PETER ERSKINE

Peter Erskine began playing the drums at the age of four, and has now been at the forefront of world-class jazz ensembles for thirty three years. His first major professional work was with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, which he joined in 1972. After a three-year stint with Kenton and a two year stay with Maynard Ferguson, he joined Weather Report in 1978. The excellence of the partnership between Erskine and bassist Jaco Pastorius was an integral part of that group's success.

Following his 4 years in Weather Report (having recorded five albums with them including the Grammy Award winning "8:30"), he began to play with Mike Brecker, Mike Mainieri, Don Grolnick and Eddie Gomez in the group Steps Ahead . His other touring and recording credits (400+ albums) include Steely Dan, Diana Krall, Chick Corea, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Burton & Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, Kurt Elling, Queen Latifah, Kate Bush, Sadao Watanabe, Eliane Elias, Mike Stern, John Patitucci, Miroslav Vitous and Jan Garbarek; the BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Philhamornic, Ensemble Modern, the ASKO, Avanti & Absolute Ensembles; "Bass Desires " (with John Scofield, Bill Frisell, and Marc Johnson), the John Abercrombie Trio, the Kenny Wheeler Quintet & Big Band , the Bob Mintzer Big Band , the Yellowjackets as well as his own groups, including Trios with John Taylor, Palle Danielsson, Rita Marcotulli, and his current band with Alan Pasqua and Dave Carpenter.

Peter has recorded twelve solo albums: "Peter Erskine", "Transition", "Motion Poet", "Sweet Soul", "Big Theatre", and his ECM recordings You Never Know, "Time Being", "As It Is" and "Juni" as well as "History of the DRUM", "Behind Closed Doors" and "Side Man Blue" on his own label FUZZY MUSIC.. His latest playing ventures include The Lounge Art Ensemble; that group's latest CD is titled "Lava Jazz" and a piano trio with Alan Pasqua and Dave Carpenter; their double CD "Peter Erskine & Alan Pasqua with David Carpenter - Live at Rocco" has gotten rave reviews from the press and fans, and their newest CD is titled "Badlands."

Besides touring and recording, Peter is now pursuing new avenues in his career by composing for dance, theatre and animation. He has completed musical scores for Shakespeare's King Richard II and A Midsummer Night's Dream, the latter being honored by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle with the award for the "Best Original Musical Score 1987." His music for The American Conservatory Theatre's production of Twelfth Night was awarded by the Bay Area Drama Critics' Circle as the "Best Dramatic Score for 1989." His most recent works for this medium are Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, the dance piece "History of the Drum" (written for the Kokuma Dance Company of Birmingham, England), "The Yield of the Long Bond" for LA's "Matrix Theatre," and the score for the critically-acclaimed Pasadena Playhouse production of "Side Man." He has written for animation, and composed the music for the Simon & Schuster books-on-audio series "Alien Voices" starring Leonard Nimoy and John deLancie of Star Trek fame. Peter has played drums on over 40 film scores, including all 3 of the Austin Powers movies as well as the remake of “The Pink Panther” starring Steve Martin. Peter was Composer-in-Residence at the famed Hilliard Ensemble's choral workshop in Germany during the summer of 2000, and received a BBC commission to compose his suite "Music for Brass and Percussion" in 2001, as well as a commission to write a piece for the Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (plus marimba) in 2004. He was one of the featured soloists (along with Evelyn Glennie) in the 2 percussion Concerto titled “Fractured Lines” by Mark-Anthony Turnage, which premiered at the Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall. His performance on the Turnage-John Scofield recording “Scorched” earned him a Grammy nomination in 2004; he is also the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Peter Erskine plays DW Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads and Vic Firth sticks, mallets and brushes; he is also a board member of the Percussive Arts Society. He teaches at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles as well as at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Peter lives in Santa Monica, California, with his wife and their 2 children.

Visit Peter's website - pertererskine.com