Zoom

Greetings from Aarhus, Denmark, where I’m playing several concerts with the great Aarhus Jazz Orchestra, celebrating the music of Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Incredible to play this music again, all of it arranged for big band and featuring some of Denmark’s finest musicians (and that’s saying a lot!).

Before Aarhus, it was NAMM. Wham Bam and thank you, Ma’am.
What a whirlwind of meetings, people, music, more people, and of course a ton of new musical innovation to check out. The best part of NAMM, though, is the people part…getting to see old friends (and making a few new ones along the way). Was honored to be able to play with my trio mates Alan Pasqua and Darek Oles at the 50th anniversary party honoring Vic Firth and his incredible team of artists and artisans. Saw a LOT of drummers there…thank you all for listening! This NAMM also marked the retirement of Zildjian’s artist relations guru John DeChristopher. We’re all going to miss John, and I join every Zildjian artist in thanking John and wishing him all the best.

New ZOOM ad that debuted at NAMM. Mr. Peart is a hoot, and so are the good folks at Samson/Zoom.

Now, here are some photos from NAMM…and I wish you all a most musical month! More news soon!

with John DeChristopher at the Zildjian booth…John’s final NAMM show appearance. THANK YOU, JOHN, for EVERYTHING.

with Gavin Harrison, Joe Testa, Rick Marotta, Simon Phillips, Steve Smith, Russ Miller, Debbie & Craigie Zildjian, Tracy Firth, Vic Firth, and Kelly & John DeChristopher at John’s farewell dinner at NAMM.

with the legendary Lee Sklar and Denny Seiwell.

Say hello to the brand new Jazz Essentials Play-Along app for iOS devices. Featuring pianist Alan Pasqua, bassist Darek Oles & myself on drums, we’ve put together a music-minus app for all musicians, with a built-in mixer for unlimited application.

This app has been designed and created for use by all musicians who are interested in perfecting their jazz skills and artistry. The heart of jazz is being able to play the blues and “standards” in common keys and at different tempos. With a century’s worth of professional and pedagogical experiences between the three musicians, these tracks target and explore an essential variety of requisite jazz modes and styles that we have found to be of the most use.

Utilizing the built-in mixer, you can create your own combo: full rhythm section (trio), music-minus-piano, music-minus-bass, music-minus-drums, or solo tracks of drums-only, bass-only or piano-only. There are click-track and count-off options as well.

PDF lead sheets are included in the keys of C, Bb and Eb. These charts can be printed or emailed from the app. In the case of some well-known standards, we have adhered to the form and chord changes of the songs unless otherwise noted. The melodies to these tunes can easily be found on-line or in a RealBook, etc. There are also some classic tune forms from the post-bop era, making this collection up-to-date and relevant.

We suggest that you listen to the full trio mixes at least once in order to hear how the band is playing this music — unless, of course, you wish to fully embrace the jazz spirit and experience the performances in real time: hearing and playing the music for the first time just like in a true jazz setting. In any event, you now have a world-class rhythm section at your fingertips.

As the beboppers say: “Straight ahead and strive for tone…”
There’s no better way to play better than to play more. Keep on swinging.

v 1.0.1 is now “live” and available on the App Store. Bugs are fixed, a new year is upon us, and life is good!

We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year!

This year’s Christmas message:
Hug your loved ones.
Please enjoy a safe and loving holiday season.

And a Happy New Year!
Stay warm.
Peace.
Peter & Mutsy Erskine

The Christmas season is a time to celebrate, and a time to reflect. While we’re all accustomed to care-free carol singing, recent events have stunned us all. What to do?

As a musician, I’ve been confronted by this challenge of continuing on with my work (which is my joy) while feeling the deep pangs of pain that tragedy brings. We all struggle with this. The great conductor, composer and musical visionary Leonard Bernstein summed up what might be the best-possible response with this quote:

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”

He also said:

“Music . . . can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.”
(He sounds like Mahler here…)

I hope that all of you will continue to do the things that enrich your lives and the lives of others. My holiday wish is for all men and women to be kind to one another, and to protect our children. And if some of this may be accomplished by the gift of song, then I wish all of you sweet melodies and groovy rhythms.

Hug your loved ones, stay happy, healthy and warm this holiday season!
And keep swinging.
PE