)
The ISM trio brings together Berlin, UK and Paris improvisers Antonin Gerbal (drums), Pat Thomas (piano) and Joel Grip (double bass) for their second album since 2015, recording live at Tokyo's Knuttel House in 2018 for two extended improvisations, collective pieces that unfold from lyrical beginning into tightly packed exchanges of exhilarating blooms.
Gjerstad, Frode / Kent Carter / John Stevens
Detail-90 [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
The second incarnation of the Detail trio of saxophonist Frode Gjerstad and drummer John Stevens with Kent Cart taking the role of double bass, is heard in this studio recording from 1990 at NRK-studio in Stavanger, Norway, a superb example of the nearly telepathic freedom four years of playing together afforded them, as heard in two extended, energetic improvisations.
Amado, Rodrigo Motion Trio / Alexander von Schlippenbach
The Field
(NoBusiness)
Portuguese tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado's Motion Trio with cellist Miguel Mira and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini in his bands 7th full album, recorded live at the 2019 Vilnius Jazz Festival in Lithuania performing with special guest, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, for an extended improvisation of masterfully evolving changes and dynamics.
Harriott, Joe Quintet
Free Form & Abstract Revisited [2 CDs]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Two essential early 60s release from famed UK saxophonist Joe Harriott, an innovator bringing free jazz concepts to the British audience with his quintet of Shake Kane on trumpet & flugelhorn, Pat Smythe on piano, Coleridge Goode on double bass and Phil Seaman on drums, referencing the new forms of jazz from US artists like Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman.
New Old Luten Quintet
Krawall!
(Euphorium)
One year after the 2013 recording by New Old Luten Quintet, Tumult!, the exceptional free jazz grouping of Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky on sax & clarinet, Elan Pauer on grand piano & percussion, John Edwards & Robert Landfermann on double bass and Christian Lillinger on drums, took the stage at naTo, in Leipzig to record this energetic and strongly percussive followup.
Schwerdt, Oliver / Baby Sommer / Barry Guy
One For My Baby And One More For The Bass [2 CDs]
(Euphorium)
A trio sounding much larger than its three contributors--Oliver Schwerdt on grand piano, percussion & little instruments, Baby Sommer on drums, cymbals & percussion and Barry Guy on double bass--captured in concert at naTo, in Leipzig, Germany in 2019 for a joyful and assertive album of collective free improv that merges contemporary, free and jazz idioms seamlessly.
Tamura, Natsuki
Koki Solo
(Libra)
"Koki" translates to "rare in ancient times," referring to ones 70th birthday, a milestone that trumpeter Natsuki Tamura achieves this year, providing proof that such an age is no longer rare, nor that it has affected the tremendous creative and physical powers that Tamura applies to his playing, as heard in this inventive solo album on trumpet, piano, voice and even pots & pans!
Ayler, Albert Trio
New York Eye And Ear Control, Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
After moving to NYC in the early 60s, filmmaker Michael Snow was introduced the music of saxophonist Albert Ayler's Trio with bassist Gary Peacock & drummer Sunny Murray, inviting them and trumpeter Don Cherry, trombonist Rudd and altoist John Tchicai to record these three brilliant freely improvised tracks, parts of which would be used in his art film "New York Eye and Ear Control".
Keune, Stefan / Paul Lytton / Hans Schneider / Erhard Hirt
XPACT II
(FMR)
The XPACT quarter of late saxophonist Wolfgang Fuchs, percussionist/electronics artist Paul Lytton, bassist Hans Schneider and electric guitarist Erhard Hirt came together in the mid-80s from members of M.A.I. Orchestra and Übü Örchestrü, disbanding after 4 years and now reunited 34 years later as a quartet with Stefan Keuene replacing Fuchs, releasing this album of masterful free improv.
Fujii, Satoko Tokyo Trio
Moon on the Lake
(Libra)
Pianist Satoko Fujii introduces a new trio with two younger and very active musicians on the Japanese jazz scene--bassist Takashi Sugawa and drummer Ittetsu Takemura--recording in 2020 at Pit Inn in Tokyo for their 3rd live date together, performing five lyrical Fujii original compositions, including "Aspirations" from her album with Leo Smith & Ikue Mori.
Space Quartet (Toral / Antunes / Morao / Torres)
Directions
(Clean Feed)
An exploration of space, not outer, but the space we give to each other, the space between events and the space between musical expression, as composed by electronic artist Rafael Toral, using acoustic & electronic feedback and amplification with his quartet of Hugo Antunes on double bass, Nuno Mora on drums & percussion and Nuno Torres on saxophone & electronics.
Innanen / Pasborg / Piromalli
This Is It
(Clean Feed)
The Hammond organ takes the lead sound on this straight-up, melodically grooving and fast-paced album, with compositions coming mostly from Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen, performed in this trio with French organist Cedric Piromalli and Danish drummer Stefan Pasborg; an album that puts one foot in the history of 60's jazz and one foot firmly in the creative present.
Courvoisier / Rothenberg / Sartorius
Lockdown
(Clean Feed)
Recording in the studio in Switzerland, the trio of Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, Ned Rothenberg on alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet & Shakuhachi, and Julian Sartorius on drums & percussion perform a mix of compositions, with 3 from Courvoisier and 1 by Rothenberg, and 4 collective improvisations; a unified and accomplished album of diverse approaches to free improv.
Denzler, Bertrand / Antonin Gerbal
Sbatax
(Umlaut Records)
A burning album of free jazz caught live at Au Topsi Pohl, in Berlin, Germany in 2019 between the long-running duo of tenor saxophonist Bertrand Denzler and drummer Antonin Gerbal, best known for their work in Zoor or Denzler-Gerbal-Dorner, here working an "Interstellar Space" area of strength and energy through intense interaction and cathartic playing.
Dunmall, Paul / Mark Sanders
Unity
(577 Records)
Despite countless collaborations in a variety of settings, UK saxophonist Paul Dunmall and drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders have never recorded one of the most straight-forward of pairings — the saxophone and drum duo — correcting their omission with his superb album of exploratory and exuberant dialogs, five tracks showing the skill and kinship between the two.
Futterman, Joel / Ike Levin
Live In Chicago
(JDF/CLM )
An almost hour long "Rhizome" of free improvisation and a brief "Renewal" from the duo of Joel Futterman on piano and Ike Levin on tenor sax & bass clarinet, performing live at Constellation in Chicago in 2017, for a wonderfully evolving work of suspense, release, technical brilliance and exuberant expression, a dialog that only two such frequent collaborators can evoke.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC