Ben Perowski anyone?
John Book
Prodigy, and decided I'll post here.
I saw the Michael Brecker Quartet last April or so, and it was also my
first jazz concert. It featured Regionald Veal on bass, Joey Calderazzo
on piano, and Ben Perowski on drums. I was in awe not only for Brecker's
playing, but the whole bank clicked, and I was just blown away by
Perowski. I was wondering what is he doing now, musically, and what are
some other albums I should pick up with his input.
p.e.a.c.e.
-John Book
James Harrigan
Yeah, Perowski is very, very good. He's the drummer in Dave Douglas'
(trumpet) new quartet, with Chris Potter on tenor and james Genus on bass.
They have an excellent new CD on Arabesque called "Magic Triangle"
If you're new to jazz, though, you might find this CD rather heavy going.
If you want to hear some great young drummers in a slightly more accesible
setting, check out the trio CD's of Jacky Terrasson (featuring the best of
the current crop, and I think an all-time great already, Leon Parker) or
either of Bill Stewart's two CD's on Blue Note ("Snide Remarks" and
"Telepathy").
- James
Searcher
in downtown New York City, Ben was leading a trio (tenor and bass)
at the club bar where they held free jams from 11 to 2AM.
Back then I wondered why this guy hadn't been 'discovered.' He played
the drums like an acrobat on steroids. He'd just get into the mood and
off he'd be in his world, he just exuded energy.
When he knew I used to like to tape these off-hour gigs he wanted to
hear himself play and asked me for a cassette; and I found we lived
close to each other in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. That was
just 1996 or so, spring. He must be really making good for himself
nowadays.
A one-man locomotive this percussionist is. Hopefully he'll have
moved on from the pile-driving gymnastics to bringing in some
finesse -- still rough about the edges. He makes me just want to
become music.
-Ryo
If replying personally please put in rykat...@hotmail.com.
Jeff Volkman
I used to play with Ben at Berklee. We were in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis
ensemble for a while. Very cool drummer. There were several great
drummers there at the time; Gene Jackson, Will Calhoun, Aaron Scott, Ben
Wolf, Gene Lake, and others. I got seriously spoiled playing with those
guys.
-Jeff
Steve Smith
> I was just blown away by
> Perowski. I was wondering what is he doing now, musically, and what are
> some other albums I should pick up with his input.
For some of the best of Ben Perowsky, check out Dave Douglas's "Magic
Triangle" (Arabesque), Lost Tribe ("Many Lifetimes" is on Arabesque; earlier
things on Windham Hill may be out of print, and keep an ear open for his own
upcoming B.P. Trio on Knitting Factory.
I'd always been pretty impressed by Perowsky, but a week ago Saturday he blew
me away at Sweet Basil with the Douglas quartet.
Steve Smith
ssmi...@sprynet.com
James Harrigan
On Sun, 28 Feb 1999, Searcher wrote:
> A couple of years ago when I used to haunt the Knitting Factory club
> in downtown New York City, Ben was leading a trio (tenor and bass)
> at the club bar where they held free jams from 11 to 2AM.
>
> Back then I wondered why this guy hadn't been 'discovered.' He played
> the drums like an acrobat on steroids. He'd just get into the mood and
> off he'd be in his world, he just exuded energy.
{snip}
>
> A one-man locomotive this percussionist is. Hopefully he'll have
> moved on from the pile-driving gymnastics to bringing in some
> finesse -- still rough about the edges. He makes me just want to
> become music.
Nice anecdotes. You'll be glad to hear that Ben is, in my limited exposure
to him, very far from "pile-driving gymnastics". Like all great drumming
musicians (as opposed to drumming technicians), he's a great listener with
a feel for what's going on around him. No excess pyrotechnics, no showing
off - just fine, creative music making.
- James
JGMurtha
from '94 "11 Tracks of Whack".