For nearly twenty years, Peter White has made the acoustic guitar a dynamic and expressive voice in the overall soundscape of contemporary jazz. Since his first recordings in the early 1990s, he has infused pop standards and his own original material with a sense of innovation and energy that rivals the abilities of many of his electric guitar counterparts. In a career that spans two decades and a dozen solo recordings, he continues to surprise seasoned fans and newcomers alike with his willingness to push the preconceived parameters of his instrument to new places.
But White’s musicianship is only part of the story. While his more recent recordings have primarily consisted of cover material, a collection of original songs had been simmering and taking shape for several years. It all comes to the surface on Good Day, his new CD scheduled for release on September 8, 2009, on Peak Records, a division of the Concord Music Group.
“I hadn’t made a CD of original songs for some time,” says White. “The last one was Confidential, which was released in 2004. So I just started going through my backlog of material – songs that I’d never finished, some going as far back as ten or fifteen years – and I discovered that I had a lot of gems that I really wanted to show to the world. I wanted to record them in my own time and in my own way, without any outside influence or interference.”
While it’s White’s vision that ultimately drives Good Day, he does get some assistance and inspiration from “DC,” the versatile keyboardist/programmer/songwriter who has produced and/or collaborated with a variety of contemporary jazz artists in recent years, including Paul Brown, Jeff Golub and Chuck Loeb. Also helping out was keyboardist/producer Philippe Saisse, an accomplished solo artist in his own right who has helped to re-shape the careers of Rick Braun, Marc Antoine and Gato Barbieri, among many others. “Both of them helped me enormously with this project,” says White. “They brought something to each one of these songs that I hadn’t even heard in my own head, bringing them to life in a way that I never could have, because I had been living with them for so long that I could only think of them in a certain way.”
Even as the sun sets on Good Day, the recording overall represents a beginning for White – an opportunity for him to reconnect with the clever and engaging songcraft that characterized his earlier recordings. “These songs had been raw demos for a long time,” says White. “Hearing them come to life by introducing them to other musicians who were experiencing them for the first time was very exciting, and very surprising. I had lost track of the possibility that these songs could have so much potential beyond what I’d originally envisioned. If I had finished this project purely by myself, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good. It’s the different ingredients and spices and colors provided by other people that make it what it is.”
Check out the latest from Peter White and get ready for a Good Day.
1. Good Day 5:55
2. Always, Forever 5:08
3. Just Give Me a Chance 4:39
4. Love Will Find You 3:16
5. (Un)Forgiven 5:18
6. Temptation 6:19
7. Mission 2 Mars 5:46
8. Bright 4:09
9. Ramon’s Revenge 6:56
10. Say Goodnight 3:38
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