Ivo Perelman/Nate Wooley: Polarity 4

On Polarity 4, their fourth album of collaborative improvisations, tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman and trumpeter Nate Wooley create a diverse array of soundscapes. The spontaneous compositions exhibit fluid, arcing energy that skips around like a hummingbird darting towards clusters of brightly colored rhododendron blooms. Both musicians demonstrate their trademark virtuosity: Perelman with his supreme embouchure control, and Wooley with his diverse and challenging mouthpiece manipulations.

The album consists of nine improvisations—each consisting of unique twists and turns and outbursts of heat and spontaneity. Perelman shines when he dips down to the low notes on "(two)," his tone slightly reminiscent of Ben Webster—a deep resonant tone that fills the room. Or take his ability to find piercing microtones on "(one)" that bump succinctly with Wooley's sustained legato expressions. Or on "(five)," where he dangles his motifs like a wild fish on a hook, shaking in the glistening sun. And on "(eight)," Perelman's ability to attack at the bottom of the sax register and then jump to the instrument's highest notes is, in a word, mesmerizing. On the same improv, he creates space while ripping up and down the sax keys and does this in consort with Wooley, displaying not just supreme physical dexterity, but mental acuity as well.

For his part, Wooley, to borrow a chess phrase, brings all the pieces. For example, the bluesy passage he develops on "(two)."  Or the active tonguing he employs on "four," where the music he crafts flutters about. On "five," he slides from slurring to straight tonguing like a cat gracefully jumping to a high countertop without the slightest hesitation. And he uses the mouthpiece to create pops, flapping sounds, blurbs, and agitations that add color and texture to the proceedings.

Perhaps the best sequences on the album are when the pair unite to find common ground. For instance, on "(eight)," Wooley creates a floppy blowing sound and then slides neatly behind Perelman's up and down phrases. And on "(six)," where the twosome breaks into simultaneous note runs. Wooley's extremely clean articulation links perfectly to Perelman's slurring outbursts. Or on "(seven)," where the duo constructs a series of tones that stair-step downward.

The imaginative soundverse of Polarity 4 reveals an environment of delicate playfulness, versatile technique, and modern dissonance. The music of Perelman and Wooley is wide awake and ever evolving. Like quantum reality, this is music of probabilities that reveals the genius of two modern artists at the top of their game.