Gerry Hemingway

Drummer/percussionist Gerry Hemingway is well-known for his work with the Anthony Braxton Quartet, a challenging and groundbreaking ensemble viewed by some critics as comparable in importance to the classic modern jazz quartets led by John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. Hemingway joined the Braxton quartet in 1983 and occupied the drummer's chair for 12 years, recording with the band on various labels and making numerous club, concert, and festival appearances internationally. (An English tour is documented in Graham Lock's 1988 book Forces in Motion.) However, Hemingway's membership in the Braxton quartet has not been the only high watermark in his career. While still drumming with Braxton during the early '90s, Hemingway began coming to prominence as a bandleader in his own right, heading a "transatlantic quintet" including American Mark Dresser from the Braxton quartet on bass as well as three musicians based in Amsterdam: cellist Ernst Reijseger, trombonist Wolter Wierbos, and saxophonist/clarinetist Michael Moore. Hemingway played drums and percussion and composed all of the quintet's original material, which can be heard on a number of acclaimed CDs. The ensemble's recordings include Special Detail (1991), Demon Chaser (1994), and The Marmalade King (1995), all on the Hat Art label and unfortunately now out of print. Two more recordings on the German Random Acoustics label are Slamadam (1995) and Perfect World (1996). In 1991, the band -- minus cellist Reijseger -- also made a quartet recording, which was released as Down to the Wire by Hat Art in 1993. Hemingway disbanded the quintet after 12 years, citing the "formidable cost" of bringing the Netherlands musicians to North America for tours of the United States and Canada. Waltzes, Two-Steps & Other Matters of...