Featured Artist:
Peter Erskine, Drummer
Peter Erskine was born Somers Point NJ
5 June, 1954. He began playing the drums at the age of
four, and has now been at the forefront of world-class
jazz ensembles for over twenty five years. His first major
professional work was with the Stan Kenton Orchestra,
which he joined in 1972. After a three year stint with
Kenton and a two year stay with Maynard Ferguson, he joined
Weather Report in 1978. The excellence of the partnership
between Erskine and bassist Jaco Pastorius was an integral
part of that group's success. Following his 4 years inWeather
Report (having recorded five albums with them including
the Grammy Award winning "8:30"), he began to
play with Mike Brecker, Mike Mainieri and Eddie Gomez
in the group Steps Ahead. His other touring and recording
credits (250 albums) include Steely Dan, ChickCorea, Joe
Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Burton & Pat Metheny,
Boz Scaggs, Joni Mitchell, Ralph Towner, Sadao Watanabe,
Hubert Laws, Vanessa Williams, Al Di Meola, Eliane Elias,
Miroslav Vitous and JanGarbarek, as well as "Bass
Desires" (with John Scofield, Bill Frisell, and Marc
Johnson), the John Abercrombie Trio, the Kenny Wheeler
Quintet & Big Band, the Bob Mintzer Big Band, as well
as his own group. Peter has recorded nine solo albums:
"Peter Erskine", "Transition", "Motion
Poet", "Big Theatre", "Sweet Soul",
and his ECM recordings "You Never Know" and
"Time Being", and "As It Is", as well
as "History of the DRUM" on Interworld Music.
Besides touring and recording, Peter
is now pursuing new avenues in his career by composing
for dance, theatre and animation. He has completed musical
scores for Shakespeare's King Richard II and A Midsummer
Night's Dream, the latter being honored by the Los Angeles
Drama Critics Circle with the award for the "Best
Original Musical Score 1987". His music for The American
Conservatory Theatre's production of Twelfth Night was
awarded by the Bay Area Drama Critics' Circle as the "Best
Dramatic Score for 1989". His most recent works for
this medium are Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and the dance
piece "History of the Drum - Transitions in Rhythm",
written expressly for the Kokuma Dance Company of Birmingham,
England. In addition, he is now writing and producing
the music for the Japanese anime series "Gun Smith
Cats."
Erskine is a graduate of the Interlochen
Arts Academy in Michigan, and studied percussion with
George Gaber at Indiana University. His own pedagogical
efforts include 2 instructional videos, as well as two
drum instruction books. Peter conducts clinics, classes
and seminars world-wide. He has thrice won the Modern
Drummer Magazine Readers' Poll in the Mainstream Jazz
Drummer category, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate
degree from the Berklee College of Music.
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