John Doheny
Mar 30, 2003, 09:26 AM
P.J. Perry vs. Cam Ryga. Who's the best alto player in Canada? Who cares? When you get guys playing at this incredibly high level of facility and expressiveness it's pointless to rate one over another. It's like going to the museum and saying, " I'll give 8 points to the Chagal and 9 to the Dufy."
So, yes, my wife and I saw P.J. with the symphony on Friday. Yes he was amazing. Yes he sounded fabulous with the orchestra. But what was especially moving, to me, was that he was there at all. Anyone who knows P.J.'s story knows he's had some problems over the years. I've been afflicted with some of these difficulties as well, so I know how hard it is to rise above them. So to see him on that stage with family and friends in the audience , accepting applause and kudos from his own home town, telling stories about growing up at Kingsway and Joyce and attending Gladstone Secondary... it was a real "Vancouver" experience.
P.J.'s tone was lovely. His control was faultless, it was like he had a bird in his throat, singing. He opened up with an uptempo version of "Strike Up the Band" ala Sonny Stitt and went through a balanced selection of 20th century saxophone repertoire, from "Dardenella" to Charlie-Parker-with-Strings. And his humor was definitely old school Fraser McPherson ( on his choice of shirt. "Our drummer George Ursan asked me 'What happened P.J.? You fall through an awning?' "). Fraser told me many years ago that P.J. was a contractor's dream, and that the only problem was there was only one of him. "If I hire him on tenor, then I can't hire him on alto. And if I hire him on alto, who's gonna play bari?"
Like Cam Ryga says in the "Interviews" thread over in Jazz History, " He's my hero."
So, yes, my wife and I saw P.J. with the symphony on Friday. Yes he was amazing. Yes he sounded fabulous with the orchestra. But what was especially moving, to me, was that he was there at all. Anyone who knows P.J.'s story knows he's had some problems over the years. I've been afflicted with some of these difficulties as well, so I know how hard it is to rise above them. So to see him on that stage with family and friends in the audience , accepting applause and kudos from his own home town, telling stories about growing up at Kingsway and Joyce and attending Gladstone Secondary... it was a real "Vancouver" experience.
P.J.'s tone was lovely. His control was faultless, it was like he had a bird in his throat, singing. He opened up with an uptempo version of "Strike Up the Band" ala Sonny Stitt and went through a balanced selection of 20th century saxophone repertoire, from "Dardenella" to Charlie-Parker-with-Strings. And his humor was definitely old school Fraser McPherson ( on his choice of shirt. "Our drummer George Ursan asked me 'What happened P.J.? You fall through an awning?' "). Fraser told me many years ago that P.J. was a contractor's dream, and that the only problem was there was only one of him. "If I hire him on tenor, then I can't hire him on alto. And if I hire him on alto, who's gonna play bari?"
Like Cam Ryga says in the "Interviews" thread over in Jazz History, " He's my hero."