It is inevitable that any new Ivo Perelman release is viewed in the light of his history. Although he first appeared on Leo before the turn of the millennium, it took a while for the early trickle of Perelman releases on the label to gradually increase to a steady stream and then, more recently, become a veritable deluge; in recent years, the New York-based, Brazilian tenor saxophonist has been averaging a staggering six albums a year on Leo. However, of far greater significance than the sheer quantity are the high quality and variety of the music. Central to that has been the pairing of Perelman with pianist Matthew Shipp. The two first recorded together back in 1996 but recently have become a firmly established partnership; the saxophonist does occasionally provide his own piano accompaniment on disc, but otherwise Shipp is his pianist of choice. The length of their association and its intensity in recent years is reflected in their familiarity with and understanding of each other. At times the two seem to react and think as one, as exemplified by their one duo track here, "Annunciation", which harks back to their hugely impressive The Art of the Duet, Volume One (Leo, 2013).
2011 saw the release on Leo of The Hour of the Star, the first album by Perelman's quartet with Shipp, bassist Joe Morris and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Since then he has recorded duo and trio albums with subsets of that quartet, as well as recording with Shipp's own trio of bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey and its subsets. That series of recordings amounts to an intensive investigation of the musical possibilities of those groups. Enigma continues that process and takes things into new territory by combining the saxophonist and pianist with the drummers from both groups. That was an inspired choice of line-up, as Perelman explains he was hearing a denser sound in his head and wanted to experiment with that. The combination of Cleaver and Dickey certainly helps deliver a denser sound. The two drummers work well in tandem, their different styles meshing together as they react to each other and bounce ideas around, complementing each other in supporting Perelman and Shipp. Both drummers are capable of restraint and subtlety, but when they let rip together they certainly deliver the density that Perelman was seeking.
While much of the music here is wild and free, it is neither freely improvised nor unbridled blowing; the starting points are eight Perelman compositions, several of which — bearing appropriate titles such as "Return to Nature" and "Gentle as a Fawn" — feature gentler, more restrained melodies and themes. Despite such quieter moments, as ever with Perelman the abiding memories are of his fluid, serpentine soloing peppered with rapidly-articulated clusters of notes and soaring crescendos that are simply breathtaking. Even when blowing flat out, he retains an impressive instinct for melody and harmony. Despite the many formats and ensembles he has explored and experimented with, Perelman has yet to release a completely solo saxophone album. On this showing, that oversight deserves to be remedied as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Enigma is a welcome addition to his overwhelmingly impressive canon.
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