Rich Perry - Gone (2009)

Like many American jazz musicians, Rich Perry has found abundant opportunities to record for the Danish label Steeplechase. The tenor saxophonist and alum of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra (among many other bands) is heard leading a quartet full of regular collaborators consisting of pianist Harold Danko (with whom Perry also often appears on the pianist's own Steeplechase CDs), bassist Jay Anderson, and drummer Jeff Hirschfield. The session is dominated by familiar standards, though Perry chooses atypical paths in their explorations of them. "Gone with the Wind" is frequently subjected to rather breezy treatments, while the tenor saxophonist prefers to simmer the music in an extended post-bop workout. His approach to "Don't Blame Me" has a strolling undercurrent backing his whimsical tenor. The lovely "Emily" is another extended workout, though it never loses its lyricism, highlighted by Danko's lush solo. The spacious setting of the ballad "You Say You Care" conveys the sense of melancholy perfectly, as does their haunting rendition of the bittersweet bossa nova "Estate." The music throughout the date comes across so effortlessly that it wouldn't be surprising to learn that the musicians completed everything in one or two takes and left the studio early. ~ Ken Dryden

Personnel: Rich Perry (tenor saxophone); Harold Danko (piano); Jeff Hirshfield (drums).