Peter Jackson

I began playing accordion and guitar in a gospel band in the 60s back in Nottingham, England. Then I minored in classical guitar at college in the 70s, joining a quartet led by Brian Whitehouse. In the 80s, I took up electric guitar and played around town in Saint Louis, sitting in with local rock bands such as Memphis Underground, to whom I owe a special debt of gratitude.

On moving to Saint Paul in the 90s, I took up bass guitar, doing 2 years of concertizing with the Minnesota Mandolin Orchestra, as well as recording sessions on folk-rock album 'Hurricane' with Tom & Cathy Plantenberg. I then joined the jazz quintet Caterwaul out of the West Bank School of Music with Paul Renz and Lisa Meyer, playing originals in local bars and restaurants.

In the 00s, I went back to electric guitar, playing in the Jazzkickers sextet with Carmin Pluntz, Gregory Bannister, Tim Wick, Steve Proper and Gary Berosik.  We are all Thomson Reuters employees. Our thing is doing corporate and charity gigs in the last quarter of each year. We need to get back together, but I'm the major obstacle to that, as usual.

I also helped produce a Dennis Spears album, his second, released in 2004. This was something of a labor of love, since my wife and I are huge fans.  Since 2003, I have served on the Board of Directors of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. We love the repertoire of the SPCO, which ranges from baroque to modern, and its innovative Artistic Partners program. 

More recently, I took two years of jazz piano with Bryan Nichols at the MacPhail Center for Music.  Nowadays, my idea of a good time is to sit at the keyboard and make arrangements of jazz standards from the Real Book. (Yes, I don't get out much.) I'd like to record more music, but basically I'm much too lazy. Making good recordings is really hard work.

Playing the blues on a Gibson Robot Les Paul, an innovative self-tuning guitar with sensors and servomotors.