Gene Perla

Gene Perla (b. May 1, 1940, Hackensack, New Jersey) is an American jazz bassist.

Perla studied piano at the Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory before switching to bass. He played with Woody Herman in 1969-70 as well as Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Jeremy Steig, Elvin Jones (1971-73), and Sonny Rollins.

In the 1970s Perla founded the jazz record label Perla Music, or PM. He also later headed Plug Records. Under his leadership the labels recorded Dave Liebman, Elvin Jones, Steve Grossman, Pat LaBarbera, and Jerry Bergonzi. He formed Stone Alliance with Grossman and Don Alias in 1975, and continued performing and teaching jazz into the 2000s.

References

*Scott Yanow, [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:d9fexqwgldse~T1 Gene Perla] at Allmusic
* [http://www.perla.org Gene Perla web site]