Prolific a recording artist as he is, saxophonist Ivo Perelman has formed a fairly tight circle of collaborators over the years, most of whom are players not singers. Hence the immediate interest of two discs in this new batch of three is the presence of vocalists, Fay Victor and Iva Bittová. The former features on Messa Di Voce, which is arguably the pick of the bunch, above all because the four strong personalities involved – Perelman and Victor being joined by bassist Joe Morris and drummer Ramon Lopez – assert themselves fully all the while finding common ground.

If Perelman once paid tribute to Maria Callas, then he may have found a new diva in Victor, who extends the long lineage of experimental vocalists, from Jeanne Lee and Lauren Newton to Flora Purim and Bobby McFerrin, who seamlessly blend wordless sound and sound deeply suggestive of word, which at times feels uncannily like a new Creole in the making. When, as the piece ‘Two’ demonstrates, Victor hits a creative peak she pivots from breathy beckoning to operatic vibrato and unplugged wah-wah that draw out similarly discreet swirls and emphatic blasts from Perelman’s tenor amid astutely contained percussive figures from Ramon Lopez. The climactic point is reached when Joe Morris starts to bow and the instruments appear as naturally distorted echoes of each other, the crashing and splitting of tones potently converging and diverging into what is a thrilling kaleidoscope of rugged textures.

By contrast the trio session with Czech vocalist-violinist Iva Bittovà and bassist Michael Bisio is generally less dense but no less full of energy and suspense. Bittova is hugely effective when she sings sotto voce, and at times there is a deep tenderness in her melodic figures that are well enhanced by Perelman’s sensually floated lines and Bisio’s superb eye of the needle harmonics. Also interesting are his provocatively crunchy bowed lines and bold sustained notes that dramatically thicken the ensemble sound, suggesting four rather than three people at play, before a submission to silence.

Finally comes Polarity 3, an intriguing duo set with trumpeter Nate Wooley, which highlights the great expressive range of each partner, a salient feature being the movement between the most fragile wafts of quarter notes and ferocious bursts of eights, like floating feathers quickly turning to a volley of stones. When they drop the tempo completely and bring out their most powerful voices of lamentation, bending tones into strong wails, as if driven by sadness and anger, the effect is moving.

It is hard to monitor Perelman’s progress given the enormity of his output, but these latest offerings prove that his desire to break new ground with new allies is undimmed.