BASS DESIRES TOURS EUROPE!

the view from my drums during rehearsal in Paris...

Bill Frisell

Thomas Quasthoff Sings at Carnegie Hall in New York &

the Musikverein in Vienna!

PE standing in front of Carnegie Hall

the view from the stage at the Musikverien

my DW drums onstage in Vienna

the irrepressible Thomas Quasthoff !

Later that night...heard the great Lewis Nash at Dizzy's Club; here with Kenny Washington.

Some more photos for you to enjoy of the Brecker Brothers, Pete, and others ...

Pete & Mike in Japan, 1980

Randy, Pete & Mike, Japan 1980

Michael, Randy and Steve Khan @ Mike Mainieri record date, Power Station, NYC

Will Lee on stage just before the "live" concert recording of "Some Skunk Funk," Leverkusen, Germany

 

Posing with a statue of Ludwig van Beethoven in Vienna, I contemplate the release of my book, titled "Time Awareness For All Musicians," available from Alfred Publishing. This book is written for ALL musicians, regardless of their musical persuasion. "Time Awarenss..." explores the spaces between the notes, and is designed to help any player improve their rhythmic skills. Posing with Roy Haynes, Steve Gadd and Louie Bellson, I contemplate my good fortune at being able to even be in the same room with those 3 guys. Posing with Christian McBride, I contemplate what a groove he is!

On a classical note, I was in London back during the summer of 2002, where I worked with the BBC Symphony Orchestra ...

... AN EXCELLENT ORCHESTRA, with conductor Leonard Slatkin, percussionist Evelyn Glennie and composer Mark-Anthony Turnage for the recording of Mark's double concerto for percussion, "Fractured Lines."The CD has just been released on the Chandos label; it's a rather stunning-sounding piece, and the recording quality is amazing. What a treat to work with all of these people!

 

 

Maynard Ferguson

May 4, 1928 ~ August 23, 2006

move over, Gabriel ...

Heaven gained the most incredible trumpeter this week when the world lost Maynard Ferguson at the age of 78. Maynard was not only an incredible artist and tremendous musical force...he was a generous bandleader, dedicated educator, proud father, loving husband to his wife Flo, and an excellent friend always to all musicians. His music touched the lives of countless fans, and his trumpet playing changed the limitations and expectations of that instrument forever. Above all else, Maynard was a true gentleman and kindhearted man. I shall miss him dearly. Rest in Peace, Maynard, and Thank You for everything.

Maynard will always be remembered for his sparkling smile and humanity. He was a gentleman and a great boss...

... and a trumpet player like no other!

some more shots from the time I played in Maynard's band (1976 ~ 1978)...

recording the "New Vintage" album at MediaSound in New York; that's Jay Chattaway at the board.

shopping for some hip clothes in Omaha ...! (trumpeter Dennis Noday, MF and me)

photo taken at the Slingerland booth, 1977 Summer NAMM show in Atlanta, GA. Maynard was the most generous and helpful of bandleaders.

Maynard & Flo Ferguson in Japan, 1977

McCoy Tyner, Slide Hampton, Maynard, Eddie Gomez, Dennis DiBlasio and me, Lincoln Center 1984

The last time I saw Maynard, during the making of Christian Jacob's album, with John Patitucci (1996)

 

Peter with Stan Kenton in 1961

& Peter with Stan's band in 1973

For the "Artistry in Rhythm" Kenton Orchestra 2006 tribute at the Hollywood Bowl as part of its "Big Band Bash" night, conductor Bob Curnow and I put together a band that was great. Players included percussionist Alex Acuña, trumpeters Wayne Bergeron, Carl Saunders, Clay Jenkins, Larry Lunetta & Pete Disiena; saxophonists Kim Richmond, Don Shelton, Bob Sheppard, Gene Cipriano and Greg Smith; trombonists Andy Martin, Scott Whitfield, Bob McChesney, Alan Kaplan and Craig Gosnell; with Dave Carpenter on bass and John Beasely on piano. The band played its ass off.


The celebration of music (and how well the show went) was bittersweet and poignant, as we learned of Maynard's passing at the very end of the concert.

Here are a couple of photos from earlier during that day ...

from a review of the concert by Richard Ginell (Variety): "... the decibel level cranked up several notches as the Kenton band went to work, covering more than 30 years of Kentonia in rough chronological order from Stan's visionary charts of the '40s to '70s-era semi-bossa nova. From the first notes forward, this bunch created a solid facsimile of the blazing fire and punch of the Kenton brass sound of his mid-1950s and '60s bands; they projected accurately and powerfully without distortion through the sound system.

More than that, this Kenton tribute band swung irresistibly because it was driven by a de facto Weather Report rhythm team in drummer Peter Erskine -- the most important alumnus of Kenton's later bands -- and percussionist Alex Acuna. The Bowl should do a full-scale Kenton Festival someday, so maybe we could hear more radical, idiosyncratic numbers on the scale of "Artistry In Percussion" or the complete "The Peanut Vendor" (which was represented only by its wild trumpet riff in a medley)."

HOT FUN IN THE WINTERTIME

Peter with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

a close-up, Peter with Grover Tambourine

Conductor Stefan Ansbury and composer/guitarist John Scofield, Edinburgh, Scotland

John contemplating the meaning of it all

Composer Mark-Anthony Turnage

John Patitucci, Joe Lovano, Peter & John Scofield at the Barbican Concert Hall in London

Peter in Rome

... lrecording with Pino Daniele

If you didn't catch one of the concerts from the spring, summer or autumn 2004 tour of Diana Krall and her band, be sure to check out the DVD from Universal/Verve, taped at last summer's Montreal Jazz Festival.

Please visit my Itinerary Page for the latest concert info for Peter Erskine ...

Here are a couple of photos taken in the Colorado Rockies by my high school buddy Tom Moss during last summer's tour of the USA:

(Peter doing his best impersonation of Gustav Mahler)

One of the best and most important things to be able to do when touring is to periodically return home to family and hearth!

I was inspired by Maya to get hip:

Did you hear...?

badlands is HERE!

(scroll down for archive photos & more info!)

 

Recording badlands at homeReview by Don Heckman, LA Times, Sunday, April 21, 2002 Peter Erskine, Alan Pasqua, Dave Carpenter, "Badlands" ***1/2

"The long-term relationship of these three veteran artists shows in every beautifully integrated note of this superb album. At first glance, the trio seems to have taken on a somewhat daunting task--in terms of audience receptivity--by offering a program consisting almost exclusively of originals by the members. (The sole exception is the standard "You and the Night and the Music.")
     But the selections--five by Pasqua, two each by Erskine and Carpenter--unfold with such engaging musicality and the performance level is so high that any question regarding the unfamiliarity of the material becomes irrelevant. The interaction among the three players is stunning, with Erskine's percussion and Carpenter's bass work serving as integral musical elements rather than simple rhythmic accompaniment.
     The pieces have distinctly atmospheric qualities. Several of pianist Pasqua's works--especially "Surrender" and "Daddy, What Is God's Last Name" (with the latter sounding in places like a melodic inversion of the former)--resonate with classical references. At its best, the playing, individually and collectively, is a definitive model of how far this classic instrumentation has come since the days of the Bill Evans trios."


The recording of Badlands


For the follow-up album to "Live at Rocco," the Trio wanted to capture the growth of the band ... a growth which has resulted in freer expression, more interplay between us than ever before,and a higher level of abstract thinking. And all of this manifested by a new minimalism! ... or, perhaps, a relaxation ... or maybe, an appreciation for the beauty to be found in small things.

We decided to record this album at home, in my home studio. I've enjoyed a great-sounding rehearsal room and comfortable workspace in my backyard studio ever since my family and I moved to Santa Monica (back in 1987), but I never had the proper recording equipment to think of my studio as a "recording studio." But, with the addition of some excellent microphones (including Shure condenser mics), pre-amps, mic cables (Planet Waves) and the Yamaha AW4416 digital audio workstation, we had the means to document the trio. Luckily, engineer Brian Risner (who I worked with during my tenure in the group Weather Report) lives across the street ... Alan Pasqua recently moved to Santa Monica, and Dave Carpenter drove from the "valley" to the west side of Los Angeles to join us ... it all seemed a very convenient and natural way to make our next album!

We originally set aside and planned one night to "get sounds," and 5 evenings to record in a relaxed manner ... well, during the first night of getting sounds, we wound up recording for about 3 hours, and on the official "first" night of the recording, we tracked for another 2 and a half hours ... and we realized that we had just recorded the "best" album of our lives!

Jazz recordings are like snapshots, or family photos ... a moment of time, captured for eternity. (Sometimes a smile might seem a bit crooked, or one person's eyes might be closed at the moment the shutter is snapped, etc.) We really like this "picture" of the band! We hope our listeners will, too. The album is a sonic treat, and the tunes plus the improvisations are all gems.


Dave, Peter & Alan


A couple of words about the Trio: we feel that the band enjoys a rather unique distinction in that all three players are also composers. As composers, that means we not only write most of the material we play ... but we also play all of the material in a "compositional" way (as opposed to playing merely as "players" ...!). To me, this means that the construction of the music always has an architectural logic, a sort of mathematical purity AND a passionate sense of discovery, both private and communal.

Words about music are tough ... but I can say this: I love making music in this Trio, and this recording perfectly captured what we do.

From the archive files!

Kurt Elling Session

Diana Krall Session