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Peter Kuhn

Peter Kuhn made a name for himself in New York City’s “Loft Scene” in the mid to late 70’s. He played and recorded with Frank Lowe, Billy Bang, Lester Bowie, William Parker and others in that rich musical period with his music documented on Hat Hut (“Ghost of a Trance”), Soul Note (“The Kill”) his own label Big City Records (“Livin’ Right”).

After a lengthy hiatus to deal with debilitating drug addiction. Peter is once again in the forefront of creative improvised music these last few years, playing with renewed passion and commitment no doubt supported by his trainings as a Zen Buddhist Priest and more than 30 years of recovery from active addiction. Recent activities include recordings or performances with the likes of Alex Cline, Abbey Rader, Eddie Gale, Dave Sewelson, Wayne Horvitz, Chris Brown, Kjell Nordeson, William Parker, Gerald Cleaver and others.

His two 2016 releases on NoBusiness Records were received with great critical acclaim. The double CD “No Coming, No Going” (William Parker, Denis Charles, Toshinori Kondo and Arthur Williams) was included in the NPR critics poll “Reissue/Rara Avis 2016” category and “The Other Shore”, which featured this trio (Nathan Hubbard and Kyle Motl) was included on the Best Release of 2016 lists by Dusted Magazine, Jazz Right Now (Cisco Bradley), Jazz Right Now (Paul Acquarro) and SoundDiego’s Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2016 by Robert Bush. Other recent recordings include Abbey Rader’s “West Coast Quartet" and “Our Earth, Our World” a quartet with Gerald Cleaver, Larry Roland and Dave Sewelson recorded live at Arts For Arts.

In 2018 he followed up with two releases on FMR: "Intention" Peter Kuhn Trio featuring with Nathan Hubbard and Kyle Motl and "Dependent Origination" a collective featuring Alex Cline, Dave Sewelson, Dan Clucas and Scott Walton.

Peter states, "As a creative artist I hope my music reflects the anger, outrage and cry of injustice as well as shining a light on the love and beauty that exists...this requires a shift and is the language of the heart. The potential for liberation is only in the here and now. I hope my music helps point the way to harmonizing with life exactly as it is to more effectively manifest the action of compassion in all our affairs, great and small.”"

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6
Album Review

Peter Kuhn Trio: Intention

Read "Intention" reviewed by John Sharpe


Reedman Peter Kuhn's re-emergence on disc after a 35-year hiatus was one of the more heartening stories of 2016. Kuhn figured on the New York loft jazz scene during the latter half of the 1970s, releasing three LPs under his own leadership, notably Livin' Right, reissued to much acclaim as part of No Coming, No Going (NoBusiness Records, 2016), as well as appearing on dates by saxophonist Frank Lowe and bassist William Parker. Proof that The Other Shore (NoBusiness Records, ...

5
Album Review

Peter Kuhn Trio: The Other Shore

Read "The Other Shore" reviewed by John Sharpe


Returning to the music after some 35 years off the scene, reedman Peter Kuhn helms a live date which catches him in consort with two like-minded and accomplished free spirits in bassist Kyle Motl and drummer Nathan Hubbard. Interest in Kuhn has spiked following the reissue of his debut Livin' Right, as part of the splendid double disc set No Coming, No Going (NoBusiness Records, 2016). In the intervening years since The Kill (Soulnote, 1982), Kuhn has discarded charts and ...

7
Album Review

Peter Kuhn: No Coming, No Going – The Music of Peter Kuhn 1978-1979

Read "No Coming, No Going – The Music of Peter Kuhn 1978-1979" reviewed by John Sharpe


In No Coming No Going, the Lithuanian NoBusiness imprint has unearthed a real gem, as part of its continuing exhumation of the New York 1970s loft scene. Reedman Peter Kuhn was a minor presence during the latter half of the decade, releasing three discs under his own leadership, and appearing on dates by Frank Lowe and William Parker. But in Livin' Right, reissued here as the first installment of a two disc set, he waxed a masterpiece which sums up ...

10
Multiple Reviews

Three New Releases from Peter Kuhn

Read "Three New Releases from Peter Kuhn" reviewed by Dave Wayne


Clarinetist Peter Kuhn came up in the 1970s. In those days, one could count the number of modern jazz clarinet specialists on one hand: John Carter, Perry Robinson, Theo Jorgensmann, Alvin Batiste and—if you include the bass clarinet—Michel Pilz. So, one hand and a finger. Still associated with Benny Goodman, Dixieland and Swing, the clarinet was considered deeply uncool in the age of fusion. The uncompromising music of these brave souls did little to sway anyone who was not predisposed ...

Album Review

Peter Kuhn, Dave Sewelson, Gerald Cleaver, Larry Roland: Our Earth / Our World

Read "Our Earth / Our World" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Parte subito lancia in resta questa lunga (almeno quanto a durate dei singoli episodi, svarianti dagli 11 ai 25 minuti e rotti) impro session, che coinvolge musicisti rodati senza peraltro ascendere, se non a sprazzi, a risultati pari alle attese. Come fin troppo spesso accade in frangenti del genere, infatti, sembra mancare una reale linea-guida, cosicché gli esiti appaiono troppo strettamente connessi ad accadimenti tutto sommato contingenti. I momenti migliori, per quanto sopra, sembrano di conseguenza arrivare ...

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Recording

Peter Kuhn Is Back With A New Trio Recording And His Archive Recordings Reissue

Peter Kuhn Is Back With A New Trio Recording And His Archive Recordings Reissue

Source: NoBusiness Records

Livin' Right is a product of the amazing NYC loft scene of the 1970s, where players from around the world gathered in a rare period of community, harmony, and creativity, a time when a relative unknown from California could meet and play with the great musicians on this disc. William Parker was already a phenomenon at the time, but there was no way to predict the depth of his amazing ultimate contribution to music. Denis Charles had already been on ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Intention

FMR Records
2018

buy

No Coming, No Going

NoBusiness Records
2016

buy

The Other Shore

NoBusiness Records
2016

buy

No Coming, No Going...

NoBusiness Records
2016

buy

Videos

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