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Finn Peters

Discography

Finn Peters Quintet
Su Ling (2006)

 

Winner of best band in the 2007 BBC Jazz Awards

BIOGRAPHY

Versatile musician Finn Peters, has proven time and time again, that there are no limits to what he can play. This exciting flautist and alto sax player happily performs and composes in a wide range of musical styles. He is just as accomplished at playing soul, funk, hip-hop and house, as he is at classical, Latin and of course jazz.

By the age of five Finn had already taken up the flute and five years later he took up the saxophone. Devon-born Finn went on to obtain a BA Hons in music at Durham University , before moving to London 's Guildhall School of Music in 1996, where he did a postgraduate course in jazz and studio music. Shortly after leaving the Guildhall, Finn went on tour with American soul diva Jhelisa Anderson. This got Finn noticed by the public and marked the beginning of his professional career.

The early nineties saw the emergence of dance music in the UK and Finn became heavily involved in the club scene. Whilst continuing his jazz pursuits, his passion for house music eventually lead to recordings with Carl Cox, Joey Negro and DJ Spinna.

In 1999 Finn formed the leftfield Hammond funk quintet Dr Seus and released his own records. At the same time, Finn was building up Latin credentials as he co-wrote and played on a track for Trip Do Brazil, recorded with Grupo X and toured with greats such as Jimmy Bosch and Giovanni Hidalgo . The same year, Finn's achievements were recognised after winning the London Young Jazz Musician award.

He went on to co-found the contemporary classical group Noszferatu, whose debut gig was the first of many live recordings by BBC Radio 3. 2001 saw more recordings with the aforementioned Trip Do Brazil and Grupo X, but this was the year that saw Finn getting much more involved in writing and producing his own music.

Finn's profile was raised further by his Club Brazil tracks. He did two Joyce covers, ‘Femenina' and ‘Aldeia der Ogum' and later covered a Manfredo Fest track ‘Jungle Kitten'. These in turn had a lot of chart success.

His typically eclectic calendar continued with a heavy involvement in the London broken beat scene. This saw him recording with ground breaking producer IG Culture, his involvement with the Mark De Clive Lowe, Bugz in the Attic and recording a track for Blue Note with 4 Hero, in between travelling to Morocco to learn about the music of Gnaoas.

 

By 2003 he had released his second self-produced EP with Dr Seus on his own Mantella Records . This incorporated everything from jazz, funk, and blues mixed with hip-hop breaks and soon made an impact on the dance floors, gaining praise from the likes of Mr Scruff and Rainer Truby. Another club land favourite resulted in 2004 with Finn's co-production of the track ‘ New Land ' with The Deal. He later toured with jazz queen Bembe Segue, jazz great Sam Rivers and the much hyped SA-RA Creative Partners, before releasing the self titled Bansuri EP , which was nominated for the radio 1 worldwide awards.

Su-Ling sees Finn returning to his jazz roots with this remarkable quintet, bringing with him a decade's wealth of broad musical knowledge. Having played on over 80 records and taken such an alternative musical route for years, has obviously provided Finn with what he needed in order to embark on this beautifully complex yet accessible album.

Su-Ling was released on Babel in September 2006

In 2006, Finn was also chosen as part of the Jerwood Rising Stars programme.

In July 2007, the Finn Peters Quintet (or 'Finntet') beat the bands of Stan Tracey and Byron Wallen in the best jazz group category of the BBC Radio 3 Jazz Awards

Finn Peters Babel Label Club Questionnaire - 2006

1/ How do you unwind when you're not playing or listening to music?

I really like cooking. I love traveling. I like reading a lot too. I can think of worse ways to unwind than lying on a beach, reading a book. I also like water sports surfing, sailing and swimming etc. I recently started getting interested in bird watching – saw some Puffins a couple of months ago and a pair of Sparrow Hawks yesterday!

2/ What inspired you to play the sax and flute?

I grew up around musicians and music. We had a studio at our house I started out playing recorder, then flute, then got a saxophone from the local school aged 11 and started trying to copy the playing on all my dad's Wayne Shorter records. When we moved to Spain I started playing along with the marching bands, then when I was around 13 I really started listening to Charlie Parker – after that there was no turning back! I had great teachers when I was at school too and that really helped.

3/ Who are your heroes?

Lord Buckley, Harpo Marx, Evan Parker, Han Bennink. I have a lot of heroes actually.

4/ Favourite album of all time?

That is almost impossible to answer. It could be loads of things. For the sake of argument let's say "A Love Supreme."

5/What CDs have you been listening to recently?

I listen to different music all the time and have thousands of records. Off the top of my head Bernard Wright "Nard": Kraftwerk "Computer World": Bugz in the Attic "In the doghouse": Eugene McDaniels "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse", a lot of Detroit Techno, Labi Siffre, a lot of Talking Heads, Norman Conners "Slew Foot", Messiaen "Illuminations of the Beyond" (imagine calling your record that!) Cachao, Gran Combo, Conjunto Libre, EPMD, Bennie Maupin's new album, Yusef Lateef's new album…………I could go on and on. Basically a lot of music but actually not that much jazz.

6/ If you had to take just 3 CDs and 3 DVDs to a desert island what would they be?

Again, I'm not very good on the desert island disc-type question. Probably music wise it would be classical –do you get to take the scores as well? Actually what about box sets? If so: Ravel complete works, Coltrane on Impulse, and Donald Fagen "The Nightfly" I've listened to that on a desert island before and it works really well. Films: La Dolce Vita (Fellini), Trees Lounge (Buscemi) and Milou en Mai (Malle)

7/ What bands should we be listening out for at the moment?

Anything that Kaidi Tatham AKA "Agent K" is involved with. I like Matthew Herbert's stuff. Tom Arthur's is really good. In fact a lot of the music coming from the F-ire guys is great. Magic Malik – the baddest flautist on the planet!! Also Dimi Mint Abba from Mauritania. Can't forget Bembe Segue and Eska of course!

8/ Any good stories about life on the road?

Once I got involved in an impromptu jam session with a concert cellist who was wearing an electric blue ball gown, and a hurdie gurdi player. That was pretty bizarre.

10/ What would you not mind being woken up in the middle of the night for?

A Stevie Wonder session. It does still happen. I can think of plenty of other things that are probably unprintable!