Label: Fundacja Sluchaj, 2020
Personnel - Ivo Perelman: tenor saxophone; Mark Feldman: violin; Hank Roberts: cello; Mark Dresser: bass.
Ivo Perelman, likely the most prolific and one of the most extroverted saxophonists working today, surfaces here with the Arcado String Trio, whose members are bassist Mark Dresser, violinist Mark Feldman and cellist Hank Roberts (here credited as William H. Roberts).
Perelman has been recording with strings lately - Strings 1-4 (Leo Records, 2019) and Strings & Voices Project (Hundred Years Gallery, 2020) - but none of these works match the classy tones in Deep Resonance, an exquisite concentration of modern classical elements, improvised chamber music and free improvisation. The four tracks on the album feature a bevy of twists and a great deal of inventiveness within the explorative group interplay. We can easily spot poetically sculpted cadences, intensive polyphony, gracious balletic movements, propulsive and effusive dances, as well as droning machinations all around.
Engaging in multifarious atmospheres, the musicians are most definitely up to something here, toggling their posture between dedicated commitment and casual dangling. Sometimes tight, sometimes loose, the music is the result of their keen musical instincts and communication. It may take you to places filled with understated charm and artful subtlety or invite you to daring itineraries marked by interesting rhythmic fluxes.
On “Resonance 2”, Perelman generates vortices of energy via animated phrases that, at times, attempt to dovetail the repeated inducements instigated by violin and cello. His attentive ears remain alert to the surroundings, with the volatile framework depending on Dresser and Roberts' architectural sculptures. On “Resonance 3”, their percussive dark tones precipitate Perelman and Feldman to discourse. They search for unity and share the same language, even though their movements are autonomous. By the end, a slightly ominous atmosphere emerges via Dresser’s deep bowed notes.
Initiating proceedings with plucked strings, “Resonance 4” elicits empathy through an elegant rhythm that sustains piercing saxophone notes and dissonant violin scratches.
Excellent participation from all four musicians throughout, and a new favorite in Perelman's massive discography.
Grade A-
Favorite Tracks:
03 - Resonance 3 ► 04 - Resonance 4