Paul Peress Project

THE PAUL PERESS PROJECT - leader Paul Peress:

"A Must See Artist and Master Drummer" LOS ANGELES TIMES

“Pushes the boundaries of contemporary radio.” GUITAR WORLD

A 2003 Grammy Nominee, drummer, bandleader, producer, and songwriter, Paul Peress is based out of New York City. His band, The Paul Peress Project, has performed in over 20 countries, and at festivals including: Jamaica Jazz & Blues, The Heineken Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, BET's Jazz St. Lucia, The St. Kitts Music Festival, and Puerto Rico's Internacional Festival de Jazz Latino…

Leader, Paul Peress, has worked as Drummer/Music Director with Chaka Khan, Moby, Regina Belle, The B-52’s, Brenda Russell, Tom Scott, Jimmy Heath, Stephen Bishop, Jeff Golub, Phil Perry, Lew Soloff, Guy Davis…

Touring in support of its 2010 release, "Can't Let Go" - featuring a Tower of Power alumni horn section, and former members of Grover Washington Jr., James Taylor, Rod Stewart - Peress has been hard at work, honing original compositions geared towards capturing the magic of this group's musical gifts...

Of Puerto Rican heritage, Peress - with a long foray into divergent and international musical styles - has unearthed a combination of Jazz, Brazilian, Jazz-Rock, and Funk influences in this eclectic yet powerful body of work with themes of peace, longing, and lost love driving the vocal tunes, and honest, from-the-heart melodies giving life to the instrumental compositions.

Not only on the road, but also in his hometown of New York City, Peress has produced several high-profile concerts, including two recent appearances at Lincoln Center: “The History of Jazz, From Africa to Cuba to the US” - featuring Carla Cook, Arturo O’Farrill, and Michael Mossman - and “The Routes of the Blues” - featuring Guy Davis and Michael Hill. He also produced a four-part series paralleling NY Historical Society’s expose on the History of Slavery in NY; the series was coined “The Influence of Enslaved Peoples on Music in and about the Americas”, and featured Candido, Jimmy Heath, Arturo O’Farrill, David Amram, Guy Davis, and others. In 2007, he competed against the Broadway show “Stomp”, to land Foundation Fighting Blindness’ international fund raising initiative, with Peress conceiving, producing, and directing a 42 member show he titled “Sight Through Sound – From Africa to Ireland to Cuba to Brazil”…

Paul is the son of a prolific poet, and an accomplished classical music conductor. Of Puerto Rican heritage, Paul grew up on the Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christi, Texas. When he turned 5, his aunt sent him a "music minus one for drummers" record, with a pair of drumsticks; he was transfixed, and immediately started lobbying to play the drums. So, for his 6th birthday, a big package came in the mail - and after Paul tore it open, he found nestled inside, a shiny, delicate violin. He thus began with the violin at the age of 6, switched to trumpet at 12, playing in the Jr. High School marching band, yet always rallying to play the drums. His father got the post as music director of the Kansas City Philharmonic and Paul befriended the principal percussionist, Vince Bilardo, who helped convince Paul's father to get him a drumset; so, at 17, Paul got a set of red-sparkle Gretsch drums! That Fall, he loaded his drums into his MGB, and moved to New York City, living in Hell's Kitchen. He put himself through school at Columbia University, working nights, and studying drums privately with Kenwood Dennard, then Kim Plainfield, who each influenced him in the Latin jazz and Brazilian genres.

Paul's first project was a jazz/rock band, Double Exposure, co-led with his singer/songwriter sister, Anika Paris. They put out a CD in 1990 and appeared regularly at Mikell's – where Stuff, Dave Sanborn, and Hiram Bullock got their starts. Later, while leading the house band at Chicago B.L.U.E.S., and doing a weekly Brazilian gig at Citrus Lounge, Peress got his big break as a solo artist – a 1996 appearance at the first St. Kitts Music Festival, where he has returned as a main act 5 times... More @ www.paulperess.com