Peter Malick
Encyclopedia
Peter Malick is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
based musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, known for his work with blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musicians and for early collaborations with Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
.
Career
In the late 1960s Malick was a member of the band Listening. Listening was signed by Vanguard RecordsVanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
when Malick was aged sixteen. His talent as a blues guitar
Blues guitar playing
Blues guitar playing is an instrumental technique which is used to accompany the singing of blues music. It often incorporates the use of a slide guitar technique.-History of the blues:...
ist landed him a gig with blues pianist Otis Spann
Otis Spann
Otis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
, who invited Malick to live with his family in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Over the years, Malick backed up and toured with blues greats including Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Big Mama Thornton
Big Mama Thornton
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks in 1953. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold almost two million...
, and John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
.
Later, Malick was a conductor and musical director for the national touring company of Hair (musical)
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
.
Malick next joined the James Montgomery Band, recording two albums on the Capricorn label.
From 1978 to 1981, he made a living playing cards. In 1990, Malick returned to music and moved to a Boston home base, maintaining a busy tour schedule. In 1996, Malick released two independent records on the Conqueroot/Mr. Cat Records label.
In 2000, Malick invited Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
to join him in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
gigs. He went on to produce her pre-Blue Note tracks, which became the New York City (album)
New York City (album)
New York City is an album by The Peter Malick Group featuring Norah Jones. The album was recorded during August and September 2000, a few weeks before Jones made her own demos for the Blue Note label, and released three years later. Jones sings on all seven tracks, and this album is more bluesy...
, released on Koch Records.
Malick won the WC Handy Award in 2001 for producing historic album of the year with Otis Spann's Last Call: Live at Boston Tea Party, the archival final performance of his mentor.
Malick released The Peter Malick Group, Chance and Circumstance, in 2003 (Koch Records), a collaborative effort for which he functioned as producer, guitarist, and co-writer with a handful of strong female vocal talent, featuring Norah Jones.
Malick is president of Mr. Cat Music, which houses his own label, production, and his recording studio. He is also president of Radarproof, Inc., a community of musicians, producers, and engineers, which develops and promotes new artists.
Most recently, Malick has been working on a diverse array of projects at his ChessVolt Studios.
As blues guitarist
- Cut You Loose James Cotton Blues Band (VanguardVanguard RecordsVanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
1967) - Listening Listening (Vanguard 1968)
- First Time Out James Montgomery Band(Capricorn/Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
1973) - High Roller James Montgomery Band(Capricorn/Warner Bros. 1974)
As writer, musician, and singer
- Wrong Side of My Life Peter Malick (Mr. Cat Records 1998)
- Sons of the Jet Age Peter Malick (Mr. Cat 2000)
As producer, writer, and musician
- New York City (album)New York City (album)New York City is an album by The Peter Malick Group featuring Norah Jones. The album was recorded during August and September 2000, a few weeks before Jones made her own demos for the Blue Note label, and released three years later. Jones sings on all seven tracks, and this album is more bluesy...
(Koch 2003) - The Peter Malick Group, Chance and Circumstance (Koch 2003) featuring Norah Jones.
- Hope Waits (Radarproof Records 2007)
- Courtney Jones, Awake and Dreaming (Radarproof Records)
As producer
- Otis Spann's Last Call: Live at Boston Tea Party (Conqueroot 2001)
- Nada Bhava (Anusara http://www.anusara.com 2007)
- Starting Ground Josh Blackburn (Mr. Cat 2007)
- Whiskey with Free Dominguez (2006)
- Transcendence Tony Khalife (Associate Producer)
Miscellaneous
- Tracks on various remix and compilation albums including Norah Jones' The Recovered (2007).
Movies and television
- Runaway JuryRunaway JuryRunaway Jury is a 2003 American drama/thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and Rachel Weisz...
(2003) - Third Watch
- LullabyLullabyA lullaby is a soothing song, usually sung to young children before they go to sleep, with the intention of speeding that process. As a result they are often simple and repetitive. Lullabies can be found in every culture and since the ancient period....
(2004) - Broke SkyBroke SkyBroke Sky is a 2007 neo-noir 35 millimeter film, and has been compared to such films as No Country for Old Men and Blood Simple. It is the directorial debut of cinematographer Thomas L. Callaway. The film stars Will Wallace, Joe Unger, Bruce Glover, Duane Whitaker and Barbara Chisholm.-Plot:Bucky...
(2007)
Awards
- W.C. Handy Award 2001 for Otis Spann's Last Call: Live at Boston Tea Party (Conqueroot 2001).
- BillboardBillboard (magazine)Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Top Blues Album, New York CityNew York City (album)New York City is an album by The Peter Malick Group featuring Norah Jones. The album was recorded during August and September 2000, a few weeks before Jones made her own demos for the Blue Note label, and released three years later. Jones sings on all seven tracks, and this album is more bluesy...
(Koch 2003)
Personal life
Peter has two children, Mercy and Pete, from his first marriage. He remarried in 2006. He has two stepchildren.External links
- Peter Malick site
- ChessVolt Studios
- Radarproof Records
- [ allmusic - Peter Malick Biography]
- Billboard.com Biography - Peter Malick
Reviews
- elusive disc Review
- High Roller Review
- United for Opportunity The Peter Malick Group: Chance & Circumstance Review by Johnny Angel
- George Graham Review of The Peter Malick Group: Chance & Circumstance
- Peter Malick New York City Review on Yotta Music
- PeanutsJazz.com Review of New York City
- Rambles Magazine Review
- True Blue from Ellis Kell Argus/ Dispatch blues columnist- Review of Otis Spann - Last Call
- Josh Blackburn 2005 Interview
- Boston Sound Review - Neat old images
- NPR: All Songs Considered, Episode 40
- ABC/ Gippsland Review New York City
- NPR:Otis Spann's Last Recording