VICS 2015 NAMM HIGHLIGHT: Peter Erskine is now playing Tama Drums. Peters new choice of drums are Tama STAR series in Bubinga. Tama made the big announcement and also have Peters actual kit prominently on display in their booth. Peter Erskine has played the drums since the age of four and is known for his versatility and love of working in different musical contexts. He has appeared on over 600 albums and film scores, and has won two Grammy Awards, plus an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music. Peters professional career started in 1972 when he joined the Stan Kenton Orchestra. After three years with Kenton he joined Maynard Ferguson for two years. In 1978, he joined Weather Report playing alongside the legendary Jaco Pastorius to form a formidable rhythm section. After four years and five albums with Weather Report and the Jaco Pastorius big band, Word of Mouth, he joined Steps Ahead. During this time in LA, Peter also worked with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Farrell and George Cables. Peter then moved to New York City where he worked for five years with such musicians as Michael Brecker, Mike Mainieri, Eddie Gomez and Eliane Elias Music in Steps Ahead, John Scofield, Bill Frisell and Marc Johnson in the legendary group Bass Desires, the John Abercrombie Trio, plus Bob Mintzer’s Big Band. Peter moved to Los Angeles in 1987 and traveled around the world during that time, working with such artists as Diana Krall, Joni Mitchell, Vince Mendoza, Steely Dan, European musicians Jan Garbarek, Kenny Wheeler, Palle Danielsson, John Taylor, Kate Bush, Nguyen Lê, the Norrbotten Big Band in Sweden, and Sadao Watanabe in Japan. He won his second Grammy Award as the drummer of the WDR big band in Köln along with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Vince Mendoza and others for the ”Some Skunk Funk” album. In more recent years, Peter has kept busy playing with such artists as Alan Pasqua, Bob Sheppard and Bob Mintzer. He also does plenty of session work. Peter also produces jazz recordings for his record label, Fuzzy Music, and is an active author with several books to his credit that include “Time Awareness for All Musicians,” “Essential Drum Fills,” and his latest “No Beethoven - An Autobiography & Chronicle of Weather Report.” A longtime educator, Peter is Professor of Practice and Director of Drumset Studies at the USC Thornton School of Music. Hes also released instructional videos like his DVD “Everything I Know, A Work in Progress.” and has developed new state of the art iOS Play-Along apps suitable for all musicians to use. Last March, Peter was voted one of The 50 Greatest Drummers of All Time by the readers of Modern Drummer Magazine. He is truly a drummer who can do it all and HAS done it all!
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 13:22:53 +0000
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