Peter White

I grew up in England and started playing guitar after hearing the Beatles in the early 60s. Seeing them on TV playing live at Shea stadium, NY I was convinced that this was my calling. All the screaming girls must have had a profound effect on me, even at such an early age. I joined Al Stewart's band in 1975 and played on his 1976 album "The Year of The Cat", recorded at Abbey Road studios in London. It was the place were the Beatles recorded most of their music. After I met Paul McCartney in the corridor I knew I had arrived! I continued to play and record with Al Stewart through the 1980s and in the meantime, met Polish singer Basia through my brother Danny, who was her band leader/co-producer. We did 2 major tours together in the early 1990s and at the same time I started recording my own instrumental guitar music. Gradually I slipped into the jazz world, after playing rock and roll for most of my life. Only thing is, my style had never really changed. The rhythms got a little more funky and syncopated and the tempos a little less frantic. (You can still hear some quite frantic tempos on my first 3 albums however!) So there you have it- it's now called Jazz- or Smooth Jazz, but I'm still a rock and roller and listen to AC/DC as easily as I listen to Billie Holiday. It's all music. I enjoy playing up to 100 shows a year and wouldn't change my life for anything. I've met all my idols and even played music with some of them, as I did with Earl Klugh in 2007. Way back in 1975 I met Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) in an elevator (he won't remember). I was clutching my newly purchased Les Paul guitar (the same guitar that he played) and all I could say, staring wide-eyed, was "You're Jimmy Page!". He wasn't holding a guitar- I'm sure he had people to do that for him, but the feeling that I came away with was that for all my attempts at being cool, having the right hair and the right guitar, I was still a hopeless wanna-be. Music isn't about hair, clothing or even a particular instrument- it's about reaching into your soul and pulling something out that is unique and soulful. I hope to meet Mr. Page again one day under different circumstances. I've grown up a lot since then. Look at my concert schedule and come and say hi one day! See ya.....PW