Jazz Articles about Peter Washington

About Peter Washington

Album Review

The cover photo on Jim Snidero's For All We Know features the saxophonist holding his horn out in front of his body as if he is offering it to us as a holy relic. Holy it is when he plays it; a relic it is not. The album is Snidero's first recorded offering in a trio setting--sax, bass and drums. No chording instrument. His partners in chordlessness, Peter Washington and Joe Farnsworth--bass and drums, respectively--are a perfect choice, ...

Album Review

Xaver Hellmeier: X-Man in New York

Read "X-Man in New York" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 25, 2024

Drummer Xaver (X-Man) Hellmeier has been little known to date outside his native Germany and other European countries. One way to help redress that oversight is to surround oneself with some of the most well-respected and talented musicians on the New York scene, which is what Hellmeir has done on his superb debut album, X-Man in New York. When it comes to choosing sidemen, it is hard to belie the inclusion of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, pianist ...

Album Review

Steve Davis: Steve Davis Meets Hank Jones, Vol. 1

Read "Steve Davis Meets Hank Jones, Vol. 1" reviewed by Dave Linn

by Dave Linn
December 20, 2023

Trombonist Steve Davis was born in Worcester, MA, in 1967, and in 1989 graduated from Hartt School's Jackie McLean Institute. It was McLean's guidance and recommendation which allowed Davis to land his first major performance with Art Blakey in NYC. His lyrical, hard-swinging style gained him broad recognition and, in 1998, he won the TDWR (Rising Star) Trombone Category. He was later named in the top five of the Trombonist of the Year by The Jazz Journalist Association from 2010-2013, ...

Album Review

Noah Haidu: Standards

Read "Standards" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 2, 2023

Forty years after the renowned Standards Trio comprised of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette released its debut album, Standards, Vol. 1, New York-based pianist Noah Haidu pays his respects with a similarly named enterprise (sans volume number) featuring bassists Buster Williams or Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash, with saxophonist Steve Wilson making it a quartet on four numbers. The Standards Trio's body of work “brought me inspiration, solace and happiness," Haidu writes in the ...

Album Review

Noah Haidu: Standards

Read "Standards" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
June 23, 2023

A standard is defined as a musical composition that has become a part of the standard repetoire. The conventional wisdom suggests that this definition applies to popular songs of the twentieth century based on the premise that their popularity has lasted beyond the period of their initial publication. Pianist/composer Noah Haidu has taken this to heart on his persuasive album Standards. Accompanied by a cohort of acclaimed sidemen including bassists Buster Williams and Peter Washington, drummer ...

Album Review

George Coleman: Live At Smalls Jazz Club

Read "Live At Smalls Jazz Club" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 16, 2023

Tenor saxophonist George Coleman, one week past his eighty-seventh birthday when Live at Smalls Jazz Club was recorded in March 2022, has not yielded an inch to Father Time, skating up and down his horn with the awareness and agility of someone many years his junior. It is entirely appropriate that this album should be a part of the Smalls Living Legend series, as Coleman easily qualifies for that honor. Before appraising the music, a brief side ...

Album Review

David Hazeltine: Blues For Gerry

Read "Blues For Gerry" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
June 10, 2023

A longtime member of the Criss Cross family, pianist David Hazeltine began recording for the label in the mid 1990s. Since then he has released around 30 Criss Cross albums, including eight as leader. During this time, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth, who complete the trio on Blues For Gerry, have been frequent comrades in arms. Sadly, Criss Cross founder Gerry Teekens passed in 2019. The good news is that his son Jerry has taken ...