New recording with Perna, Sakash, Susoeff & Wendt! posted August 17, 2016

In 2005, Mark Perna put together probably his best, most versatile group.  Cleverly called Perna, Sakash, Susoeff & Wendt after the last names of it's members, the band boasted some heavy writing talents in alto and bari saxophonist Mike Sakash and guitarist Eric Susoeff.  And with drummer Tom Wendt, perhaps the youngest old master alive, the band produced two CDs of original material.  The first, in 2005, was entitled Forward Falling and the second in 2006 was entitled Indian Spring.  Both CDs will soon be available as CDs or downloads through this very website.  Then in Spring 2006, Mike Sakash moved to Maine and the band went on hiatus.

That hiatus was broken in 2016 when Mark Perna, a man who when he isn't playing bass or trombone, is a medical physicist realized that Maine was only a couple of states away and not in some alternate dimension and could be reached by airplane, a newfangled device allowing for very fast travel.  Swiftly acting on this cutting edge news, Perna booked a flight for Sakash and a very happy and emotional reunion of their rockin' teen combo occurred on August 8, 2016 when the band reunited in the studios of George Heid in Aspinwall, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA).  With trusty engineer Jim Barr on the job, the band quickly cut enough tracks for a new album on August 8 and 9.  

World famous jazz legend Richie Cole joined the boys for a couple of tracks on August 8 playing Richie's tunes James St. and Harold's House of Jazz.  On August 9, master trombonist Reggie Watkins joined the band for 3 more tunes.  You can hear two of the tunes recorded that night in the Music section of this very website. Check out Play Your Seuss Off and Bluette for a sample of what happened on those two glorious nights.  Also check out the photos of the session taken by boy genius Aaron Jackendoff.

The next session is already scheduled for November 11 and 12 when Perna will again use the magical airplane device to shuttle Sakash back to the 'Burgh for more recording goodness.  

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