Jazz Improv Magazine
October, 2005

Sacha Perry
Eretik
by Jan Klincewicz

The liner notes on this CD claim the artist is "neither retro nor revival." I'm not sure how old producer Luke Kaven is, but perhaps he (like I) missed bop the first time around. Assuming I'm older (not necessarily wiser) I will contradict him here and say this CD is both. Then perhaps to steal a cliche from Seinfeld, I'll add "not that there's anything wrong with that."

This is your father's bebop. I know it's my father's bebop. When I was discovering Al Haig, Bud Powell, Dodo Marmarosa, John Lewis and the rest (it was new to me) I quickly came to the realization that most of the recordings I was listening to were made before I was born. After broadening my horizons to include more curent players, I secretly longed for better fidelity versions of the original masters. Listening to this CD is rather like that fantasy coming true. It is as though Bud Powell came back from the dead with even cleaner chops, and had access to a state-of-the-art recording studio.

When the rubber hits the road, there is not a whole lot of leeway for new discoveries about how to play bop. With very few exceptions (actually only Cannonball Adderly easily comes to mind) it is hard to analyze a bop solo and guarantee that cut into small sections, each lick you hear had not been already played, and probably recorded, before. This theory is similar to the one where an infinite number of monkeys sitting at typewriters would eventually write the collected works of William Shakespeare.

So given all that, why do I love this CD so much? For one, any theory which relies on an infinite number of monkeys, let alone jazz choruses, is inherently flawed. Second, it just sounds and feels great, and gives me the same kind of goose bumps I got when I first heard the original bebop masters.

What really tickles me the most is listening to each of these compositions, and trying to remember where I heard them before, and coming to the realization that I had not. Every tune is a Sacha Perry original. As complex as some of these tunes are, they all sound like standards we should know by heart. Part of that comes from the intimate familiarity of bassist Ari Roland who knows Sacha's book cold, and fits hand in glove. Phil Stewart's drumming echoes the subtlety of a young Kenny Clarke back before drummers over-played. He obviously has the technique to do anything but the really cool thing is that he does not! Phil compliments the music the same way whether playing the head of accompanying a solo, but playing exactly what is needed and nothing more. It is a selflessness rarely heard these days, and extremely welcome on an outing such as this.

I have listening to this CD repeatedly in my car for the past month or so and still don't get tired of it. Hearing someof today's younger players accurately interpret, reflect and combine the styles from Bud through Monk is a very enjoyable thing. Jazz piano has a long and varied history with many twists and turns which appeal to many tastes. All that considered, Sacha Perry stands out today as a unique and recognizable sound among his peers. If that happens because he reflects a particularly stylistic period, so be it. This is highly pleasurable listening, no matter what.