Ralph Peterson - LYDIALIEBMAN.COM

Remembering Ralph Peterson, Jr.
May 20, 1962 - March 1, 2021

Ralph Peterson: Raise Up Off Me
Release Date: May 21, 2021
Label: Onyx Productions

Ralph Peterson and the Messenger Legacy: Onward & Upward
Release Date: September 18, 2020
Label: Onyx Productions

The Gen-Next Big Band: Listen Up!
Release Date: November 12, 2019
Label: Onyx Productions

Messenger Legacy Band: Alive Volume 6 at the Side Door
Release Date: May 20, 2019
Label: Onyx Productions

Aggregate Prime: Inward Venture: Alive Vol. 5 at the Side Door
Release Date: October 17, 2018
Label: Onyx Productions

The Gen-Next Big Band: I Remember Bu: Alive Vol. 4 at Scullers
Release Date: October 4, 2018
Label: Onyx Productions

On May 21, 2021, Onyx Productions will release Raise Up Off Me, the final full-length album from master drummer, bandleader and composer Ralph Peterson Jr. To be released one day after what would have been Peterson’s 59th birthday, Raise Up Off Me is a powerful closing statement by the jazz giant that was carefully and meticulously prepared before his passing earlier this month. Peterson’s long-time bandmates and collaborators Zaccai and Luques Curtis are featured here on piano and bass respectively, along with special guests Jazzmeia Horn and percussionist Eguie Castrillo. Raise Up Off Me will be available on all digital platforms, as a compact disc and a special edition double vinyl LP. A virtual listening event will take place around release week- details will be announced shortly.

Raise Up Off Me is Peterson’s 26th recording as a leader, and the 28th for his Onyx Productions Music Label. A self-described statement on society, this musical log pulled from issues that were important to Peterson: drug addiction and recovery; the importance of and the complexities of mental health; social issues and Black Lives Matter; and overall, the delicate impermanence of the physical life. On the title, Peterson says in a written statement: “In this era where we still feel the foot on our necks, the pepper spray and mace that burns our eyes and face, the bullets and the batons, I find it necessary to remind you that Black Lives Matter… and for my life to matter, you have to raise up off me.” The resulting work is a stirring opus made up of five Peterson-penned originals, and other compositions by Zaccai Curtis, Bud Powell, James Williams, Patrice Rushen and John Hicks. Jazzmeia Horn contributes a bonus track on the digital and LP version.

Raise Up Off Me was recorded entirely at Peterson’s own Onyx Recording studio in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts with engineer Dean David Albak on December 7, 8, and 9, 2020. The project finds Peterson at home with the Curtis Brothers, to whom he was a mentor and musical father. “It was always one of the greatest honors to play with Ralph. We loved him dearly and he always took the time to show us how much he loved us. This music is the pinnacle of what we've been striving for as a group. We are extensions of Ralph and his musical visions,” says Zaccai. Luques Curtis adds: "Ralph put a tremendous amount of love and thought into this recording knowing very much that it could be his last. He put his heart into this recording. I remember clearly how much fun he had planning it and his excitement throughout the recording process. I will always be grateful for the time I spent talking and learning from him on how to be a true Messenger of Music." The Curtis Brothers released Triangular III with Peterson in 2016 (Truth Revolution Records), and they appeared on various recordings with Peterson in his later years. Notably, Zaccai is featured on Peterson’s 2020 masterwork Onward & Upward.

Ralph Peterson passed away on March 1, 2021 after a six year battle with cancer.

BILL BEUTTLER
THE BOSTON GLOBE
To celebrate the birthday and album release, two overlapping streaming events are scheduled for Thursday night, a measure of the high esteem in which Peterson was held as a friend, colleague, and mentor. Live music will stream from Wally’s Jazz Cafe between 7 and 9 p.m. on the club’s Facebook page, an event organized by Peterson’s former student Craig Jackson and featuring Peterson’s Berklee colleague Tia Fuller on sax. Beginning at 8 p.m., on a Zoom link available via Peterson’s Facebook page, Orrin Evans, the Curtis brothers, Horn, Josh Evans, Sean Jones, and other guests will discuss the new album in what’s being billed as a virtual listening party. Read this entire article here.

EUAN DIXON
JAZZ VIEWS
"Peterson eschews the familiar Blakey repertoire in favour of original material composed by himself and those participating in the project; all the tunes displaying that timeless quality that has made hard-bop one of the most stimulating and enduring jazz forms. Slick ensemble passages bearing infectious melodic riffs and themes resolve into spirited solo choruses and jousting instrumental dialogues driven and prodded by Peterson’s propulsive drumming." Read this review here.

DARRYL YOKLEY
OCCHI MAGAZINE
"The full interview, recorded on May 17th, 2020 is on our Occhi Magazine YouTube channel. Here, you can get further backstories and further history on Ralph. This is the first part of this interview and I look forward to circling back with maestro Peterson in the near future to have him answer some other burning questions we at Occhi magazine have for him. ‘El Grito’, his single from the upcoming album Onward and Upward is available now, and be sure to visit www.ralphpetersonmusic.com for all the latest! I want to thank Ralph for his time and all the knowledge and history he has been so generous with, and I’m looking forward to round two!" Read the full interview here.

RAUL DA GAMA
JAZZ DA GAMA
“On song after song with chorus after chorus he makes a primal world come alive as if at the dawn of its birth, thriving in an idiom that is at once also contemporary, bluesy and accessible; a mix of soul, driving beat and fiery virtuosity which, in turn, propels this music – his music – into a dimension where it swings and rocks just as the music of the proverbial Jazz Messengers – that music that inspired Mr Peterson’s own music – did for generations since Mr Blakey first carved it into the edifice of Jazz. Like his sainted ancestor, Mr Peterson also solos with unrelenting fury”. Read the full review here.