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Ben Perowsky

Perowsky’s notable career has placed him among a small vanguard of players able to move between jazz, experimental music and cutting edge pop and rock. As a teen in NYC, he appeared with Dizzy Gillespie as well as Cecil Taylor and was soon playing with artists such as Rickie Lee Jones, John Cale (Velvet Underground), Roy Ayers, James Moody, Bob Berg, Mike Stern and Michael Brecker. Later he played in NY bands Elysian Fields and Joan as Policewoman as well as John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards. He Co-founded the electric jazz group Lost Tribe and has continued to record and perform with Rock, Pop and Jazz legends such as John Scofield, Belle and Sebastian, John Zorn, Darryl Jenifer (Bad Brains), John Medeski (MMW), Dave Douglas, Lou Reed, Mike Stern, Tegan and Sara, Uri Caine, Steven Bernstein, Lizz Wright, Walter Becker (Steely Dan), Vernon Reid, Salif Keita, Loudon, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, and Trixie Whitley. Ben has produced 8 critically acclaimed records to date. He also co- produced and launched the Woodstock Jazz festival in 2014 and is the drummer/percussionist for “Hadestown”, 8 Tony award winning Best Musical on Broadway by Anaïs Mitchell.

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336
Album Review

Ben Perowsky Quartet: Esopus Opus

Read "Esopus Opus" reviewed by Troy Collins


A ubiquitous presence in the Downtown New York scene, drummer Ben Perowsky founded and co-led the proto-fusion band Lost Tribe, served in Elysian Fields, Joan as Policewoman, and the Lounge Lizards, while continuing to perform sideman duties for Steven Bernstein, Uri Caine, Dave Douglas, and John Zorn, among others.

An artist with eclectic interests, the debut of Perowsky's new quartet, Esopus Opus, features myriad genres--from classic rock covers and Brazilian favorites to his own mercurial originals. Interestingly, Perowsky's ...

114
Album Review

Ben Perowsky: Bop On Pop

Read "Bop On Pop" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Frank Perowsky says to his son “Ben, how about a nice game of catch.” If you think of football as brother against brother knocking heads, then baseball is a game of fathers and sons. On Bop On Pop we get a nice game of catch, as Ben, Frank and Sam Yahel toss the old standards around.

Drummer Ben Perowsky grew up playing jazz in New York with his father, a veteran of the bands of Woody Herman, ...

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Album Review

Ben Perowsky, Frank Perowsky, Sam Yehel: Bop on Pop

Read "Bop on Pop" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Drummer Ben Perowsky has decided to do one with Dad; Dad being reedman /arranger Frank Perowsky--the Pop in Bop on Pop Perowsky the younger is a New York-based drummer who has worked with everyone from Walter Becker (Steely Dan) to John Cale (Velvet Underground) to jazz keyboardist Uri Caine and trumpeter/bandleader Dave Douglas. Pop/Frank is a veteran of the big band scene--Lee Castle and Woody Herman--and has performed with Peggy Lee, Billy Ecstine, Sarah Vaughn...and on and on.

114
Album Review

Ben Perowsky: Ben Perowsky Trio

Read "Ben Perowsky Trio" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


The drummer for the strikingly original band “Lost Tribe” and frequently called upon session man steps out as a leader fronting a trio consisting of distinguished New York City-based musicians on the “live” Ben Perowsky Trio. Perowsky is a monster behind the kit and along with the talented reedman Chris Speed and excellent bassist Scott Colley, the Trio rip and roar through a few standards and originals. Some highlights are --- a down home bluesy version of Pink Floyd’s mega-hit, ...

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Album Review

Ben Perowsky Trio: Ben Perowsky Trio

Read "Ben Perowsky Trio" reviewed by David Adler


Drummer Ben Perowsky is a consummate sideman (Mike Stern, Pat Martino, Dave Douglas, Walter Becker, The Lounge Lizards...) and a fixture of New York’s Knitting Factory scene. His first release as a leader is upon us, and it’s a killer. Along with Scott Colley on double bass and Chris Speed on tenor sax and clarinet, Perowsky serves up some cutting-edge music that sits squarely within the straight-ahead jazz tradition yet points the way toward jazz’s future.The album — ...

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Album Review

Ben Perowsky: Ben Perowsky Trio

Read "Ben Perowsky Trio" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Ben Perowsky’s first recording as leader doesn’t present a standard piano/bass/drums trio but offers in its stead drums (Perowsky), bass (Colley) and saxophone/clarinet (Speed). I presume that Perowsky was seeking the greatest possible freedom of expression within a small–group format; I would presume further that he came close to achieving that ambition. If Perowsky got what he wanted, what has he given the listener? To oversimplify the case, an often pleasant but substantially unexciting session by three well–schooled musicians who ...

154
Album Review

Lost Tribe: Many Lifetimes

Read "Many Lifetimes" reviewed by John W. Patterson


It is good to hear more of this phenomenal jazz unit. From their debut self-titled release in 1992 to Soulfish in 1993 it was pure ecstasy for me to try to keep up with all this band's hyper-kinetic twists and turns. They could Coltrane soothe, they could play heavy metallic fusion, they would rap to jazz, they got speed funky, and even strains of Mahavishnu Orchestra could be detected. But first and foremost Lost Tribe was avant-garde cutting edge jazz. ...

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173

Radio

The Jazz Session #104: Ben Perowsky

The Jazz Session #104: Ben Perowsky

Source: Michael Ricci

Ben Perowsky's newest recording, Moodswing Orchestra (El Destructo, 2009), is an experiment is ambient improvisation. Perowsky has assembled an all-star cast of instrumentalists and vocalists, including everyone from Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori and Brazilian vocalist Bebel Gilberto to turntable/laptop artist Markus Miller and tuba player Marcus Rojas. In this interview, Perowsky talks about his desire to embrace the spirit of jazz but avoid jazz language; and how the process of the recording was as much about improvisation as was the ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Upstream

El Destructo Records
2019

buy

Moodswing Orchestra

Sarnia Organ Donor Awareness
2010

buy

Esopus Opus

Skirl Records
2009

buy

Camp Songs

Vertigo
2003

buy

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