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Ralph Peterson: ALIVE at Firehouse12 Vol. 1 - The Unity Project
by Steve Bryant
Drummer/composer/bandleader Ralph Peterson has got to be one of the hardest working men in jazz today. He seems to drop a new CD every few months, and the kicker is that the theme and product are markedly different than his previous efforts. In addition, he changes lineups like guys change socks. The band on ALIVE At Firehouse 12 Vol. 1--The Unity Project is not the same one on his previous outing, 2012's The Duality Perspective (Onyx). As a matter of ...
Continue ReadingRalph Peterson: The Duality Perspective
by AAJ Italy Staff
The Duality Perspective è un album di sicuro interesse, concettualmente e formalmente diviso in due parti (come fa presagire il titolo), nel quale interagiscono diversi elementi stilistici, messi insieme da Ralph Peterson con sagacia e buon gusto compositivo. Il batterista organizza la prima sezione del lavoro insieme a un quartetto dove spicca la figura espressiva di Felix Peikli, capace con il clarinetto di disegnare le melodie originali che caratterizzano i primi cinque brani in programma. Al suo fianco si muove ...
Continue ReadingRalph Peterson: The Duality Perspective
by Dan Bilawsky
Balance is often overlooked in music criticism, yet it's such an important aspect in music-making and life. Light doesn't exist without dark, bold only takes shape when placed next to bland and earthbound realities are only truly understood by those who also know how to take flight. Drummer/educator Ralph Peterson understands this better than most, and The Duality Perspective documents his balanced outlook for all to hear. This album is really two records in one, as Peterson ...
Continue ReadingRalph Peterson's Unity Project: Outer Reaches
by John Kelman
To build the kind of staying power that keeps fans coming back for more, you've got to have consistency. In a jazz world where artists are expected to be self-reliant when it comes to promotion, dropping out for more than half a decade can have some serious implications. Emerging loudly as part of 1980s young lion supergroup Out of the Blue, drummer Ralph Peterson has since built a significant discography with his instrumentally intriguing Fo'Tet, last heard on Fo'Tet Augmented ...
Continue ReadingRalph Peterson: The Fo'tet Augmented
by C. Andrew Hovan
Back in the early '90s, drummer Ralph Peterson was hot off an introductory phase that included a part played in the hard bop collective Out of the Blue. Formed by the powers that be at Blue Note upon the resurrection of the iconic label back in 1985, the ensemble saw several youngsters go on to bigger and greener pastures, and for Peterson this would include signing with Blue Note as a solo artist in his own right.
The drummer made ...
Continue ReadingRalph Peterson: Fo'Tet Augmented
by John Kelman
While drummer Ralph Peterson has forged a consistently strong body of work, it is with his Fo'Tet that he has made his most cogent statement over the past fifteen years. And while more recent Fo'Tet incarnations, including first Steve Wilson and then Ralph Bowen on soprano saxophone, have been successful at maintaining the delicate yet powerful sonority resulting from the combination of a high-end horn and Bryan Carrott's deft vibraphone work, it was when Don Byron held down the reed ...
Continue ReadingRalph Peterson: Tests of Time
by Russ Musto
Ralph Peterson’s newest effort once again casts the drummer in the role of the leader of a contemporary jazz quintet in the tradition of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Blakey himself recognized Peterson’s potential early in the young drummer’s career, back when he was a sideman with the Terence Blanchard-Donald Harrison Quintet, and encouraged him to become a bandleader. Peterson has settled into the position nicely, confirming Blakey’s famous faculty for finding future leaders, and on the third disc ...
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