Ivo Perelman: Breaking Point

Tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman usually releases albums in waves. Thus, Breaking Point is one of five concurrent productions issued on UK-based Leo Records, and offers the listener a kaleidoscopic glimpse of various ensemble lineups. Over the years Perelman has attained a comfort zone and noticeable synergy with the artists' performing on this outing, as the saga continues on Breaking Point.

Perelman's super-powered lungs are in full force, but his tender side is also evident, especially during his somber interactions with violist Mat Maneri on "Harsh Moon," which opens up into a staggered bump and grind episode. Here, the band steps it up with a day of reckoning like underpinning amid frenzied interweaving notes and drummer Gerald Cleaver's swarming polyrhythmic pulse. Other tracks offer irregular currents encompassing mood-evoking sentiment and a few abrasive gambits along with imagery of a histogram, depicting a horde of dips and spikes.

The quartet dishes out an expansive program and a surfeit of fleeting mini-themes, framed on unabashed freedom of expression, where boundaries simply do not exist. Toss in a few Spartan interludes with the saxophonist's galactic plaintive cries; moments of pathos, densely layered improvisational segments and you will get an idea of the band's kinetic output. But "The Sound Healers" is a tad playful in scope as the soloists' linear movements and spiraling crescendos lead to a fast and furious game-plan.

" The Forest of Feet and Bass Drums" is where the quartet reaches that point of no return as Perelman and Maneri exchange terse phrasings and expressive discourses, contrasted by some bizarre effects and a multitude of aftershocks. Moreover, bassist Joe Morris lays down a pliant underpinning as Cleaver stretches out, leading to a finale then ends on a murmur. Here and throughout, the quartet arrives at breaking points but also thaw tense situations. Yet they often regroup and renew these cyclonic plots with the greatest of ease.