Peter Erskine

Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer and composer.

He was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S..He began playing the drums at the age of four. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, then studied percussion at Indiana University. His professional career started in 1972 when he joined the Stan Kenton Orchestra. After three years with Kenton he joined Maynard Ferguson for two years. In 1978 he joined Weather Report, joining the legendary Jaco Pastorius to form a formidable rhythm section. After four years and five albums with Weather Report he joined Steps Ahead. His big band recordings with the Bob Mintzer Big Band are excellent modern big band jazz/funk studied by many students of drums and drumming.

His music-style spanning talent also features on Kate Bush's 2005 album "Aerial", where Erskine teams with bass player Eberhard Weber. Diana Krall, Eliane Elias, Queen Latifah and Linda Ronstadt among many more still choose Peter for his multifaceted musicality. Even Scottish and Finnish Classical Orchestras have had him as a featured musician. He is currently on the music faculty at the University of Southern California.

Everything is Timekeeping

Erskine has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many top jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan. He also releases very influential teaching materials, both in his excellent books as in videos and DVDs, even online.

His playing style is characterized by a thorough dedication on time-keeping and swing, a great dynamic spectrum and an ability to play several styles of music very sensitively. These qualities may be the reason for his very wide use as a session drummer in musical settings of great variety. Hence he could also be labeled as an "all-around drummer", in terms of musical styles he is capable of playing with skill.

As a jazz-drummer, his dedication to timekeeping makes his jazz playing sound quite modern, as he does not tend to play "flexible" timekeeping as most of traditionalist jazz drummers. It remains a matter of personal opinions to be discussed whether he has thus brought jazz into the modern era of perfect timekeeping (a reference here is made to drum machines and electronic music with flawless metronomical timekeeping of today), or whether he diverges from traditional jazz drumming.

Trivia

Erskine is good friends with Vinnie Colaiuta, another versatile drummer held in extremely high regard.

Books

* Time Awareness
* The Erskine Method for Drumset
* My Book
* The Drum Perspective
* Drum Concepts and Techniques

DVD

The Erskine Method for Drumset (Alfred Publishing Company)

Discography (as a leader)

* 1982 "Peter Erskine" (Contemporary/OJC)
* 1987 "Transition" (A&M)
* 1988 "Motion Poet" (A&M)
* 1988 "Aurora" (Denon)
* 1990 "Big Theatre" (ah um)
* 1991 "Sweet Soul" (Fuzzy Music)
* 1992 "You Never Know" (ECM)
* 1993 "Time Being" (ECM)
* 1994 "History Of The Drum" (Interworld)
* 1995 "As It Is" (ECM)
* 1995 "From Kenton to Now" (Fuzzy Music)
* 1998 "Lava Jazz" (Fuzzy Music)
* 1998 "Behind Closed Doors, Vol. 1" (Fuzzy Music)
* 1999 "Juni" (ECM)
* 2000 "Live at Rocco" (Fuzzy Music)
* 2002 "Badlands" (Fuzzy Music)
* 2003 "Cologne" (w/ Bill Dobbins and John Goldsby) (Fuzzy Music)
* 2005 The Lounge Art Ensemble: Music For Moderns (Fuzzy Music)

Discography as Contributing Artist (Excerpt)

* 1972 Stan Kenton: "National Anthems of the World"
* 1977 Maynard Ferguson: "Conquistador"
* 1978 Weather Report: "Mr. Gone"
* 1979 Weather Report: "8:30"
* 1979 Joni Mitchell: "Mingus"
* 1979 Joe Farrell: "Sonic Text"
* 1980 Weather Report: "Night Passage"
* 1981 Jaco Pastorius: "Birthday Concert"
* 1982 Weather Report: "Weather Report [1982] "
* 1983 Steps Ahead: "Steps Ahead"
* 1983 Warren Bernhardt Trio: "Warren Bernhardt Trio"
* 1984 Steps Ahead: "Modern Times"
* 1985 Marc Johnson: "Bass Desires"
* 1985 John Abercrombie: "Current Events"
* 1987 John Abercrombie: "Getting There"
* 1988 John Abercrombie/Marc Johnson/Peter Erskine: "John Abercrombie, Marc Johnson & Peter Erskine"
* 1989 Christof Lauer: "Christof Lauer"
* 1989 Gary Burton w/ Pat Metheny: "Reunion"
* 1990 Kenny Wheeler: "Music for Large and Small Ensembles"
* 1990 Vince Mendoza: "Start Here"
* 1990 Don Grolnick: "Weaver of Dreams"
* 1991 Manhattan Jazz Quintet: "Funky Strut"
* 1991 Jan Garbarek: "Star"
* 1992 Eddie Daniels w/Gary Burton: "Benny Rides Again"
* 1992 Mendoza/Mardin Project: "Jazzpaña"
* 1992 Ralph Towner: "Open Letter"
* 1993 Vince Mendoza: "Sketches"
* 1994 Mike Mainieri: "American Diary"
* 1994 Christoph Stiefel: "Ancient Longing"
* 1995 Steely Dan: "Alive in America"
* 1996 Nguyên Lê: "Miracles"
* 1997 Alessandro Galati: "Jason Salad!"
* 1998 Bob Mintzer Quartet: "Quality Time"
* 1999 Marty Ehrlich/Michael Formanek/Peter Erskine: "Relativity"
* 2000 John Abercrombie: "The Hudson Project"
* 2002 Diana Krall: "Look of Love "
* 2003 Rolf Kühn "Internal Eyes"
* 2003 Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band XXL"
* 2004 Peter Erskine/Nguyên Lê/Michel Benita: "E_L_B"
* 2004 Mark-Anthony Turnage/John Scofield: "Scorched"
* 2005 Kate Bush: "Aerial"
* 2005 Randy Brecker/Michael Brecker & the WDR Big Band: "Some Skunk Funk"
* 2005 Joe Zawinul: "Weather Update"
* 2007 Thomas Quasthoff: "Watch What Happens"

External links

* [http://www.petererskine.com Homepage of Peter Erskine]
* [http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Peter_Erskine.html Peter Erskine's Drummer World Profile!]
* [http://allmusic.com All Music Guide]
* [http://www.drummersdigest.com Two new interviews with Peter about his music and his change from Yamaha to DW]
* [http://www.jazzreview.com/articledetails.cfm?ID=112 Interview with Peter Erskine]
* [http://www.drumsontheweb.com/DOTWmusicsite/DOTWmusicpages/PErskine-text.html]
* [http://www.jazzdrummerworld.com/jazz/drum/news_596.html Peter Erskine Interview in English and German]