Peter's newest album, "Decorum" is available for purchase! Click here.

Read an interview with Peter by Dr. Judith Schlesinger on All About Jazz.com

Winter 2008

Hello out there —

Welcome (or welcome back) to this site. In the pages herein you will find mildly interesting tidbits regarding my whereabouts and doings, if you like that sort of thing. Thank you for liking that sort of thing. As I write this, life is quite full and moving forward – my latest CD 'Decorum' has been getting some very positive response from the music critics out there. Even the 'jazzy McJazz' monthlies such as Downbeat and JazzTimes have been quite nice in their response to the CD, which is a relief because 'Decorum' is ultimately not a jazz album at all. So even the 'jazz police' (as they are affectionately known) have surprised me and for that I am very grateful. Those reviews are listed on the 'Decorum' page for your perusal. Also on that page of the website are the lyrics to all the tunes on the CD - many requests for that. Please order copies of all three of my solo CDs from that wonderful internet institution CDBaby or download them on iTunes, for all your holiday gift-giving to those special someones. And may I add that writing reviews on those sites are always appreciated and helpful as well. Thanks. No really.
I am also finding quite a bit of frivolity having joined the ranks of MySpace, so please check that out and BE MY FRIEND. It's always comforting (and yes, shallow) to feel popular, that never changes no matter what stage of life you're in. Thanks to MySpace, it's been fun hearing from people from all over the world, old friends who I thought had fallen off the face of the earth, and yes even some creepy folks who say I'm going to hell for some reason.

Life is never dull these days, this is certain. I've been on the road the majority of the last six months, either with New York Voices or with my own solo performances (see the performance page for more info). The Voices new studio CD (our first in about seven years thank you) is finally out and is getting some very nice response thus far. It is called 'A Day like This' on the MCG/Concord label, and is made up of jazz tunes, originals that sit on the mostly Brazilian side of things, some pop tunes, a few big band tracks, a veritable cornucopia of four-part harmony. Please do check it out, either at your favorite CD shop, on iTunes, or through the Voices website. We're excited about the CD - it feels a bit like our first one (which came out a few too many years ago - weird) in terms of vibe and mix of tunes. We've been spending most of our waking hours in Europe since January, but we are hitting the road in the States (something we rarely do - we're calling it the 'Remember us?' tour) this Fall so please come see us if we're in a town near you.

In addition to the Voices recording, I just finished up recording a CD with the likes of Moss, which combines the vocal talents of Luciana Souza, Theo Bleckmann, Kate McGarry, NYVer Lauren Kinhan and myself. The end of August we locked ourselves in Knoop Studios in River Edge, NJ for four days with Ben Wittman producing and playing drums, Tim Lefebvre on bass, Ben Monder and Keith Ganz on electric and acoustic guitars, and yours truly on piano and came up with a collection of some beautiful music. That CD will be released on Sunnyside in March of 2008, so look for it and expect Moss to be doing some live concerts to support it. As you can probably tell, I am definitely not lacking in the arena of group singing.

Just finished some live gigs on my own with the gentlemen mentioned above, along the talented and terribly funny percussionist/vibes player James Shipp. I've been completely caught up in the music of composers like Ivan Lins (who I've been having the pleasure of writing songs with as of late), Jobim of course, Caetano Veloso, Luis Bonfa, etc etc. That music is so harmonically rich, melodically adventurous, rhythmically intense, and dare I say, sexy as all get out (what's not to love?), so I have been compelled to write music inspired by those incredible artists.

Another year has begun at the Manhattan School of Music as well, where I've been teaching for a long time. Some wonderfully talented students whom I adore and a really strong (graduate only) Jazz Voice program. I do get asked quite a bit for outside lessons and to that I respectfully say thank you, but I cannot take on any outside people right now. I'm just on the road too much. I am thinking strongly about doing some vocal workshops with small groups of singers, and if that interests you please email me. You can also email me in regards to any bookings or masterclasses at that address as well, or contact the divine Amy Cervini at Orange Grove Artists - she's just a swell lady. Thank you for reading of my exploits and for thumbing through this site.

Please stop by anytime.