MUSIC REVIEW BY George Fendel, Jazz Society of Oregon
The versatile bassist Jon Hamar has established himself as one of Seattle?s first call bass players over the last few years. For this rather unusual session, he leads a quartet with two saxophones, bass and drums. One of the saxmen, Rich Perry, has been a formidable presence in New York for quite a while. This session marks something of a detour for Perry, in that it is more in the free-avant garde camp than his prior mainstream orientation. Perry?s saxophone partner is Todd DelGiudice, and they indulge in some interesting twists and turns ? chasing each other around the musical block. All the selections are original compositions by the leader, whose painless concept added to the free, outside nature of the session. This is the meat and potatoes of the Origin label ? highly improvisational and creative. It?s not for everyone, but if you wish to step out of the mainstream now and then, this would be a new exercise for your ears.
