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Peter Sommer

Peter Sommer, saxophonist and composer, is in demand as a performer, clinician and recording artist throughout the state of Colorado. Since establishing himself among the area’s elite jazz musicians, Peter has contributed his muscular tenor playing and creative spirit to a wide variety of musical projects ranging from mainstream bebop to avant garde and beyond. Peter is a member of the Ken Walker Sextet, whose recent release on Synergy Music, Terra Firma, reached #6 on the CMJ Jazz Radio Charts and received rave reviews from JazzWeek.com and the All Music Guide Online. This fall, Peter will release his long-awaited debut album, Sioux County on Tapestry Records, which features his compositions and his long-time collaboration with jazz piano legend Art Lande.

Peter has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, and has appeared at many jazz festivals throughout the state including the Telluride Jazz Celebration, Jazz in the Sangres and the Vail Jazz Festival. Peter was recently featured as a guest soloist with the University of Wyoming Jazz Ensemble I as part of the North American Saxophone Alliance Region 1 Conference held in Laramie, WY. Peter has performed in concert with Greg Gisbert, Ron Miles, Brad Goode, Bobby Shew, John McNeil, Clay Jenkins, Bobby Watson, Dave Pietro, Don Aliquo, Paul McKee, Dale Bruning, Jim McNeely, Joanne Brackeen, Chip Stephens, Rosanna Vitro and Ernie Andrews.

Peter Sommer is Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies and Saxophone at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins. At CSU, Mr. Sommer directs Jazz Ensemble I and the CSU Jazz Combo program, in addition to teaching courses in Jazz Improvisation and Jazz Pedagogy.

Peter received both his Bachelors’ degree in Music and his Masters in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder. During his time at CU, Peter was awarded first place in the Jazz Improvisation Competition at the North American Saxophone Alliance National Conference, was the recipient of a Downbeat Student Music Award for Outstanding Performance by a Soloist in both the Jazz and Blues/Pop/Rock categories, was a member of three jazz combos that received Downbeat Student Music Awards for Outstanding Performance by a small jazz group, and was featured with the University of Colorado Jazz Ensemble I which also received an Outstanding Performance award.

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Album Review

Ben Markley: Ari's Funhouse

Read "Ari's Funhouse" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Accade spesso nel jazz che dagli incontri estemporanei nascano le cose migliori. Il bandleader e arrangiatore Ben Markley e il batterista Ari Hoenig si sono conosciuti nel 2019 in un jazz festival del Texas. Da quell'incontro è nato questo progetto discografico, che ha visto Markley orchestrare le composizioni di Hoenig per la big band che guida a Denver. Il batterista è ospite dell'ensemble e dà il suo contributo con un vivace e articolato sostegno ritmico. L'album è stato registrato nel ...

36
Album Review

Wil Swindler: Space Bugs

Read "Space Bugs" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Space Bugs is essentially multi-layered yet readily accessible chamber jazz admirably performed by saxophonist/composer Wil Swindler's Colorado-based Eleventet—a finely woven banquet for the ears that was handsomely recorded in May 2022 before an appreciative audience at Denver's Mighty Fine Productions. Gil Evans springs to mind when listening, as do Pete Rugolo and late- career Bob Brookmeyer. As a composer, Swindler writes that he has “always been between worlds," loving “the pristine intervals and warm timbres of orchestral ...

30
Album Review

Ben Markley Big Band: Ari's Funhouse

Read "Ari's Funhouse" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Ari's Funhouse, recorded in July 2021, sprang from a chance encounter at a Texas jazz festival in 2019 between New York-based drummer & composer Ari Hoenig and Denver-based pianist & arranger Ben Markley. After performing with Hoenig in a small group, Markley asked if he might score some of Hoenig's songs for a big band. Hoenig readily agreed, and after a lengthy Covid-induced pause, he and Markley's band finally met face-to-face in Denver to record the album. Two things are ...

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Album Review

Peter Sommer: Tremolo Canteen

Read "Tremolo Canteen" reviewed by Florence Wetzel


Like food, music can be hastily prepared and obvious, or it can be thoughtfully concocted, with delicious subtleties of flavor and seasoning. Saxophonist Peter Sommer's standout Tremolo Canteen is happily the latter, full of intricate layers and quiet surprises, performed by four excellent musicians who came of age in the Denver jazz scene. Sommer's tenor lines are strong and multifaceted, and yet at the same time there's a quality to his playing that's refreshingly understated. He can ...

201
Album Review

Peter Sommer: Crossroads

Read "Crossroads" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


It takes self-confidence and talent for a new musician to lock horns with a more experienced practitioner of the same instrument, and tenor saxophonist Peter Sommer has plenty of both. His only other recording was a collaborative effort with pianist Art Lande, and this second recording is his first as a leader. On this record, Sommer's seasoned partner is Rich Perry, a veteran of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and a member of the Maria Schneider ...

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Album Review

Peter Sommer: Crossroads

Read "Crossroads" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


Tenor saxophonist Peter Sommer is at the Crossroads with Rich Perry (tenor saxophone), Eric Gunnison (piano), Ken Walker (bass) and Todd Reid (drums), as they parlay a selection of standards and originals into an interesting journey through focus and commitment.

Sommer is not apprehensive in reshaping a standard and taking it in a new direction. In doing so, he raises the stakes in tandem with Perry. The contrast in their styles makes it all the more ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Ari's Funhouse

OA2 Records
2022

buy

Space Bugs

OA2 Records
2022

buy

Big Slick

Dazzle Recordings
2015

buy

Tremolo Canteen

Dazzle Recordings
2011

buy

Crossroads

Capri Records
2009

buy

Crossroads

Capri Records
2008

buy

Passage

From: Space Bugs
By Peter Sommer

Birdless

From: Ari's Funhouse
By Peter Sommer

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