the peguesproject, the brain child, of jazz pianist Rodger Pegues, is a musical herald for the New Utopia, World Peace and Social Justice. Rodger Pegues, a native of Seattle, Washington, started singing solos in church at the age of 9. Inspired by the gifted music minister of Mt Zion Baptist Church, Phyllis Byrdwell, he began to study piano. In his teens he received both classical and jazz piano instruction at the Cornish School of Allied Arts. At Garfield High School, under the directorship of Clarence Acox he was awarded a superior performance award at the Reno International Jazz festival.
The music of John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett were among his earliest influences as he searched for his voice among the musical panoply of jazz genres.
After attending Cornish Pegues moved to Los Angles, CA there as the musical director of the City Stage theater he began to explore experimental forms of jazz and performance art, fusing jazz with poetry, drama and visual arts.
In the early 1990's his creative expression came of age during his tenure at the Jazz Club in Hong Kong. There he played with the great Jon Hendricks, Billy Bang, Dakota Stanton, and the legendary Jimmy Witherspoon. After working and touring in Asia for the next 3 years Rodger returned to Seattle Washington and formed the Rodger Pegues Trio, touring throughout the Pacific Northwest featuring his signature vocals , graceful, bold and eclectic piano stylings, and repertoire of original compositions that embody a synergy of passion for the innovative against a tribute to the traditional.
Presently, as brainchild of the nu-jazz mixed media collaboration, thepeguesproject, Rodger is performing his original compositions, featuring Brian Hartman on saxophone at premier eclectic venues throughout the Pacific Northwest as a harbinger of things to come with the 2008 release of his cd, "the historicity of rodger pegues".
ThePeguesProject - THE HISTORICITY OF RODGER PEGUES: Another fantastic sonic adventure I received from recent net travels is in from Rodger. There's a pre-release performance close to home (up in Seattle), & I'm going to do everything in my power to be there to listen to this highly talented keyboardist & vocalist. That's not something that happens often for me any more, as I don't like fighting the traffic on I-5... but, yeah, it's that great! Pegues has this thing called "soul" down pat... his styling on electric (Rhodes sounding) keyboard is the envy of this players' ear, I'll tell you..
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ThePeguesProject - THE HISTORICITY OF RODGER PEGUES: Another fantastic sonic adventure I received from recent net travels is in from Rodger. There's a pre-release performance close to home (up in Seattle), & I'm going to do everything in my power to be there to listen to this highly talented keyboardist & vocalist. That's not something that happens often for me any more, as I don't like fighting the traffic on I-5... but, yeah, it's that great! Pegues has this thing called "soul" down pat... his styling on electric (Rhodes sounding) keyboard is the envy of this players' ear, I'll tell you... but it's not just "technique", it's his ability to evoke the spirit for the listener through masterfully played keyboards and vocal talents that are far & above the "average" in these days of (often) cloned jazz sounds. Don't read me wrong, though, he has the technical skills wrapped 'round his little fingers, too, & the tunes just SHINE! I'm particularly enamored of compositions like "luvin you" & "i'll wait 4 you" that give you a feel for how skillfully Mr. Pegues can wrap his voice around a lyric and (either) make you cry a little for the "real folks" he sings about, or smile at their joy; I hear shades of singers like Curtis Mayfield & Marvin Gaye here, too - you know, the heroes of my younger years! Since my ears are more inclined towards that superb Rhodes/electric piano sound, though, my favorite on the album is his tasteful electronic walk through "hang on", the opener - one absolutely mellow tune! I give this a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for soulful jazz fans everywhere, as well as the "PICK" of this issue for "most creative jazz I've heard this year". Get more information at www.sonicbid.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=167130 Rotcod Zzaj
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