Ivo Perelman: Armageddon Flower

Ekphrastic by design, Armageddon Flower, the forty-seventh bold, forward-thinking testament pairing saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp is the duo's new zenith in a tireless exploration dating back nearly thirty years. It is another view from the pinnacle of their brotherhood that includes such watermark recordings as the symbiotic Live In Nuremberg (SMP, 2019), Fruition (ESP, 2022), Magical Incantations (Soul City Sounds, 2024) and the fanciful, Brazilian flavored Bendito of Santa Cruz (Cadence, 1996) which started it all.

A disarmingly moving, restorative statement, Armageddon Flower is a collective endeavor to stave off the otherwise lone wolf agonies and wrong-headed legislation heaped upon a wearying, desultory world. A beacon in a landscape marred and splintered, "Pillar of Light" emerges like many of its predecessors—four distinct voices finding their way, each emerging from the shadows into the light. Shipp, bassist William Parker and Perelman circle and seesaw amid Shipp and violist Mat Maneri dark undertow. It is an immediate creation that at times catches the breath and freezes the time stamp.

At twenty-one sprawling minutes, "Tree of Life" is not only the lengthiest track of Armageddon Flower's expansive four, it is also at times the most disorienting. As the adventurous quartet deconstructs all sonic reference points to expose new timbres, the music, especially within the pure communication shared by Perelman and Maneri, balances ecstasy and sorrow. The whiplash title track skitters between third stream, classical chamber and free improvisation with an angry, unapologetic insistence. Given all the urgency and gravity of the first three tracks, the closing "Restoration," even at its densest, atonal moments, reverberates with an essential calm. Thus, offering that, within all the chaos that surrounds us, a quiet revival is more than possible.