pegEsus Quintet Live at Hermann's Jazz Club (poster by Oliver Brooks)

Back in August I performed a show with the pegEsus Quintet at Hermann’s Jazz Club in Victoria.

pegEsus is led by vocalist Peggy Hogan, who is currently studying music and literature at Concordia University.

The pegEsus Quintet is: Peggy Hogan voice, Geoff Peters piano, Ben Fast bass, Nick Houghton drums, and Amanda Paterson saxophone.

I recorded the show using my Minidisc recorder and camcorder, and put together the whole thing online as a series of Youtube videos.

• Watch entire show on Youtube
• Download the MP3′s of the concert (free)
• Check out Peggy’s myspace page.
• See my article on how use Minidiscs to record live music.

Here is a set list and links to the individual videos:

Set 1:

• Song For My Father by Horace Silver

• Your Mind is On Vacation by Mose Allison

• Close Enough for Love by Johnny Mandel, Paul Williams

• Bye Bye Blackbird by Ray Henderson

• Straight No Chaser by Thelonious Monk

• Georgia on My Mind by Hoagy Carmichael

• West Coast Blues by Wes Montgomery

Set 2:

• Softly as In A Morning Sunrise by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II

• A Timeless Place (The Peacocks) by Norma Winstone / Jimmy Rowles

• It Ain’t Necessarily So by George and Ira Gershwin

• Twisted by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross

• God Bless the Child by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr.

Kate Mcgarry. Photo credit: Matteo Trisolini

I just discovered the music of jazz vocalist Kate McGarry (view her page on All About Jazz, her website, or her myspace).

She has a really contemporary and modern sound, a bit similar to Bjork but with the passion and intensity of some of the classic “old school” vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.

For the Jazz Piano Cafe “Song of the Week”, I’ve picked Kate McGarry’s track Stars off her 2005 album, Mercy Streets. Stars was composed by pianist Fred Hersch who also performs on this track. The track also features Steve Cardenas (electric and acoustic guitars), Keith Ganz (myspace, acoustic guitar), Sean Smith (bass), and Kenny Wollesen (drums).

You can listen to Stars at Imeem (streaming only, provided you register for a free account). It’s also on iTunes (full song for 99 cents), and available directly from the record label, Palmetto Records, or by using the player below.

Stars – Kate McGarry

Stars is a wistful and beautiful song. The impressionistic glittering of Fred Hersch’s gentle yet insistent piano explorations makes me imagine looking at a sky full of stars. Wollesen’s drums and Smith’s bass eventually reveal the hints of a sophisticated and pulsing bossa nova, that underlies McGarry’s clear, sensitive, and nuanced vocal lines. The track progresses at a meandering walking pace through many harmonic directions into a thoughtful and motion-filled piano solo, and returns again to the original groove. My favorite part of the track is the line ending in “skies are friendless” at 2:15.

Here is an excerpt from the lyrics:

It’s so much harder
I find
without the light
of endless stars.
Clear the wondrous winter sky
that casts its spell.
Warm your hand in mine.
Do you recall
who can tell
I wish I knew what I could do
to forget your face. What to do when nights are endless
and skies are friendless.
Not a star, bring back the stars, the endless stars.

I hope you enjoy this track! Stay tuned for more great songs of the week.

- Geoff Peters at Jazz Piano Cafe.com

My talented globetrotting singer-songwriter friend, Angela Molineux, dropped by my place today for a visit, and we wrote and recorded a new song, called All I Want To Do.

We originally started working on this song 3 years ago when we were both living in Vancouver. Since then Angela has performed and lived in Italy, New York, and London, has studied opera at Julliard, and has had many other interesting musical adventures.

All I Want To Do is a seductive pop ballad that is full of emotion and desire. The simple, repetitive harmonic structures envelop the listener in a thick intoxicating cloud that can become almost trance-like. Most of the song is made up of the chord progression Ebm Gb Fm, and the second half of the chorus alternates between Ab and Gb.

The song is now live on iTunes. Click the link below for a preview of the song, and the full version can be purchased through iTunes for 99 cents.

Last week I attended the Phil Dwyer Academy of Music and Culinary Arts (PDAMCA) in Qualicum Beach, BC, Canada. Check out Phil Dwyer’s web site for more info about the camp. It was an amazing experience, with world class faculty and very talented students.

Here are some videos from our final concert. I was playing in a combo ensemble directed by Ingrid Jensen. Feel free to use the players or the links below.

“Tristan Paxton” – a composition by James Colwell
Watch: Youtube
Listen: Mp3

“Pass The Baton” – a composition by Julian Nalli
Watch: Youtube
Listen: Mp3

Mark Adam Drum – by Joel Miller
Watch – Youtube
Listen – Mp3

I have been practicing a bit on Bye Bye Blackbird by Ray Henderson. I decided to make a little recording of a solo piano version of the song, on my new acoustic piano. Hope you enjoy it!

Bye Bye Blackbird
watch: Youtube (or use the player below)
listen: MP3

Please watch in HD for better sound!

I had a fun afternoon playing around with my synthesizer (Korg MS-2000) and composed/recorded a new song. It is called Afternoon in New York.

Afternoon in New York by Geoff Peters
Listen:

Download the song (free): Mp3

It features a really simple hip-hop style bass drum/snare (thanks to the Garage Band Hip Hop Synthesized drum kit and a bit of dynamics compression), a synthesized choir patch from my Yamaha P90 keyboard, a soft pad from the Korg, a few notes of an acoustic piano patch from my Yamaha, and a lead synth line from my Korg (with a bit of cutoff filter controlled during the performance to vary the tone). I recorded all the tracks in layers, live & individually along with a metronome. I also used a Volume automation envelope to vary the volume of the lead line and the choir patch.

I don’t know very much about mastering, but the track sounded pretty good on my Macbook laptop speakers, my Behringer studio monitors, and my Creative Labs computer speakers.

Hope you enjoy it! And please let me know your comments, I would really appreciate them!

Last week I took a holiday from work and attended a jazz workshop at the Victoria Conservatory of Music in Victoria, BC, Canada. It was a fun week of attending concerts put on by the faculty, and going to piano masterclasses and composition classes by New York jazz pianist, composer, and producer, Misha Piatigorsky.

We had some student jam sessions, and here is a video recording of myself (Geoff Peters, piano), Luke Elliott (drums) and Simon (bass) playing the tune called Little Sunflower by Freddie Hubbard.

It was recorded at the Superior Cafe on Superior Street in downtown Victoria BC Canada (a great place for live music in Victoria with bands performing every day).

Little Sunflower by Freddie Hubbard
Watch video: Youtube
Download song (free): Mp3

We also recorded another song at the jam, the tune Angel Eyes by Matt Dennis. It features Jillana Rathjen on vibes.

Angel Eyes by Matt Dennis
Watch video: Youtube
Download song (free): Mp3

Here is a video of young British jazz sensation Jamie Cullum performing the Cole Porter tune “Just One of Those Things” on July 7th 2009 at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Watch on Youtube or use the player below.

I really like his piano solo!

I did another short piano practice on the jazz song Joy Spring by Clifford Brown. It’s more like a warm up really.

Click here to listen to my short practice on the Clifford Brown tune Joy Spring.

I am happy to announce the release of the music video for the song Quiet Night by my band, the Geoff Peters Trio.

The song is from our album Quiet Night (which is available worldwide from iTunes and CDBaby).

Feel free to watch below or on Youtube.

The band is:

Geoff Peters piano
Mark White bass
Greg Murray drums

For more info about the Geoff Peters Trio check out our web page.

The music video was shot in Vancouver, BC, Canada and produced by Christopher Lacroix.

Quiet Night was mixed and mastered by Alan Wong Moon. The Steinway piano tuning was done by Yonatan Torn. Video also available on Vimeo.