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Paul Peress
Los Angeles-based Grammy Nominated Drummer, Composer, Band Leader & Producer...
About Me
“A MUST SEE ARTIST AND MASTER DRUMMER” - The Los Angeles Times
Paul Peress is a Grammy nominated drummer, bandleader, producer, and songwriter,
based out of
New York City. He has worked with Jimmy Heath, Tom Scott, Jeff Golub, Russell
Ferrante, Anthony Jackson, John Tropea, Gerald Veasley, Will Lee, Helio Alves,
Chaka Khan, Brenda Russell, Moby, The B-52’s,
Mary Wilson,
Deniece Williams, Regina Belle, Stephen Bishop… His band,
The Paul Peress
Project, has performed in over 20 countries, including appearances at The Heineken
Jazz Festival,
Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, South Africa’s Joy of
Jazz Festival, BET's Jazz St. Lucia, The St. Kitts Music Festival, and Puerto Rico's
Internacional Festival de Jazz Latino…
Paul is the son of a prolific poet, and an accomplished classical music
conductor. Of Puerto
Rican heritage, Paul grew up on the Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christi,
Texas. When he
turned 5, his aunt sent him a “music minus one for drummers” record, with
a pair of
drumsticks; he was transfixed, and immediately started lobbying to play
the drums. So, for
his 6th birthday, a big package came in the mail - and after Paul tore it
open, he found
nestled inside, a shiny, delicate violin. He thus began with the violin at the
age of 6,
switched to trumpet at 12, playing in the Jr. High School marching band,
yet always
rallying to play the drums. His father got the post as music director of the
Kansas City
Philharmonic, and after the move, Paul befriended the principal
percussionist, Vince
Bilardo, who helped convince Paul's father to get him a drumset; so, at 17,
Paul got a set
of red-sparkle Gretsch drums!
That Fall, he loaded his drums into his MGB, and moved to New York City,
living in Hell's
Kitchen, and putting himself through night school at Hunter College for 2
semesters. His
high grades enabled him to transfer to Columbia University, where he
studied economics,
art history, and poli-sci, finishing in 2 years. While at Columbia, he worked
nights, and
studied drums privately with Kenwood Dennard, then Kim Plainfield. Both
of them heavily
influenced him in the Latin jazz and Brazilian genres.
After finishing school, Paul's first project was a jazz/rock band, Double
Exposure, which
he co-led with his sister - singer/songwriter Anika Paris. They put out a
CD in 1990 as the
band was appearing at several hot spots in New York, including the now
defunct Mikell's.
The band had a Steely Dan edge to it, and portentously featured several
future Steely Dan
sidemen, including Jon Herington, Drew Zing, and Tom Barney. The band
broke up in
1990, and Paul began working around town in various projects, including,
in 1994, leading
the house band at Chicago B.L.U.E.S. He landed a weekly Brazilian gig at
the Citrus Lounge
- running from 1995 to 1998 - and started working with some of NYC's
greatest Latin
artists; this led to his first big break as a solo artist - an appearance with
his band at the
first annual St. Kitts Music Festival in 1996, and he was asked back in '99,
'02, '05, '08, '11, '14.
Paul produced a concert series at the NY Historical
Society, paralleling
their exhibit, “Slavery in New York”. Peress' concerts – featuring Arturo
O'Farrill, Candido,
and Guy Davis – demonstrated the great influence that enslaved people
had on music in
and about the US. His group also performed at Lincoln Center Out of
Doors Festival and 3
other NYC festivals, was the featured band at Puerto Rico's Festival
Internacional de Jazz
Latino, worked with MOBY, played for Jimmy Heath's 80 birthday and
Candido's 85th
birthday celebrations...
Catch him at the Baked Potato in LA, and Farafina's Cafè in Harlem, NYC...
