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Peter Epstein

Peter Epstein began his career in 1984 in Portland, Oregonwhere he apprenticed with resident musicians Nancy Kingand Glen Moore. In 1992, after four years of studying jazzand various world music genres at California Institute of theArts, Peter earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree andrelocated to New York City.

Since then he has appeared on over 30 recordings andtoured in more than 20 countries with artists including BobbyPrevite, Brad Shepik, Ralph Alessi, Michael Cain, Medeski,Martin, & Wood, Mike Stern, Jim Black, Ravi Coltrane, andmany others. As a leader, Peter has released four albums forMA Recordings.

His most recent album for MA, Old School, features PeterErskine on drums and Scott Colley on Bass. Even morerecent is the Songlines release, Lingua Franca (with guitaristBrad Shepik and percussionist Matt Kilmer). Peter is involvedin a number of ongoing or continuing projects: The Collective,Ralph Alessi’s Modular Theatre, Abstract Realism, TheJames Carney Band, Bug, and the Peter Epstein Quartet withGary Versace, Sam Minaie, and Mark Ferber.

Peter received a Master of Music degree with an emphasis inclassical saxophone from the University of Nevada, Reno in2004; now teaching at UNR, he is currently AssistantProfessor of Music and Director of the Program in Jazz andImprovisational Music. Peter is also a co-founder (with RalphAlessi) and Vice President of the School for ImprovisationalMusic in Brooklyn, NY.

Peter Epstein Quartet: In Your Voice

by Mike Jacobs
August 18, 2025

It could be said that jazz, at its best, is a confluence of musical personalities that form a unified collective spirit, brought forth with immediacy. Peter Epstein's “In Your Voice" epitomizes this ethos with remarkably empathetic and stylized performances from the saxophonist, Jamie Saft, Chris Dahlgren and Jim Black. This is further amplified by the one-point, live recording ambiance employed during the proceedings. Enjoy. ...

Play This!

Peter Epstein, Brad Shepik, Matt Kilmer: Temoin

by Mike Jacobs
March 2, 2023

The nimble “Temoin" is one of the many piquant delights this unusually formatted trio (sax, guitar, frame drum) puts forth on Lingua Franca (Songlines, 2005), The absence of upright or electric bass creates a tangibly wider sonic space for their ethnically-tinged, odd-metered romps and highlights their wonderfully telepathic interplay. At times subtle, at others spicy, the tune (and album) is a unique pleasure to be savored. Bon appetit. ...

Album Review

Manzanita Quintet: Osmosis

Read "Osmosis" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
February 9, 2023

The tried and true quintet formation, set in stone by alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in the late 1940s, is back in 2022 with the Reno, Nevada-based Manzanita Quintet. So how do they give a fresh shine to a sound that could be considered “done to death?" On Osmosis the guys go at it with some fresh compositions, four by the group's bassist, Hans Halt, two more from their saxophonist, Peter Epstein, one from ...

Interview

Peter Epstein: Effortless Precision

by Stephen A. Smith
September 1, 2018

This article was first published at All About Jazz in June 2001. Peter Epstein is one of the brightest saxophonists on the New York scene. Since coming to New York from Portland in 1992, he has recorded with Brad Shepik, Ralph Alessi, and a host of others, on more than 30 albums. He has released three discs as a leader with MA Recordings: a solo saxophone album, and two discs of his quartet with Jamie Saft, Chris Dahlgren ...

Album Review

Peter Epstein Quartet: Polarities

Read "Polarities" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 11, 2014

Polarity, depending on the usage of the word, can reference opposites, the carrying of positive and negative charges, or attraction to a specific point, object, or idea; saxophonist Peter Epstein's Polarities deals with all of that. Epstein, a notable player on the New York scene in the '90s, has kept a lower profile since moving to Nevada, where he now serves as director of the jazz studies program at University of Nevada, Reno. His playing, thankfully, hasn't ...

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Album Review

Peter Epstein and Idee Fixe: Abstract Realism

Read "Abstract Realism" reviewed by John Barron

by John Barron
May 7, 2010

Abstract Realism is the debut recording for the band Idée Fixe, an experimental ensemble under the leadership of saxophonist Peter Epstein, that has been in existence since 1997. Along with Epstein, the band includes guitarist Andy Barbera, bassist Sam Minaie and drummer Matt Mayhall. Special guests for the disc include bass clarinetist Brian Walsh and saxophonist Gavin Templeton. With minimal ideas as the basis for each track, the music takes on spontaneous group thought with cohesive realizations. As ...

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Album Review

Peter Epstein / Brad Shepik / Matt Kilmer: Lingua Franca

Read "Lingua Franca" reviewed by Abe Pollack

by Abe Pollack
February 19, 2006

Technology and musical development have always seemed to work in tandem. Reel to reel recording made delay effects and multitracking techniques possible. Laptop processing has allowed trumpets to sound like cellos and cellos to sound like Jimi Hendrix. But the most intriguing technological advance for music in recent years has been the introduction of the iPod. Once you have spent a day listening to Balkan folk songs, The White Album and Tower of Power on shuffle, “genre" slowly goes the ...

Performance / Tour

Peter Epstein Will Tour In Support Of New Songlines Release, Polarities

Source: GoMedia PR
July 1, 2014

Saxophonist Will Perform on East and West Coasts from July through September Reno-based saxophonist Peter Epstein, whose new Songlines CD, Polarities, has garnered such strong reviews as “it's music of a higher order that's filled with endless surprises...expanding and contracting in fascinating ways" (allaboutjazz.com) and “it's a controlled burn...Epstein never loses the lyricism that defines his style"(Improvised blog), will tour throughout the US in the late summer/early fall. Epstein's slate of performances will begin in NYC on July 29, with ...
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Recording

Peter Epstein Joins With Ralph Alessi, Sam Minaie And Mark Ferber For First Songlines Release In Nine Years

Source: Cary Goldberg
April 21, 2014

Polarities, the New Album from the Peter Epstein Quartet, Will be Released on May 13 “...a wonderfully compelling and gripping album, on which instruments and sounds are of a rare expressive power." - Stef Gijssels, Free Jazz Blog, reviewing Epstein's previous release as a leader, Abstract Realism Saxophonist Peter Epstein may have slipped from public view a bit since leaving New York to take up a teaching position at the University of Nevada, Reno (where he is now the director ...
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" ...Epstein is making some pretty amazing statements rooted in world music and theavant-garde, but stretching even those parameters to create a contemporary modern sound all his own." —All Music Guide