jazzmessengers

Theron and Tom sit down backstage to talk about the life and legacy of drummer Ralph Peterson Jr., as well as the art behind composing music.

Ralph Peterson Jr. sadly passed away on March 1, 2021, at the age of 58 after a six-year battle with cancer. Peterson was a drummer, bandleader, composer and educator who built a 40-year career after emerging in the 1980s as part of a peer group that came to be known as the Young Lions for their work around the resurgence of acoustic hard bop.

He performed on albums by trumpeter Terence Blanchard and saxophonist Donald Harrison; was the leader of bands like Triangular and Fo'tet, released around two dozen albums, and was the anointed heir of Art Blakey, a drummer and bandleader of the Jazz Messengers, whose ranks produced several generations of major jazz talent.

As an educator, Peterson taught at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Learn more about his life and music at ralphpetersonmusic.com.

(Photo courtesy of ralphpetersonmusic.com)

As an 18 year-old, pianist Geoffrey Keezer wowed audiences as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with his prodigious technique and improvisations. Describing his own playing, Keezer says that his natural tendency is to “throw in everything but the kitchen sink…all the time.” In this episode of LINER NOTES, Keezer talks about his development as a musician over the span of his career as well as the teaching and writing that are occupying his time while he waits for the return of normal life.