Ivo Perelman and Wadada Leo Smith: Duologues 5

In the decade of the 2020s, the prolific tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman has recorded several improvised duet recordings with such jazz luminaries as trumpeter Nate Wooley, trombonist Ray Anderson, drummer/pianist Tyshawn Sorey, fellow tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, drummer Tom Rainey, and pianist Matthew Shipp. Even more incredible is that over the same timeframe, he has done several group improv recordings—for example, a trio with bassist Matthew Shipp and drummer Ramón López,  a quartet with saxophonist Chad Fowler, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Andrew Cyrille, a quartet with Shipp, bassist William Parker and viola player Mat Maneri (which produced the album Armageddon Flower (Tao Forms, 2025)—that received many nods for one of 2025's best jazz albums), a quartet with trumpeter Nate Wooley, bassist Mark Helias, and Rainey, and a quintet with the same musicians plus vibraphonist Matt Moran.  So, one might think of his pairing with the now 84-year-old legend, Wadada Leo Smith, as just another happening.

Not so. Smith, an early member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM—in 1967 he joined the organization whose roster included among others Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins—has himself long been recognized as a master creator of free jazz experiments and soundscapes, and has composed in excess of 1,000 pieces.  Born in the Mississippi Delta town of Leland, Mississippi, Smith used the AACM to launch a career that took him from compositions to musicology and back again. He created his own notation system (Ahkreanvention, now known as Ankhrasmation), formed an independent record label (Kabell Records), and held faculty positions at Bard College and the California Institute of the Arts. Smith, like Perelman, has been prolific, recording many albums that have made best of year lists. To name a few, Angel Falls (Intakt Records, 2025) (with pianist Sylvie Courvoisier), Defiant Life (ECM, 2025) (with pianist Vijay Iyer ), Central Park Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens (Red Hook Records, 2024) (with pianist Amina Claudine Myers), a five disc box set, The Emerald Duets (Tum Records, 2022) (which paired him with drumming talents Pheeroan AkLaff, Cyrille, Han Bennink and Jack DeJohnette), and he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, for his album Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform Records, 2012).

The seven improvisations that grace Duologues 5 are given the succinct names of "Part 1" through "Part 7."  Striking is the stark, bright, and full-voiced tones both artists give to these improvisations. Take "Part 7."  The two employ precise attacks in their exchanges, and what emerges are abstractions possessing a great deal of beauty—like a surreal trip across a Chirico landscape. There is a tinge of melancholy as the piece winds down, as though the duo has made their way through a dark cave, the emptiness palpable.

"Part 5," on the other hand, feels a lot like a snowy landscape—the wind blowing through the leafless trees, the snow flurries spinning about. Listening to Perelman suddenly jump like a shooting star to the top of the sax register is an ear-opener. Each musician develops tender yet dissonant lines that build on extended legato notes. The number slowly fades, like the dying embers of a warm campfire.

"Part 2" features Perelman's rapid tonguing on the reed, and Smith uses the mute to great effect. The heat generated rips—with bluesy dissonance and overtones that seem propelled upward as the motif develops. A chase ensues—Perelman jumps about, and Smith accompanies him on the chase, and each explores the upper reaches of their horns before settling back into a bluesy respite. The call and response exhibited is beautiful.

Best of all, on Duologues 5, the duo display their trademark techniques. Smith's full-voiced legato, heavy rips, playful gurgles, and birdish attacks couple perfectly with Perelman's quips, slides, top-of-register squeals, and staggered note-silence sequences. Perelman had never met Smith until they entered the studio for this session. He says, "We shook hands and went for it."  And in their world of improvisation, that is more than enough. This pair—two of the finest—deliver amazing sound graffiti that would bring smiles to Basquiat, Banksy, and Haring. Highly recommended.

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