Jazz Articles about Pete Mills

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Pete Mills: This Is Now

by Jack Bowers
May 15, 2026

As usual, swing is king on This Is Now, Canadian-born tenor saxophonist and composer Pete Mills' sixth recording as leader, one wherein the high-powered opening number (and title song) sets the pace for what is to come on this bright and upbeat session while showing that Mills and his quintet mean serious business. As is true of most contemporary tenors, you would be hard-pressed to pick Mills out of a lineup; on the other hand, his technique is ...

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Pete Mills: This Is Now

by Mark Corroto
April 28, 2026

Let us imagine asking a sociologist whether something like musical FOMO, fear of missing out, exists. Pete Mills makes a convincing case that it does with This Is Now. Even though we have the recorded evidence, there is a lingering sense that something special happened in the room, something listeners can hear but not fully share. The result is a kind of envy: Mills and his band are clearly having a great time, and their camaraderie radiates across all twelve ...

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Pete Mills: For the Record

by Jack Bowers
October 14, 2025

On For the Record, tenor saxophonist Pete Mills and his quartet hit their swinging stride on “Bird Lives," a radiant salute to the peerless Charlie Parker that serves as the centerpiece of an otherwise consistently strong and engaging studio date that spans a wide-ranging area of contemporary post-bop jazz. The Canadian-born, Ohio-based Mills leads an ensemble that has been working together for more than a decade and whose interplay is near-telepathic. Organist John Eshelman and guitarist Tom ...

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Pete Mills: Sweet Shadow

by Angelo Leonardi
October 30, 2014

Canadese di nascita ma statunitense d'adozione, Pete Mills pubblica il suo quarto disco confermando alcuni abituali partner, come il propulsivo batterista Matt Wilson o il chitarrista Pete McCann (entrambi in Art and Architecture del 2004). Siamo in pieno straight ahead jazz ma la fantasia e l'inventivo groove del leader trovano piena risposta nei partner portando a un risultato felice, variopinto e ricco di tensione. I riferimenti stilistici sono riconoscibili ma il ruolo di artisti come Mills, che attualizzano ...

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Pete Mills: Sweet Shadow

by Dan McClenaghan
February 24, 2014

A lot of words have clicked out of the keyboards concerning the possible demise of the compact disc. Maybe CDs will suffer the extinction, maybe not. But one thing is sure: saxophonist Pete Mills' Sweet Shadow is an excellent argument for the survival of the species. On his fourth release as a leader, Mills has gathered a crack quintet to navigate labyrinths of ten of his modern-bop compositions, along with the Ellington/Strayhorn tune, “The Star-Crossed Lovers," Rolland Kirk's ...

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Pete Mills: The Anatomy Of A Jazz Release

by Mark Corroto
January 28, 2014

I'm here to tell you that everything you thought about the making of a modern jazz records is wrong. The notion that there are talent agents selling concepts to record companies—wrong. That bands work on tunes, perfecting them for months before entering the studio—wrong. That jazz musicians make money from records—again, wrong. I had the first-hand experience of observing how saxophonist Pete Mills put together his latest recording Sweet Shadow (Cellar Live, 2014) from conception to release. If ...

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Pete Mills: Fresh Spin

by Glenn Astarita
December 23, 2007

Tenor saxophonist Pete Mills doesn't chart new musical frontiers on this 2007 release. On the contrary, he just gets it done the good old fashion way via lots of gusto, oomph and up-tempo grooves, performed with his estimable band-mates. Mills regenerates the jazz organ combo vibe here, complete with soul/funk, swing and meaty underpinnings provided by the rock solid and fluidly moving rhythmic unit.

With Hammond B-3 ace Tony Monaco and guitarist Pete McCann onboard, the musical climate ...