Peter Eldridge - voice, piano, composer
www.petereldridge.com
Peter Eldridge one sheet - PDF
Booking: peter@orangegroveartists.com
Peter Eldridge combines all facets of his musical talents into an eclectic mix of performing, recording, composing, producing and teaching. He recently released two solo recordings - the sophisticated pop of 'Fool No More', a collection of his original music produced by Peter and the multitalented Ben Wittman (Patty Larkin, The Story, Lucy Kaplansky), as well as the bittersweet standards found in ‘Stranger in Town’, produced by Peter and Jean Charles Lignel, featuring an all-star cast of jazz luminaries such as Michael Brecker, Lewis Nash, Claudio Roditi and Romero Lubambo. Both CDs were recorded for the independent label, Rosebud Music.
This comes after years of dynamic recordings with the Grammy award-winning vocal group New York Voices, which Peter co-founded with Darmon Meader. The group has been touring the world since 1989 and has six recordings (and numerous guest appearances) to its credit, the latest being the critically acclaimed Concord album 'Sing Sing Sing', a swinging big band tribute produced by another Grammy winner, Elliot Scheiner. New York Voices was just awarded favorite vocal group by JazzTimes magazine and just finished touring with Paquito D'Rivera with the project (Brazilian Dreams) that won a Latin Grammy award in September 2003, as well as the Boston Pops.
Reaction to Peter's solo projects has been very strong. The internet music service allmusicguide.com said of 'Fool No More', "Eldridge belongs in the celebrated tradition of melodic poets, most famously represented by such disparate voices as Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Van Morrison: singer/songwriters who create catchy, beautiful tunes with insightful lyrics that are both personal and universal". WICN-FM in Boston gave 'Stranger in Town' its own version of the Grammy award for best jazz album of 2001. Peter is currently in the studio recording a new CD of original tunes, for release later this year.
Peter also has a deep love of the art of teaching. He has been on the voice faculty in the jazz department of the Manhattan School of Music since 1993. One of his many talented students is Jane Monheit. Peter recently had the pleasure of performing with Jane on a live DVD entitled 'Live at the Rainbow Room', where the two vocalists sang 'Around Us', an original composition of Peter's based on a quote by James Thurber. He is regularly in demand for master classes and workshops around the world and teaches privately at his home in NYC when time allows.
Peter has worked with a diverse and legendary group of artists, among them
Bobby McFerrin, Nancy Wilson, David Byrne, Jonatha Brooke, George Benson, Patti Austin, the Roches, Betty Buckley, Joshua Redman, Ivan Lins, Michael Brecker, Eddie Gomez, Christian McBride, Jon Hendricks, Linda Eder, and Bill Charlap. He was recently commissioned by the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City to compose a piece for its sanctuary choir directed by Kenneth Dake, for which he wrote the haunting 'Prayer', an interpretation of the Lord's Prayer with text by Peter. Peter has also just won this year's Children's Aid Society Choral Competition Contest and will be writing a new piece for this renown group, to be performed in the spring of 2004.
He produced New York Voices' pianist Andy Ezrin's first CD, 'Tactile', featuring the remarkable pianist in two trio settings, as well as CDs for two other talented performers - Jack Donahue's 'Strange Weather' and Rondi Charleston's 'Love is the Thing'. Peter is currently writing English lyrics for one of his heroes, Brazilian composer Ivan Lins, and adding his voice to Bobby McFerrin's newest recording project.