Brazil’s Ivo Perelman has delivered a breathtaking set of improvisational works in collaboration with three of jazz’s great guitarists: Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp and Joe Morris. The three-disc box landed today on Mahakala Music.
The prolific saxophonist with more than 100 LP credits on his resume played the guitar as a child, but gave it up because he felt it didn’t allow him sufficient opportunity to develop a “unique voice,” according to the album’s notes. Just how wrong the young Perelman was is made clear by these 17 fascinating tracks.
The Ribot collaboration was recorded in January 2022 at Park West Studios in Brooklyn, which Perelman has called home since the late 1980s. The other two sets were laid down at the same spot, in June 2024.
The interplay is complex and detailed, but never competitive. No toes are stepped on, no spotlights hogged. All four deliver spacious, inviting performances that are as welcoming to the listener as they are to one another.
The closer you listen, the more you’ll lose yourself in the endless waves of idea-response-idea.
Perelman’s tenor saxophone is the constant of course, given his appearance throughout. He stabs at its keys with all the urgency we’ve come to expect from him.
Meanwhile, his partners work pure guitar magic. Ribot, Sharp and Morris have each pushed their instrument well past jazz conventions, and their avant-garde virtuosity is on full display here.
We must not let Trifecta get lost in Perelman’s oversized catalogue. It is a singular achievement.
More new releases
Félicia Atkinson & Christina Vantzou – Reflections Vol. 3: Water Poems: Water sounds are overused in modern music, to such an extent that their inclusion makes it difficult for artists to produce original work. Atkinson and Vantzou have overcome that with an intricate, beautifully intimate recording.
Thomas Stone – The Shunned Path: A six-part work for contrabassoon and electronics, timpani and syncussion and activated snare drum. Deeply satisfying.
Various Artists – XKatedral Anthology Series I-III: Gorgeous archival recordings from the Stockholm label XKatedral. The full collection includes work produced between 2010 and 2025. So moving.
The Moderns 