Tenor saxist Ivo Perelman will never be accused of being under-recorded. The free form saxist continues to increase his voluminous catalogue with five, count ‘em, five, new releases. And, believe it or not, they are all different from each other!
Possibly the most intriguing is Perelman’s first time teaming up with an acoustic guitar, as Joe Morris joins up for nine intimate improvisations. While the chords are not blues, the moods are, and the creative strumming and phrasing by Morris on “Wee Hours,” “Blue Lester” and “Tight Rope” create an excellent foil for Perelman’s gasping sighs and flutters. “Blue Bird” and the 
title track are subtle conversations that meld air and strings into a sweet and sour sauce. Fascinating.
Perelman teams up with long time partner Matthew Shipp/p as well as Michael Bisio/b and Whit Dickey/dr for some creative interplay that mixes clever pulses as on ‘Crossing” and “ Soul” with adventurous excursions during “Fragments” and “Landscape.” Dickey’s drum work is part rhythm and part voice, giving Perelman a goose to get more muscular in his blowing during “The Unknown” and “Metaphysical.” A nice four way arm wrestling match.
Things get quite creative as Perelman’s tenor teams with Mat Maneri’s viola and Joe Morris/b with Gerald Cleaver/dr for seven pieces of spontaneity. The mixing and repulsion of the sax and viola crates some wondrously fragmented moments during “ Dance Matters” and ”The Haunted French Horn” while Morris and Cleaver get feisy on “The Forest of Feet and Bass Drums.” Reed and strings coalesce in a meditative and contemplative climax on the title track, making one wonder how they could replicate this in concert.
Perelman continues to stretch out as he records for the first time with a vibraphone, played by Karl 
Berger. The teaming works amazingly well, as Berger uses his chimes for both rhythm (“Shadowy Path”), melody (“Unspoken Feelings”)and for explorative improvisations with the leader (“The Sound of Bliss”). Once again, the tenor titan sounds inspired and challenged, using his sighing bell to hover around the mallets oh “The Shadowy Path” and “The Well Of Memory.” Lingering moods mixing classical intellect with romanticism.
Lastly, Perelman returns to one of his favorite formats, dueting with drummer Matthew Shipp. Here, we have twelve “Parts” that sometimes scatter about, and other times feel like two wrestlers scoping each other out on the mat. Shipp is impressively intuitive, with Perelman’s squawks, blurts and heaves fitting in well with Shipp’s mix if tentativeness and assertation. True conversations between reed and sticks.