Peter Apfelbaum
Encyclopedia
Peter Apfelbaum is an American
avant-garde jazz
pianist
, tenor saxophonist
, drummer
and composer born in Berkeley, California
. He first emerged on the jazz scene in the late 1970s, performing with Carla Bley
from 1978–1982 and touring with Warren Smith
and Karl Berger
. Around this time Apfelbaum also studied and worked with musicians involved with the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York. He graduated from Berkeley High School in 1978, in a class that included jazz pianist Benny Green.
Apfelbaum has made an impact on the avant-garde jazz and world music
scene since the late 1970s and 1980s. He is a well known multi-instrumentalist and composer. His three main instruments are tenor saxophone
, piano
, and drum
s, but he has recorded and performed with a diverse array of percussion, wind, and other instruments. He has composed suites for various artists (including Don Cherry
) as well as his 17-piece group The Hieroglyphics Ensemble. In 1990 Apfelbaum toured and recorded with Cherry in the group Multikulti, playing both piano and saxophone. In the early 1990s, Apfelbaum opened shows for The Grateful Dead with The Hieroglyphics Ensemble. Apfelbaum formed The Hieroglyphics Ensemble with jazz musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area, including Jeff Cressman, Will Bernard
, Norbert Stachel, Jessica Jones
, Tony Jones, Peck Almond, Dezon Claiborne, Josh Jones, Jai Uttal
, and many others. In 1991 his album "Signs Of Life," recorded with The Hieroglyphics Ensemble, went to #14 on Billboard (magazine)
's "top contemporary jazz albums. The latest incarnation of this group, The New York Hieroglyphics, released "It Is Written" in 2005, featuring members from the original group and New York-based musicians such as Patrice Blanchard, Dafnis Prieto
, Josh Roseman
, and Abdoulaye Diabate
. His compositions and performances have influenced many artists active in the contemporary jazz fusion scene. His work recombines and synthesizes varieties of world music
(i.e. various non-Western diasporic musical traditions) with experimental jazz idioms. Of how his music came into being, Apfelbaum writes: "My vocabulary reflects the fact that I started life as a drummer, was trained in jazz theory, blues and gospel music as a pre-teenager, became absorbed in African and Latin music as a teenager, listened to a lot of contemporary classical music, worked in R&B, reggae, blues, Latin, African, jazz, funk, Middle Eastern and Indian bands and, for as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by how sounds can be fitted together."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, tenor saxophonist
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
and composer born in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. He first emerged on the jazz scene in the late 1970s, performing with Carla Bley
Carla Bley
Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
from 1978–1982 and touring with Warren Smith
Warren Smith (jazz musician)
Warren Smith is an American jazz percussionist.Smith was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a musical family; his father played saxophone and clarinet with Noble Sissle and Jimmy Noone, and his mother was a harpist and pianist. He studied clarinet under his father from age four...
and Karl Berger
Karl Berger
Karl Hanns Berger is a musicologist with a PhD in Music Sociology, jazz composer, jazz vibraphone and piano player.-Biography:...
. Around this time Apfelbaum also studied and worked with musicians involved with the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York. He graduated from Berkeley High School in 1978, in a class that included jazz pianist Benny Green.
Apfelbaum has made an impact on the avant-garde jazz and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
scene since the late 1970s and 1980s. He is a well known multi-instrumentalist and composer. His three main instruments are tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, but he has recorded and performed with a diverse array of percussion, wind, and other instruments. He has composed suites for various artists (including Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
) as well as his 17-piece group The Hieroglyphics Ensemble. In 1990 Apfelbaum toured and recorded with Cherry in the group Multikulti, playing both piano and saxophone. In the early 1990s, Apfelbaum opened shows for The Grateful Dead with The Hieroglyphics Ensemble. Apfelbaum formed The Hieroglyphics Ensemble with jazz musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area, including Jeff Cressman, Will Bernard
Will Bernard
Will Bernard is a guitarist and band leader from the San Francisco Bay Area, now living in Brooklyn, New York. He has led the Will Bernard Band, Will Bernard Trio, Will Bernard 4-tet, and Motherbug....
, Norbert Stachel, Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones
Jessica Campbell Jones Cage is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos. Jones debuted in the series Alias as an embittered former superheroine who had used the aliases Jewel, Knightress, and currently Power Woman...
, Tony Jones, Peck Almond, Dezon Claiborne, Josh Jones, Jai Uttal
Jai Uttal
Jai Uttal is an American musician and singer-songwriter born in New York City. Often performing with his "Pagan Love Orchestra," Jai's music is influenced by his R&B roots of the 1960s and '70s and by traditional Indian music, which he first became familiar with at age 19.When he was 19, Jai moved...
, and many others. In 1991 his album "Signs Of Life," recorded with The Hieroglyphics Ensemble, went to #14 on Billboard (magazine)
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's "top contemporary jazz albums. The latest incarnation of this group, The New York Hieroglyphics, released "It Is Written" in 2005, featuring members from the original group and New York-based musicians such as Patrice Blanchard, Dafnis Prieto
Dafnis Prieto
Dafnis Prieto is a Cuban Drummer, Composer and Educator. He is a 2011 MacArthur Fellow.-Life:"His arrival in the U.S. has been compared by to that of an asteroid hitting New York."...
, Josh Roseman
Josh Roseman
Josh Roseman is an American jazz trombonist.Roseman was born in Boston, and studied at the New England Conservatory of Music. Roseman toured Jamaica with The Skatalites and in Australia with the Christopher Hale Ensemble...
, and Abdoulaye Diabate
Abdoulaye Diabaté
Abdoulaye Diabaté is a singer and guitarist who was born to Griot family in Kela, Mali in 1956. He has at least twenty years of experience in contemporary and popular music.-Life:...
. His compositions and performances have influenced many artists active in the contemporary jazz fusion scene. His work recombines and synthesizes varieties of world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
(i.e. various non-Western diasporic musical traditions) with experimental jazz idioms. Of how his music came into being, Apfelbaum writes: "My vocabulary reflects the fact that I started life as a drummer, was trained in jazz theory, blues and gospel music as a pre-teenager, became absorbed in African and Latin music as a teenager, listened to a lot of contemporary classical music, worked in R&B, reggae, blues, Latin, African, jazz, funk, Middle Eastern and Indian bands and, for as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by how sounds can be fitted together."
Selected Discography (as leader)
- Signs Of Life (Polygram, 1991)
- Jodoji Brightness (Polygram, 1992)
- Luminous Charms (Gramavision, 1996)
- It Is Written (ACT, 2005)