Why Sandro Perri Rules by Colin Medley (2016)
Sandro Perri
I got asked to write this a few weeks ago but, to be honest, I sort of forgot about it until today.
I was out of the house today, enjoying the warmer weather and who do I run into but Sandro Perri — the guy who I’m supposed to be writing about. He was carrying some leftovers (he was coming from lunch with a friend) and he seemed to be in a particularly good mood (must have been some lunch). We stood there in front of the Communist’s Daughter for a few minutes and had a nice little catch-up, though, now that I think about it, I did most of the talking. But he was listening, attentively!
Boy, it was good to see him, and it reminded me to get off my duff and finish this piece for Kazoo!
It’s kind of perfect that I ran into him because I feel like, either directly or tangentially, Sandro Perri is connected to so many memories of my life over the last eight years. I believe the first time I read his name anywhere was on the schedule for SappyFest in 2008. I remember seeing his photo at that time too – sitting on the bank of a river, wearing a sun hat and holding up a blade of grass to his face like some sort of green moustache. I was able to catch his set at SappyFest that year and, to be honest, I remember very little. I seem to recall a nylon stringed guitar and him playing on the floor but, beyond that, I couldn’t say what he played or recall any witty banter he may have said between songs. What I do remember is upon moving to Toronto one month after that show, everyone I met seemed to be talking about Sandro Perri. These are the types of things I heard on the regular:
“You gonna go see Sandro tonight?”
“Man, I still can’t stop listening to that last Sandro Perri album.”
“Saw Sandro Perri play last night, it was… so good.”
“Tiny Mirrors is a masterpiece.”
“I prefer Polmo Polpo but his newer stuff is cool too.”
It didn’t help that I got a job at the College St. record store, Soundscapes, which was mostly employed by Sandro Perri superfans (and even some collaborators). Anyway, it didn’t take long for me to join the cult of Sandro. I bought Tiny Mirrors, delved back into Glissandro 70 and Polmo Polpo and waited patiently for his next album, which turned out to be 2011’s Impossible Spaces (worth the wait). What can I say? I’m always curious to know what he’s up to. He’s one of our best! Saw him play a few months back, he covered one of my favourite John Martyn songs. What a treat!
There’s no one quite like him.
Colin Medley is a photographer and videographer based out of Toronto. He has worked with many of our favorite bands, festivals and organizations. Odds are you’ve seen Medley’s work and said “damn, what a good picture” or “golly, what a great video“.
