Jazz Articles about Peter Nero

Peter Nero/Philly POPS, with Ann Hampton Callaway, February 6, 2011

by Lewis J Whittington
February 19, 2011

Peter Nero and the Philly POPS with Ann Hampton CallawaySingin' & Swingin'Kimmel Center Verizon HallPhiladelphiaFebruary 6, 2011 Peter Nero is so charming a bandleader for the Philly POPS that he could easily get away with phoning the music in, but with the pianist/conductor, that is never the case. The POPS' unique turf of symphonic jazz and big-band swing was on ample display at its Singin' & Swingin' concert, headlined by vocalist Ann Hampton ...

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops: Philadelphia, December 31, 2010

by Victor L. Schermer
January 22, 2011

Peter Nero and The Philly Pops“Swinging in the New Year"The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Philadelphia, PA December 31, 2010 Peter Nero is that rare musician who can negotiate between classical forms, the jazz idiom, popular music and light-hearted humor, generating great energy in his co-musicians and audiences. So it was an inspired touch for him to add a New Year's Eve concert to the already packed schedule of performances of the Philly ...

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops Celebrate the Music of the “Greatest Generation”

by Victor L. Schermer
April 16, 2010

Philly Pops Orchestra Revisits “The Stage Door Canteen"Peter Nero, Artistic Director Lynn Roberts, featured vocalistThe Kimmel Center for the Performing ArtsPhiladelphia, PA March 27, 2010 Why a concert review of the popular music of World War II on a jazz-focused website? The very question suggests how misguided it can be to separate jazz from its past. Many of the standards that jazz groups play today come from this period. And nearly all ...

Peter Nero: The Laughter and The Challenges

by Victor L. Schermer
February 3, 2010

Part 1 | Part 2

In July 2009, All About Jazz published an interview with legendary pianist and Philly Pops maestro Peter Nero. That interview jumped between his early musical development and his current 30-year tenure as founder and music director of the Philly Pops. There wasn't time then to ask him about what turned out to be the subject of the current interview, the long intervening period including his salad days as a pianist, an ongoing venture ...

The Philly Pops with Peter Nero: A Concert of Bernstein, Rodgers, and Webber

by Victor L. Schermer
August 1, 2009

The Philadelphia Pops with Peter NeroThe Best of Bernstein and the Riches of Rodgers--plus Andrew Lloyd WebberThe Mann CenterPhiladelphia, PA July 22, 2009 Should newer readers question why a concert of this kind is being reviewed on a “hard-core" jazz website, the simplest answer is because of the inseparable historical relationship between two indigenous art forms--American popular song and jazz. Nowhere is that connection more inescapable than in the influence of Broadway musicals on ...

Peter Nero: Fabled Pianist and Philly POPS Maestro

by Victor L. Schermer
July 8, 2009

Living legend Peter Nero is that rare musician equally at home with classical music, jazz, the American Songbook, the Broadway musical, movie themes and popular songs. Moreover, he is a masterful pianist, seasoned conductor, composer and arranger in all these genres. Just as exceptionally, he has become a cultural emblem, known to statesmen, entertainers, students, housewives and, it seems, all who listen to American music. He achieved his fame on the piano, with his unique capacity to meld concert style ...