Jazz Articles about Paul Johnson

About Paul Johnson

Album Review

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 ...

Album Review

PJ Perry: No Hugs

Read "No Hugs" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

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 ...