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Ely Perlman: Open Heart

By Scott Lichtman
October 31, 2025
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Ely Perlman is a rising guitar phenom. A standout in three genres—jazz, indie acoustic and electronic—he bridges the styles with fast, angular lines and techniques like fret tapping.

Christian McBride has welcomed Perlman into the bassist's elite quintet, Ursa Major. Meanwhile, Perlman is releasing Everything Should Be (Self Produced, 2025), his first album as leader. Read his interview: Introducing Guitarist Ely Perlman.

On the shimmering tune, "Open Heart," Perlman is joined by Shai Maestro on piano and McBride on bass. The guitarist's acoustic playing is technically pristine and instills a sense of beauty and "wish I could play like that!" aspiration.

The song also demonstrates Perlman's compositional and production creativity. He used an old acoustic left behind in his apartment to inspire the main motif, which shifts between 17/8 and 7/8. Upright bass doubled the melody for sweetness. Percussion was generated by tapping on the back of the guitar. Added to all this were vocal pads plus doubled guitar parts panned left and right, for a classic production touch.

The artist best explains his holistic approach: "With 'Open Heart,' I wasn't thinking about genres—the music just arrived and I followed it."

Contact Scott Lichtman on All About Jazz.
Jazz/fusion keyboardist & autograph collector in Stamford CT.

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