By Sammy Stein
Ivo Perelman has teamed up not with one, or two, but three guitarists on
Trifecta. Guitarists Marc Ribot (Disc One), Elliott Sharp (Disc Two), and
Joe Morris (Disc Three) pair with Perelman in a release that showcases the
guitar as an instrument and the individual playing styles of each musician.
Ivo says of the recordings, “I was a guitar player ever since I was a young
boy. I studied for many years, but the reason I quit was that I couldn't
find a personal, differentiated, unique voice. The guitar is a difficult
instrument for that purpose. It doesn't lend itself, like the saxophone, for
instance, to a different way of responding to each player. With woodwind
instruments, factors like embouchure, mouthpiece, lung size, and height
immediately affect the sound; they are flexible and responsive to sound
imagination. Whatever you think comes out, you make the sound.
The guitar, with its geometric fingerboard, can lead musicians to merely
recreate patterns. Therefore, I deeply admire the musicians featured in
Trifecta because I know how individual their voices are on an instrument
that is otherwise often oblivious to individuality.
Because they are all so different from each other, our interaction was very
different. Although it is the same instrument, each project sounds unique.
It made sense to me to group them in a CD box format to offer the listener a
panoramic view of contemporary guitar as played by three of its major
voices.”
While one might argue with Ivo (and who does?) about the guitar being
oblivious to individuality (think Sonny Sharrock, as an example), it is
definitely true that each of the three guitarists featured plays in a
distinctive style.
Disc One – Marc Ribot and Ivo Perelman. Track one is a gentle preamble with
both players offering subtle, contrasting phrases, passing discussive
musical musings back and forth. There is a sense of familiarity in the
pre-emptive chord inserts of Ribot and the declarations of intent in the sax
lines. Perelman is restrained and, at times, takes the tenor sax on a
journey of screeches and wails, but Ribot grounds the track, maintaining the
gentle pace and delicate chord placements. The track is over twelve minutes
in length, during which Ribot introduces rhythm changes and punchy
percussive elements, to which Perelman intuitively responds. In turn,
Perelman takes the music into realms of contrapuntal changes, and Ribot
reacts. Track two sees Perelman taking wild walks with airs and melodies,
which Ribot echoes at times and develops at others. The final part of the
track is a beautiful exchange of delicacies between the two musicians, which
they, in turn, try out, and either discard or savour and develop. Track
three is intense, lively, with fiery salvos passing between the musicians
like hot cakes. Perelman introduces some gorgeous lower register lines in
the second half, over which Ribot’s strings writhe like a cobra, creating
dense, colourful phrases. Somehow, by the time the track ends, it is softer,
the lines malleable, and flowing. Track four opens with a Celtic-sounding
harmony which both players introduce before each diverges on a line of their
own, Perelman’s tenor taking a more melodic tone, while Ribot inserts
delicate chords and lines. Perelman rises into the top register, soaring and
dipping back to pipping lower notes. Track five is bonkers – wholesale
improvisation, with Ribot and Perelman vying for who can outwit whom. Yet
there are still the intuitive reactions and challenges that make the track a
standout example of communicative playing. Ribot’s mastery of styles is
apparent, as he weaves seamlessly between free improvisation and snippets of
different playing styles. Between them, Perelman and Ribot even go briefly
into swing mode, though not for more than a few bars. Perelman’s delectation
for taking a style and introducing free playing into it comes to the fore,
and Ribot seems to delight in taking him up on his offer and following.
Disc Two – Elliott Sharp and Ivo Perelman. Track one is explorative,
tentative almost, with Perlman initially taking the long melodic line and
Sharp inserting quick, sharp chords, alongside some gentler extended ones,
until the track unravels itself with both musicians diverging and coming
together in a series of intricate phrases. Track two finds Perlman
meandering along melodic inventions, into which eventually Sharp inserts
delicate, then increasingly noisesome lines. There is a beautiful section
where the melody is reversed with Sharp playing deep, resonant lines, over
which Perelman flies, finding nuanced tones in the gaps of the music as only
he can. Track three is delicate, each musician introducing lines of sound
like threads, which weave themselves around each other to create a sonic
tapestry of colourful sound waves. Track four is busy, buzzy, electronically
enhanced, and atmospheric, while track five is just as atmospheric but with
more guitar ‘twangs’ and warps, with Perelman retreating a little to allow
the guitar to come to the fore in all its weirdness in the hands of Sharp.
Sharp finds tones and nuances in the guitar with detuned strings and
tightened chords that showcase the range of his instrument. Track six starts
as if it is going to go into a blues number, but the two musicians quickly
put a stop to that notion with a glorious development of rhythm changes and
improvised lines. Sharp makes impressive use of the percussive elements of
the guitar and its dexterity as an instrument. On track seven, this is
demonstrated, alongside chords and singular lines that mesh and meld with
the sax of Perelman intuitively.
Disc Three - Joe Morris and Ivo Perelman. On track one, the difference in
the style of Morris compared to Sharp and Ribot is apparent; his guitar’s
melodic voice is heard from the start. Track two is a conversation between
guitar and saxophone with both musicians playing without pause, yet they
intuitively diminish and crescendo in their dialogue, as each listen and
responds. On track three, Morris’s guitar is busy, the notes intricately
placed, and he finds ways to fill any gaps, however small, that Perelman
leaves. Perelman, meanwhile, rises and falls, riffs, and meanders along
musical pathways his brain creates, and his fingers bring into reality. On
this track, the intuition of both musicians is palpable. Track four is a
delightful back and forth between the instruments, and Morris’s responses to
Perelman’s pips and riffles create the texture of this track.
Across the CDs, Perelman remains intuitive and perceptive as ever, but also
adaptive, as his instincts and reactions to the guitarists vary. He is the
constant in these recordings, yet there remains the steadfast dedication to
musical improvisation and response to fellow musicians that Perelman has
developed so well. Each guitarist brings their style and interpretation of
Perelman’s unique musicality and playing characteristics.
Three individualist guitar players, paired with one of the most individual
saxophone players, is, in theory, something to cherish and enjoy. In
reality, it does not disappoint.
