Syncretic Pleasures/Natalia de Campos is a multidisciplinary artist and company working and presenting work in theater, performance, sound, text, video, objects and collaborations, primarily in New York City, but also in other parts of the world. Founded by Natalia de Campos in New York in 1999. All work here is protected by International Copyright Law and is of ownership of the artists listed on each work. For more information, or to distribute and use any or part of any work, contact us at syncreticpleasures@gmail.com

"Perelman is one of the great saxophone virtuosi and exponents of spontaneous composition to have emerged in the past three decades" Jazzwise 

"Ivo Perelman is perhaps the greatest living musical artist of our time" @CriticalJazz

"a modern day saxophone colossus.. a true improviser.." Echoes, UK

"“one of the world's most prominent avant- garde jazzmen” Hot House

"One of the leading tenor sax players of his generation, Perelman has been described as a unique genius by no less than Gunther Schuller" Jazzwise

"..supreme..brilliant..passionate abstractionist, Ivo's playing reconcile the emotional charge with technical agility and intellectual sophistication with a rare grace" Free Jazz Alchemist

"sublimely structured, perfectly dosed music that excels in the use of dynamics, feeling for the timbre and rhythmic smoothness. Intimate, clear music portraying huge beauty, all the while being witty and able to touch your heart" Jazzflit

"the tenor saxophone you hear is miraculously unique. ..piercing, burning, meaningfully warm, lyrically expressive, dream-awakening sounds that explode with an unrivalled urgency..Extremely rare, and just perfect!! orynx-improvandsounds.blogspot.com

" Daring and beautiful music...forceful, passionate, droll, incendiary, and ultimately satisfying...outstanding...an emotionally cathartic mini-masterpiece" All About Jazz

"the volcanic intensity of Ivo's playing hooked to his impassioned ‘spontaneous composing’ style, singles him out as one of today’s most ferociously creative saxophonists." Jazzwise

"Perelman is following in the footsteps of the great masters of the tenor sax..The lively and winding interweaving of the sax within the musical foundation constructed by pianist Matt Shipp produces fascinating results" Culture Jazz.

".. transcendent beauty.. quite remarkable..Perelman’s wide tenor sound with its slight vibrato contrasts beautifully with the acerbic, mordant response of the strings..all too rare in music of this kind.. a rather touching lyrical quality to it.." Jazzwise

"sensitive, flavourful and intelligent tenor sax with a unique sound..Perelman is unequaled or perhaps only equal to David Ware, a young Archie Shepp, Evan Parker and just a few others" Orynx

"An artist of real stature..a lyricism that is largely achieved by the considerable sensuality of Perelman’s approach..the performance is mercurial with the constant shifts in texture and pulse quite gripping..his tone, possessed of a steam heat solidity, and phrasing, bears marks of distinction." Jazzwise

"Perelman goes far deeper than any saxophonist to come before him. Ivo can see past the music with a zen like approach of focus, intensity and the appreciation of the stunning grandeur of silence when appropriate. Ivo Perelman has done but what a mere handful of jazz musicians have done. Some musicians are said to be "technically proficient" while others are "artistically gifted." Ivo Perelman is the best of both worlds." @CriticalJazz

"Perelman is one of the nowdays rarely encountered all-round geniuses..Ivo is also considered an internationally renowned painter, whose works adorn museums in New York and Amsterdam" Jazzpodium

"Perelman’s startling if unorthodox virtuosity..mastery with which the post-freedom saxist interwove his remarkably lyrical wails..uncanny command of the instrument’s upper-register 
squawk tones”.." Best in jazz 2012, Examiner.com

"emotional power and technical prowess in equal measure.Ivo is is as indebted to the un-categorisable invention of his compatriot Hermeto Pascoal as he is to the spiritual invocations of Albert Ayler... an episodic richness that marks him out as a soloist who wants to unwind a narrative thread in the most unexpected way" Jazzwise

"Perelman is a master craftsman at deconstructing his own creative force with a special twist..Ivo continues to inspire with work unmatched by his contemporaries.. an artist with the rare gift to transcend.. this is the genius of Ivo Perelman"@CriticallJazz

"complete virtuosity…Perelman can freely articulate any musical thought he hears..like an unstoppable force of nature..he's expressing microtonal melodies that are like condensed forms of the flurries of notes he lets fly in the tenor's middle register" Culture Catch

"Perelman extended the avant-garde innovations of the 1960s into the 21st century, creating a roadmap for todays new 'new thing.'"All About Jazz

" it’s people like John Coltrane, Albert Ayler and now Ivo Perelman..not only expanding boundaries but creating his own..Ivo has tackled just about every jazz inch capable of being heard by the human ear..mesmerizing" Goldmine

""Perelman is one of the most innovative musical artists in present times.. an examination of truth and intensity in music" Jazzpodium

"Ivo Perelman is an impressive musician. He is skilled technically and expressive musically. Besides, his creativity has no limits..He is incarnated measureless creativity." www.soundofmusic.nu

"Perelman plays like a man possessed, with a broad and attractively wobbly sound..a tour de force of instant composition..luminous and vigorous improvisations..serious listeners will want to tune in to Perelman and Shipp’s unique soundworld." Stuart Kremsky, Mr. Stu's Record Room

"the deep connection between Perelman and Shipp, both masters of improvisation, is a real clairvoyance..their empathy is amazing”AAJ

"Ivo's virtuosity and individual sound tremendously lyrical has created a world within the Avant-garde that is all his own, unlike of anybody else." Gary Giddins, author, critic - The New York Times, Village Voice, The Sun

"One of today's most prolific and adventurous tenor saxophonists. A master of extended techniques with a robust tone, his supple embouchure and intrepid virtuosity facilitates a wide range of expression - from altissimo glissandi and flutter-tongued chromatics to percussive slap-tongue and staccato split-tones - all seamlessly integrated into tortuous motifs....majestic ...sensitive romanticism ...hearty, abstract lyricism ...epic, stream of consciousness cadences" All About Jazz

"The epitome of the searching artist. A conceptual instrumental visionary pushing the envelope of the creative idea. Perelman is an incredibly lyrical player that can touch an individuals soul while setting their hair on fire at the same time. He plays on and from a different artistic plane than most, a perfect marriage of the visceral and cerebral ,the extension and ease of transition as performed by Perelman is unparalleled. Think Albert Ayler on steroids." @CriticalJazz

"Perelman is a master of linear development and control with a Romantic streak as wide as Ben Webster’s vibrato". Ed Hazell , Point of Departure.org

"Perelman's music happens to be quite courteous, elegant and artistic, the sound of his saxophone can be charmingly beautiful and romantic, sometimes too beautiful as for an expressionist..pure music that is quite rare to see nowadays.." Music and Time

"Ivo is a heavyweight champ who, at
times, moves mountains via his colossal sound 
and brusque attack. However, Perelman can also wind it down a few notches when delving into chamber jazz formats or exploring modern mainstream and bop. 
Indeed, he's a multitasking machine." - All About Jazz

" Perelman’s sax proves the man’s willingness to reach for the uppermost pinnacles of lyricism..He travels across various stages of shamanic liberation from the body, pushing his vision at the borders between coherent stoicism and consuming catharsis" Touching Extremes

"Perelman's broad, sweeping tenor seduces the listener with his patented mixture of strongly etched melodic lines mixed with well-placed cries and screams…he's clearly his own player" Cadence

"Perelman has the powerful voice, strength and melodic development that only great artists own..he has reached considerable artistic maturity with an impressive variety of techniques on the tenor sax" All About Jazz.

"Perelman is a master at improvising on melodic themes and at using this technique to deconstruct then rebuild statements already made.He is a decidedly idiosyncratic tenor player with a forcefully dramatic performing style. He has often been favourably compared with David Murray and Albert Ayler and as with those and othertop-flight musicians he is usually at his best when playing with artists of the same rank" . Jazz Views

“Perelman may well be one of the fiercest tenor players you will ever hear and the most unique" Digital Jazz news

"Perelman belongs to a lineage of aesthetically ambitious humanists like Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane and Henry Threadgill." James C.Hall, author, New College Director, University of Alabama

"Perelman is a jazz/world treasure, always surprising, creative.....stupendous even…a wonderful sound journey....well worth the trip"
Mike Pettengell.. kkfi.org

"Perelman 's solos are grounded in the rich soil and rare earths of saxophone history, but they can also prove shockingly mercurial; they traverse that history in swift flights from zephryrous melody to supersonic yawps. He plays with an abandon – a fury, even – that can belie his natural inclination (to find order within the seeming chaos of free improvisation)".
Neil Tesser, award-winning jazz journalist

"a free jazz feast which epic eloquence will blow away any mind that’ll dare to listen..striking similitudes to the gloriously generosity of output of Perelman' s great predecessor, John Coltrane" David Cristol, Jazzman

"another masterpiece…creativity always an inexhaustible constant ..Perelman confirms that the message of freedom in jazz of the `60s has not been in vain" Vittorio Lo Conte, www.musiczoom.it

"Ivo Perelman makes the saxophone live and breathe. He has complete control over his instrument..He is the saxophone..he touches the reed with all the strokes of the world's greatest artists in wordless communication and poetry..intensely talented, creative he is a wordless poet, and without limits..A sweet middle register, beautiful spontaneous melodies, pleading high notes, somber low notes.His control of pitch is vocalized internally so completely, that he is not limited by the traditional 12 tones of the chromatic scale..it is his contribution to moving us just a bit further ahead as a civilization" Ken Radnofsky (Professor of Saxophone at New England and Boston Conservatories, Boston University and Longy School of Bard College). 

"To say Perelman is a strong player is an understatement. His tone is huge (and beautiful). His ideas are huge and multi-faceted." Cadence

"One might fear that tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman may begin to repeat himself. To put it succinctly – not a chance.” All About Jazz

"...an entire new school of jazz..., unique genius..." Gunther Schuller, composer, conductor, jazz historian 

"One of the most distinctive and imposing tenor sax voices to come along in years." DownBeat 

"...a sound as passionately effusive as Ivo Perelman's is at once original, uncommon, and undeniable." AAJ 

"Ivo Perelman is undoubtedly one of the great modern tenor players, a leather-lunged monster with an expressive rasp, who can rage and spit in violence, yet still leave you feeling heartbroken." The Wire

"As an innovator in extended techniques, Perelman has few peers.Make all the comparisons you want: saxophonist Ivo Perelman has his own distinctive sound." All About Jazz

"One of the greatest colorists of the tenor sax." Ed Hazell, Boston Globe 

"Perelman just keeps on pumping out recordings bound to stand the test of time." All Music Guide

"...like the best free jazz tenors, Perelman's playing is shot through with a tenderness that stays just the right side of sentimentality." BBC (British Broadcast Company)

"The most important and distinctive tenor sax voices in recent years." Theiceberg.com

"Perelman is a monster with a tenor in hand, and I often feel that his music points out new directions in freejazz. His music is really complex, and he plays with a seemingly endless stream of ideas." Fire and Flux

"...the most intense, disturbing, tormenting sax player alive." Françoise Couture, Delire Actual

"Not since Coltrane duos with Elvin Jones and Rashied Ali have I experienced a sax/drums assault as powerful as Perelman's Soccerland." Los Angeles Weekly

"...fires with intensities rivaling those of John Coltrane." Chuck Berg, Lawrence Journal

"Perelman has a tenor tone worthy of Coleman Hawkins and Sonny Rollins- one that is virtually unrivaled today in its purity and beauty." Cadence

"... innovative genius...a new approach to jazz. " Ejazz news

"...Perelman is reassessing the power of genius." Touching Extremes

"One of the most impressive tenor players of his generation." Musings

"One of the most innovative approaches to emerge during the current decade." Avant

"One of the pre-eminent tenor sax-players of our time." Option

"One of the most vital voices in the rejuvenation of free-jazz." The Ottawa Citizen

"One of the world's most remarkable jazz musicians." Buffalo News

"One of the most interesting of the new one-world breed of jazzman." The Herald

"One of the most arresting tones heard on tenor sax." Bob Rusch, Cadence

"...the most innovative saxophonist to emerge in the last 15 years." CD Review

"Among the most risk-taking jazzmen of the 1990s." All Music Guide

"Tenor sax player of immense power and grace." Oprobium, New Zealand

"On tenor Perelman is a dominant voice possessed of a big sound that is capable of great flexibility and expressiveness." Cadence

"Incendiary." CMJ

"The world-class saxophonists to come from Brazil can be ticked off on one hand. Ivo Perelman is one of that rare breed." Jazz Times

"Perelman produces music of absolutely mesmerizing grandeur." Cadence 

"Jazz didn't get anymore scorching in the Nineties than Perelman's Seeds, Vision & Counterpoint." AMG

"To say that nothing new is happening in jazz is to be ignorant of Ivo Perelman." The Philadelphia Tribune

"Reinventing the spirit of Brazil's music." The Boston Phoenix 

"After two decades of musical stultification, Perelman's buzz saw brashness is a breath of spring."DownBeat 

"Revolutionary!" The Toronto Star

"...nothing less than miraculous... no one in the USA is playing and composing jazz with as much cross-cultural imagination as Mr. Perelman... a vital contribution to jazz history..."Norman Weinstein, ASCAP Award Critic

"Words cannot begin to convey the immediacy of Perelman. Listen!" Lawrence Journal 

"Thank God for albums like this one." (Children of Ibeji) Straight No Chaser "

...album like these (Man of The Forest and Soccerland) are desperately needed today." CD Review 

"Just when you thought that fire had died of contemporary jazz." Utne Reader

"Perelman is one of the few who reminds listeners that one of the most crucial elements in Albert Ayler's influential '60s work was a sense of almost unbridled fun." Aaron Cohen, Down Beat
Born in 1961 in São Paulo, Brazil, Perelman was a classical guitar prodigy who tried his hand at many other instruments – including cello, clarinet, and trombone – before gravitating to the tenor saxophone. His initial heroes were the cool jazz saxophonists Stan Getz and Paul Desmond. But although these artists’ romantic bent still shapes Perelman’s voluptuous improvisations, it would be hard to find their direct influence in the fiery, galvanic, iconoclastic solos that have become his trademark. 

Moving to Boston in 1981, to attend Berklee College of Music, Perelman continued to focus on mainstream masters of the tenor sax, to the exclusion of such pioneering avant-gardists as Albert Ayler, Peter Brötzmann, and John Coltrane (all of whom would later be cited as precedents for Perelman’s own work). He left Berklee after a year or so and moved to Los Angeles, where he studied with vibraphonist Charlie Shoemake, at whose monthly jam sessions Perelman discovered his penchant for post-structure improvisation: “I would go berserk, just playing my own thing,” he has stated.

Emboldened by this approach, Perelman began to research the free-jazz saxists who had come before him. In the early 90s he moved to New York, a far more inviting environment for free-jazz experimentation, where he lives to this day. His discography comprises more than 50 recordings, with a dozen of them appearing since 2010, when he entered a remarkable period of artistic growth – and “intense creative frenzy,” in his words. Many of these trace his rewarding long-term relationships with such other new-jazz visionaries as pianist Matthew Shipp, bassists William Parker, guitarist Joe Morris, and drummer Gerald Cleaver.

Critics have lauded Perelman’s no-holds-barred saxophone style, calling him "one of the great colorists of the tenor sax” (Ed Hazell in the Boston Globe); “tremendously lyrical” (Gary Giddins); and “a leather-lunged monster with an expressive rasp, who can rage and spit in violence, yet still leave you feeling heartbroken” (The Wire). Since 2011, he has undertaken an immersive study in the natural trumpet, an instrument popular in the 17th century, before the invention of the valve system used in modern brass instruments; his goal is to achieve even greater control of the tenor saxophone’s altissimo range (of which he is already the world’s most accomplished practitioner). 

Perelman is also a prolific and noted visual artist, whose paintings and sketches have been displayed in numerous exhibitions while earning a place in collections around the world. 


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