| Peter Erskine | |
|---|---|
Peter Erskine & Michel Benita |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Peter Erskine |
| Born | June 5, 1954 Somers Point, New Jersey United States |
| Origin | Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupations | Drummer, composer |
| Instruments | Drums, percussion |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Associated acts | Stan Kenton Orchestra, Weather Report, Word of Mouth, Steely Dan, Maynard Ferguson, Kate Bush, Diana Krall, Eliane Elias, Queen Latifah, Linda Ronstadt |
| Website | www.petererskine.com |
Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report. Erskine also produces teaching materials, such as books, videos, and online content.
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Peter Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S.. He began playing the drums at the age of four. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy[1] in Michigan, then studied percussion at Indiana University.
His professional career started in 1972 when he joined the Stan Kenton Orchestra.[1] After three years with Kenton he joined Maynard Ferguson for two years. In 1978 he joined Weather Report,[1][2] joining 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. His big band recordings with the Bob Mintzer Big Band are excellent modern big band jazz/funk performances studied by many students of drums and drumming.
His music-style spanning talent also features on Kate Bush's 2005 album Aerial, where Erskine teams with bass player Eberhard Weber. Diana Krall, Eliane Elias, Queen Latifah and Linda Ronstadt among many more still choose Peter for his multifaceted musicality. Even Scottish and Finnish Classical Orchestras have had him as a featured musician.
His playing style is characterized by a thorough dedication to time-keeping and swing, a great dynamic spectrum and an ability to play several styles of music very sensitively. These qualities may be the reason for his very wide use as a session drummer in musical settings of great variety. Hence he could also be labeled as an "all-around drummer", in terms of musical styles he is capable of playing with skill.
As a jazz drummer, his dedication to timekeeping makes his jazz playing sound quite modern, as he does not tend to play with "flexible" timekeeping as do most traditionalist jazz drummers. It remains a matter of personal opinion to be discussed whether he has thus brought jazz into the modern era of perfect timekeeping (a reference here is made to drum machines and electronic music with flawless metronomical timekeeping of today), or whether he diverges from traditional jazz drumming.
Today, Erskine splits his time as a musician and that of a professor at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.
In 1983, he performed on the Antilles Records release Swingrass '83.[3]
In 2011 he appeared on stage at the Royal Opera House, London in the new opera Anna Nicole. [4]
With John Abercrombie
With Warren Bernhardt
With Randy Brecker/Michael Brecker
With Gary Burton
With Kate Bush
With George Cables
With Pino Daniele
With Eddie Daniels
With Al Di Meola
With Marty Ehrlich
With Joe Farrell
With Maynard Ferguson
With Alessandro Galati
With Jan Garbarek
With Giorgio
With Gordon Goodwin
With Don Grolnick
With Bobby Hutcherson
With Marc Johnson
With Rickie Lee Jones
With Stan Kenton
With Diana Krall
With Rolf Kühn
With Christof Lauer
With Nguyên Lê
With Mike Mainieri
With Vince Mendoza
With Bob Mintzer
With Joni Mitchell
With Jaco Pastorius
With Gary Peacock
With Thomas Quasthoff
With Steely Dan
With Steps Ahead
With Christoph Stiefel
With Ralph Towner
With Mark-Anthony Turnage/John Scofield
With Weather Report
With Kenny Wheeler
With Joe Zawinul
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