This Is Book’s Music

The first time I heard of drummer Ben Perowsky was when he was with the Michael Brecker Quartet, who played at an era high school about 12 years ago. Perowsky was not the drummer who played on Brecker’s albums, so here I am in the high school auditorium getting into the jazz, and here’s a drummer who played with the same fervor as a John Bonham, but in a jazz context. It was so in-your-face, I am almost certain I was drooling on the floor. Okay, maybe not, but at a time when finding musicians on the internet was not so easy as it is now, I could find nothing on Perowsky. His name has always been on the mind, and by the time he was mentioned on various sites, he had played on numerous albums and had done a wide range of session work.

For me, as a drummer this guy was incredible but it seemed he could play any style of music and make it work, so perhaps I’ve been wanting Perowsky to do the kind of album that he has done under the guise of the Moodswing Orchestra (El Destructo). As the name of the project indicates, the music does move around back and forth like mood swings. The core of all of it is jazz, or at least jazz in the sense that Perowsky plays a lot of jazz. But you’ll also hear an accumulation of all of the styles of music Perowsky has done over the years, from haunting pop elegance, to low-brow funk, to Brazilian spoken word with a slight nod to hip-hop. As I listened to this, I didn’t bother looking at the credits until one of singers on here reminded me of the vibe I was getting while listening. The voice sounded like a singer I had heard on the Lovage project from Dan “Automator” Nakamura, a voice I had also heard on a few albums released by John Zorn‘s Tzadik label. The lady has a kind of voice that is eerie and sensual at the same time, but it’s more comforting in that you’ll want to duck and hide as she sings about misery that is equal to your own. I speak of Jennifer Charles, and the vibe that she offers to Perowsky made me feel that the Moodswing Orchestra is somewhat similar in feel to the Handsome Boy Modeling School or even DJ Shadow‘s time with UNKLE. With contributors that include Miho Hatori, Bebel Gilberto, Glenn Patscha, Oren Bloedow, Steven Bernstein, and Marcus Rojas among others, the cast of characters come in and out of these songs and add to a unique fabric with a lot of different tones, tints, and textures. One song may souns like a Portishead outtake while another could be a song Norah Jones wishes she had the courage to record. All of this is anchored by Perowsky’s drumming, showing his versatility as a musician while allowing fans to hear songs, his own songs, take life.

If you like the jazz side of Perowsky’s music, you should like the Moodswing Orchestra. If you’re familiar with him from Joan As Police Woman, you’ll be happy to know that Joan Wasser makes her presence known here too in the beautiful “Sweet Adelaide”, which opens the album in fine style. If you like the unpredictability of his choices as a session musician, you’ll love how unpredictable this album is. Or perhaps as a Perowsky fan, you’ve come to just take in whatever he brings in, knowing that as a fan of his drumming, you’ll be comforted. Good. The Moodswing Orchestra is here to see you through, and hopefully it will not be too long before he comes up with a new release. Or perhaps he has something else ready to be unveiled. That’s good too.