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MUSICIANS

PETER ERSKINE

Peter Erskine official website: http://petererskine.com

(Born Somers Point NJ 5 June, 1954) Peter Erskine began playing the drums at the age of four, and has now been at the forefront of world-class jazz ensembles for twenty three 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 in Weather 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, Chick Corea, 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 Jan Garbarek, 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. Peter is 42 years old, and makes his home in Southern California with his wife Mutsuko and their two children.

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