Peter Curtis - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Peter Curtis is a guitarist and composer. He has performed or recorded jazz with notable musicians including Claudia Acuna, Don Braden, James Carter, Freddy Cole, Taj Mahal, Barbra Morrison and James Moody. He resides in Southern California and is an active figure in the jazz scene there. He has appeared in Japan and in European jazz clubs and festivals in Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, The Hague, Paris, Prague, Scaerding (Austria) and Zurich.As a classical guitarist he has given recitals in the U.S. and Canada and was awarded the Andres Segovia memorial scholarship from the Banff Centre for the Arts.In his teenage years, Peter sang, wrote songs and played guitar in an alternative rock band called Stubborn Blood that performed in the Vancouver, B.C. area.He is a tenured faculty member at Riverside Community College where he teaches applied jazz and classical guitar, jazz improvisation and directs the guitar ensemble.Peter is currently in rehearsals for a musical for which he wrote the songs. Called "Love U. The Grad School Musical," the show is a romantic comedy set in and satirizing the academic world. The play, which features a book by Montreal novelist Joel Yanofksy, will be debuted at the University of Redlands from April 2nd to 6th of 2008.Dr. Curtis received his Bachelor of Music degree Magna Cum Laude from the Berklee College of Music, a Masters of Music degree from Yale University, and a Doctor of Music degree in Classical Guitar Performance and Literature with minor fields in Ethnomusicology and Music History from Indiana University.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/23/2006
Band Website: petercurtismusic.com
Band Members: On my cd "Swing State" the musicians are: Eldad Tarmu on vibes Jiro Plutschow on bass Richard Weller on drums and me, Peter Curtis on guitar.
Influences: Joe Pass, Martin Taylor, Lenny Breau, Gene Bertoncini, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Stevie Wonder, Brad Mehldau, Astor Piazzolla, Jon Brion, Elvis Costello, the Beatles, Stravinsky, J.S. Bach, Villa-Lobos, Eliot Smith, Julian Bream, Django Reinhardt, Segovia, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Coltrane, Klezmer, Cole Porter, and all the canonic tin pan alley writers, Joey DeFrancesco, Mordechai Richler, Joel Yanofsky, Bob Cranshaw, Ben Verdery, William Kannengiser, Philip Roth, Kurt Weil, Jiro Plutschow...
Sounds Like: "This guitar-vibes-bass-drums quartet initially reminds one of the Red Norvo-Tal Farlow-Charles Mingus vibes-guitar-bass trio of 1950. However Peter Curtis' group is more modern than that and not derivative of any past models. Curtis sometimes sounds a bit like Django Reinhardt while, for contrast, he occasionally adopts a rockish style, as on a humorous rendition of Thelonious Monk's "Four in One." Vibraphonist Eldad Tarmu is closer to Bobby Hutcherson than to Norvo while bassist Jiro Platscow and drummer Richard Weller are swinging and supportive of the lead voices. The fluency, constant creativity, and versatility of Curtis and Tarmu are quite impressive as is the range of compositions, which includes a jam on "What Is This Thing Called Love" ("The Thing"), a tango, an introspective ballad reading by Curtis on "My Foolish Heart," and some eccentric bebop. While the music is often boppish, it is full of surprises and unexpected left turns. Highly recommended." ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Record Label: Kurtaszh records
Type of Label: Indie