Home » Jazz Musicians » Ivo Perelman
Ivo Perelman
He has performed to great acclaim in jazz festivals and concerts around the world and has recorded 26 CDs. His music, a unique form of free jazz, translates itself into the striking Abstract Expressionism of his painted imagery. Just as his music evolves out of his liberation from musical convention, his imagery dispenses with traditional artistic conventions and expresses the raw energy which creates each painting. The intense flows and abrupt breaks of sound which emerge from his saxophone are reborn as zigzagging lines of color, splashed on canvas.
Some of his paintings are full of agitated energy, while others are more lyrical, creating a visual moment of near silence. Instead of working from a preconceived artistic idea, Perelman lets the flowing, skittering, dancing paint lead him on. Each painting is like a performance, a set of actions in time which can happen in that particular way only once, embodying the sound of his music through the stroke of the paint brush. The notes become vibrant colors and the rhythm transcends into shape. He passionately unravels the most vivid emotions, whether playing the saxophone or approaching the canvas. There are no limits or restraints as his method of expression relies not on planning but solely on the flow of feelings. His desire for painting stems from the depths of his soul with the ardent yearnings.
Although largely known for his playing of the tenor saxophone, Perelman also plays piano, clarinet, cello and recorder and is a trained classical guitar player. Perelman made an immediate impression with his 1989 debut Ivo, and his subsequent work has continued to justify his critical status as one of the most important and distinctive tenor saxophone voices of recent years. His vigorous performing style has brought comparisons with John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, David Murray and, perhaps inevitably, Gato Barbieri.
An air of invigorating fun surrounds some of Perelman's music, especially when working with Latin-tinged material. Elsewhere, his enthusiasm seems at times to overwhelm his surroundings and it takes equally dominant musicians to contain him and, as a result, raise the standards of performances to sometimes breathtaking heights. Perelman has worked with players including, Paul Bley, Don Pullen, Joanne Brackeen, Geri Allen, Matthew Shipp, Eliane Elias, Rashied Ali, Billy Hart, Andrew Cyrille, Jay Rosen, Ramon Lopez, Peter Erskine, Airto Moreira, Mino Cinelu, Flora Purim, Nana Vasconcelos, Reggie Workman, Dominic Duval, Paul Rodgers, John Patitucci, William Parker, Louis Sclavis and Elton Dean.
Tags
Ivo Perelman's Two Stimulating Albums from January of 2024: Interaction and Truth Seeker
by Hrayr Attarian
Innovative Brazilian saxophonist and master improviser Ivo Perelman is as prolific as he is imaginative. With close to 100 recordings under his belt Perelman is always pushing the proverbial envelope looking for fresh ways to express himself. Having lived in various cities around the world--and currently splitting his time between Fortaleza Brazil and New York City--Perelman has been exposed to multiple cultures. The influences of these are heard in his various works. A pair of releases from 2024, each with ...
read moreIvo Perelman / Mark Hellias / Tom Rainey Truth Seeker: Truth Seeker
by Mike Jurkovic
Saxophonist Ivo Perelman has a very deep understanding of time and space. He knows deep down these things, these oddly elusive concepts that bind us to the irreparable now, are truly meant to serve as agents of creation, of freedom. Of the freedom to create without corruption. He also senses on the most granular level that creation is a minute-by-minute thing. Or it should be. On his umpteenth release of the new year, Perelman, in studio for the ...
read moreIvo Perelman, Chad Fowler, Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille: Embracing the Unknown
by Troy Dostert
Since founding Mahakala Music in 2019, saxophonist Chad Fowler has done as much as anyone to continue the spirit of unfettered free jazz, drawing on an illustrious roster which includes veterans such as William Parker, Matthew Shipp, Joe McPhee, Ivo Perelman and many others, with Fowler himself frequently appearing alongside them. The label is also doing a superb job of bringing together cross-generational assemblages of musicians, as on 2022's Alien Skin, which brought Shipp, Parker and Perelman together with Fowler, ...
read moreIvo Perelman / Chad Fowler / Reggie Workman / Andrew Cyrille: Embracing the Unknown
by Mark Corroto
Let's explore the title of saxophonist Ivo Perelman's latest release, Embracing the Unknown. His quartet with fellow saxophonist Chad Fowler, plus jazz legends Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille embrace, or welcome, adopt, and maybe better stated, champion the unknown. This exercise in instant composing guides listeners through the mysterious, the new, the novel, the undiscovered, i.e. the unknown. But then again, doesn't every Ivo Perelman recording embrace the unknown? With his one hundred plus (and counting) discography, the ...
read moreIvo Perelman, Nate Wooley, Mat Maneri, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Joe Morris, Matt Moran: Seven Skies Orchestra
by Hrayr Attarian
Ever the intrepid innovator, saxophonist Ivo Perelman takes his music in a new direction on the double-disc set, Seven Skies Orchestra. After a long series, primarily of duets, Perelman returns to a larger ensemble setting, a sextet in this case. That is not the only difference between this release and his previous output; the music here, although still entirely improvised and easily recognizable as Perelman's, moves in a more spacious, contemplative direction, less introspective and more outgoing. Vibraphonist ...
read moreIvo Perelman: Seven Skies Orchestra
by Mike Jurkovic
In another reality, where the love one makes is what gets the headlines, the big money, the streaming specials, ceaselessly inquisitive saxophonist and downtown legend Ivo Perelman might just top the list of good guys. The guy who pushes for the better mind, the better heart, and confesses it all to tape or lacquer or binary code; chronicling one man's pursuit of the day. while hopefully inspiring others to cut the course the same. Even before the most ...
read moreIvo Perelman: Tuning Forks
by Hrayr Attarian
Intrepid improviser and tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman takes his explorations in yet another direction on the captivating Tuning Forks. A duet with vibraphonist Matt Moran, this richly textured work primarily draws inspiration from the musical and healing properties of vibrations. For this, and subsequent releases, Perelman resurrects his previously defunct label Ibeji. The overall ambience is introspective and wistful; the free flow of ideas between the two musicians is quite lyrical. The seamless camaraderie allows for a natural ...
read moreFree Jazz Tenor Sax Titan Ivo Perelman Joins Joe Morris & Balazs Pandi On Provocative Improv Outing "One"
Source:
hubtone PR
IVO PERELMAN - tenor sax JOE MORRIS - electric bass Balazs Pandi - drums AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE OCTOBER 1ST, 2013 AND THROUGH RARE NOISE RECORDS ON CD, VINYL AND HI-RES DIGITAL DOWNLOAD. One brings together the potent forces of Brazilian tenor saxophonist and prolific free jazz icon Ivo Perelman, veteran bassist-guitarist Joe Morris (a ubiquitous figure on the avant-garde jazz scene, making his recorded debut on electric bass guitar here) and Hungarian hardcore drummer ...
read more
Ivo Perelman - The Hour of the Star (Leo Records, 2011)
Source:
Music and More by Tim Niland
South American saxophonist Perelman has been a fixture on the free jazz scene for decades now, recording albums in a variety of musical combinations for a variety of record labels. This is the best one of his I have heard, he is in rare form and the band is absolutely stellar: Matthew Shipp on piano, Joe Morris on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums. The quartet setting suits the music perfectly as it sits on the nexus of modern jazz ...
read more
Ivo Perelman Quartet - The Hour of the Star (2011)
Source:
Something Else!
Sao Paulo-born tenor man Ivo Perelman assembles a whack jazz quartet that rivals in star power to the foursome David S. Ware recently assembled with William Parker, Cooper-Moore and Muhammad Ali. But Perelman's six improvised performances with Matthew Shipp (piano), Joe Morris (acoustic bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums) come off much better. With this being free jazz, it's often hard to pinpoint why, but perhaps Perelman found a more inspired combination that day. It certainly sounds that way on the ...
read more
Prolific Saxophonist/Composer Ivo Perelman Celebrates 20 Year Career with Eight New Releases
Source:
DL Media
Prolific Saxophonist/Composer Ivo Perelman Celebrates 20 Year Career With Eight New Releases ...an entire new school of jazz..., unique genius..."Gunther Schuller, composer, conductor, jazz historian ...a sound as passionately effusive as Ivo Perelman's is at once original, uncommon, and undeniable." --All About JazzOne of the most distinctive and imposing tenor sax voices to come along in years."--DownBeatThe 20th year of saxophonist Ivo Perelman's prodigious career ...
read more
Ivo Perelman & Dominic Duval in Philadelphia on 12/20/07 - Free
Source:
All About Jazz
Thursday, December 20 | 8pm Ivo Perelman, saxophone Dominic Duval, double-bass Free The Rotunda 4014 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 Ivo Perlman is best known for performing in a heavily distorted, abstract-expressionist vein first tapped in the '60s by the late Albert Ayler. His first album, Ivo (K2B2, 1989), featured an all-star cast that included drummer Peter Erskine, bassist John Patitucci, percussionist ...
read more
IVO PERELMAN, TENOR SAXOPHONIST AND UNBRIDLED IMPROVISER, RELEASES TWO NEW ALBUMS -- THE EYE LISTENS, A TRIO DATE, AND THE HAMMER, A SERIES OF DUETS WITH DRUMMER JAY ROSEN
Source:
All About Jazz
Masterful and daring improviser Ivo Perelman, a musician Bill Milkowski called in Down Beat one of the most distinctive and imposing tenor sax voices to come along in years," has released two new albums that exemplify the remarkable scope of his powers: The Eye Listens, a trio date on Boxholder Records, and The Hammer from Leo Records, on which he is paired with drummer Jay Rosen.
Joined on The Eye Listens by two other hyper-kinetic improvisers--bassist Wilbur Morris and drummer ...
read more