New York City Jazz Record, January 2022 Best of 2021 selections: BEST TRIBUTES OF THE YEAR / BEST CONCERTS OF THE YEAR Dave Liebman Expansions: Selflessness (Dot Time) BEST REISSUES OF THE YEAR Louis Armstrong: The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966 (Mosaic) BEST DEBUTS OF THE YEAR Samara Joy: Samara … Read More
16th Annual Jazz Critics Poll Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios, Songs From My Father (Whaling City Sound) New Releases – Philip Booth (JazzTimes, Jazziz, Relix) New Releases – Andrew Gilbert (San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Classical Voice, Bay Area News Group) New Releases – Mark Holston (Jazziz, Latino) New Releases – Yoshi Kato (San Francisco … Read More
By Dee Dee McNeil, Musicalmemoirs’s Blog This project, “Raise Up Off Me” is the final full-length album from master drummer, bandleader and composer, Ralph Peterson Jr., released in late May, one day after what would have been his fifty-ninth birthday. Peterson’s latest release on his Onyx Label features a handful of original compositions and some … Read More
by Dave Sumner, Bandcamp “This session.. is a testament to the drummer’s effect on the modern jazz scene, shaping the enduring nature of the sound while simultaneously giving voice to personal expressions of his own humanity.” Read the full review here.
by Frank Alkyer, Downbeat “This might not be the very last previously unheard music we’ll get from the catalog of Ralph Peterson. But if it is, this is a perfect way to finish. His passing is a great loss to the jazz community, but his music lives on.” Read the full review here.
By Matt Silver, WRTI May 24, 2021. Drummer Ralph Peterson, the Art Blakey acolyte and former Jazz Messenger with a large-and-in-charge physical and musical presence on the bandstand and an outsize personality to match, died earlier this year, months shy of his 59th birthday; he’d been fighting cancer for the last six years. But you … Read More
By Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine We’ve lost so many great ones in the past year, some to Covid, some to other causes. For this writer, Ralph Peterson’s loss is especially difficult but my memories of Peterson leading the crowd in a chant of “Art Blakey, Art Blakey” before and after his Legacy Messenger Band’s riveting … Read More
By Filipe Freitas, JazzTrail The recently deceased drummer/composer Ralph Peterson will be always remembered as a shrewd, confident player who was utterly expressive in the stories he intended to tell. Peterson died from cancer on March 1st, and Raise Up Off Me is an inspiring last album filled with optimism and empowering message. Most of … Read More
By Adam Feibel, JAZZ.FM91 The final album by Ralph Peterson Jr. will be posthumously released on May 21, one day after what would have been his 59th birthday. Read more here.
by Matt Micucci, Jazziz Ralph Peterson Jr., Raise Up Off Me (Onyx Productions): Raise Up Off Me is the final full-length album from Ralph Peterson Jr., who passed away earlier this month. It will be released on May 21, one day after what would have been the drummer/bandleader/composer’s 59th birthday. A powerful closing statement, the LP was recorded at … Read More
