Ivo Perelman Quartet: The Hour of the Star

With his newly formed quartet, Brazilian tenor sax titan and visual artist Ivo Perelman effectively synchronizes the freer aspects of improvisation with bop, and harmonious patterns. And the musicians' synergy offers an underlying constant within the copious slants and contrasts presented throughout.

The musicians kick off the festivities with "A Tearful Tale, where pianist Matthew Shipp lays out a circular and swirling platform atop the rhythm section's flourishing developments. Elsewhere on the album the players design perpetual motion type storylines for Perelman's robust choruses amid his commanding presence and cosmic bursts. The saxophonist shifts the tide a bit during "Singing the Blues," featuring his soft, soulful passages, spun into freely improvised and highly emotive motifs above a free-flowing bop groove, concocting an appeasing balance via melodic choruses and dreamy intonations.

Perelman soars into orbital deconstruction segments and sometimes delves into frenzied theme-shaping movements akin to torrential downpours of disparate tonalities and thought-provoking aspects. Abetted by drummer Gerald Cleaver's tumbling and sweeping backbone and complemented by bassist Joe Morris' firm undertow, the soloists often navigates through dangerous curves and knotty hills. But the overall focus and mode of attack remains semi-structured and they capture a mood by executing buoyant flows above a horizontal plane of captivating persuasions. The Hour of the Star is a significant entry in Perelman's voluminous discography, and to an extent, is less explosive and hyperactive than some of his earlier works.