PJ Perry

PJ Perry: No Hugs

by Jack Bowers
December 25, 2022

The title of Canadian alto saxophone maestro PJ Perry's album does not mean that Perry wants No Hugs, rather that the Covid pandemic that arrived in 2020 meant there would be “no hugs" between Perry and his beloved grandson, Atticus, in the “big brown chair" that served as their hangout until the quarantine was over. On the plus side, it gave Perry and longtime friend and colleague, bassist Neil Swainson, ample time to work together on new material, the result ...

PJ Perry: No Hugs

by Pierre Giroux
December 21, 2022

PJ Perry is a survivor. Now, in 2022, eighty-one years old, he has been playing saxophone since he was fourteen, when he joined his father's dance band as a baritone saxophonist. During the course of his lengthy career, he has lived in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and a couple of European cities, before settling in Edmonton, Alberta. As a technically accomplished and eloquent alto saxophonist, he has played with the likes of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass, Dizzy Gillespie, Slide Hampton and ...

The Saskatchewan All Star Big Band: Saskatchewan Suite

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 2021

On Saskatchewan Suite, composer/arranger Fred Stride and the twenty-member Saskatchewan All Star Big Band have combined to paint a luminous and colorful portrait of that western Canadian province, canvassing 150 years of its history in eight picturesque movements that describe in musical terms the land itself, its indigenous peoples, newcomers from Europe and elsewhere, its recognition in 1905 as a province, the importance of various sports to Saskatchewan's inhabitants, and the legacy of jazz as an essential part of its ...

Charlie Parker & Sonny Rollins

by Joe Dimino
September 23, 2019

From a big name in the world of Canadian jazz, we go up north to begin episode 613 with the great PJ Perry presenting material off his new album The Quiet Room. From there, we pay respects to the great Charlie Parker in Kansas City during the Bird Celebration during August for what would have been his 99th year on earth. We hear from the past and present cats to celebrate his honor and those in the world of Kansas ...

P.J. Perry Quartet: Alto Gusto

by Jack Bowers
November 20, 2017

Scanning an album that bears the name Alto Gusto, a prospective listener may be forgiven for assuming that it consists of a series of upbeat themes designed to cause toes to tap, fingers to snap and the heart rate to soar. And once it becomes clear that that is not what Canadian alto saxophonist P.J. Perry's quartet had in mind, it would be quite plausible for him or her to wonder what had happened. The answer to ...

P.J. Perry: Time Flies

by Jim Santella
November 13, 2005

Recorded live at The Cellar in Vancouver, British Columbia, Time Flies features fired-up bebop from a quintet of veteran artists who've never lost track of the designs that were given to us by pioneers such as Bird, Diz, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Art Blakey.

Alto saxophonist P.J. Perry drives with the spirit of Charlie Parker on both up-tempo romps and sensual ballads. His interpretations of “Tenderly" and “Warm Valley" come with heartfelt charm, while most of the ...

P.J. Perry & Doug Riley: Come Sunday: Songs of Spirituality

by John Kelman
November 3, 2004

It's a simple fact without some kind of emotional resonance, music has little purpose. Now certainly, depending on the style of music, how broadly it resonates is up for grabs. But it would be a reasonable statement that the simpler the music, the more overtly emotive it has to be, because when you strip music down to its barest essentials, if there is little of rhythmic, harmonic or melodic complexity to generate interest, then all one is left with is ...