Dr.Roger Schupp, professor of percussion, was asked to comment on renowneddrummer Peter Erskine’s
residency at Bowling Green State University aspart of Jazz Week. While his comments arrived too late to
include in thestory on the event in Thursday’s Sentinel-Tribune, we provide them infull here. Erskine will
perform twice at BGSU, April 4 at 8 p.m. inBryan Recital Hall with members of the faculty and April 5 at 8
p.m. inKobacker Hall with Jazz Lab Band I.“I first met Peter about twentyyears ago. We hosted a percussion
camp at BGSU and one of our firstfeatured guest artists was Peter. Needless to say, the focus of anymusic
camp is education. And in inviting Peter to be part of the camp wecouldn’t have made a better choice. Aside
from being an amazingperformer, he is so articulate in explaining the subtle intricacies ofhis trait. And he
has a patient, giving nature to his personality. It’sobvious that he has a passion for sharing his gift with
new generationsof musicians.“Even though I only met Peter after I began working atBGSU, I’ve been familiar
with his work for nearly 40 years. When I wasin high school, growing up in Missouri, the Stan Kenton
Orchestra heldan annual Jazz Camp at Drury College in Springfield, MO. Some of myclassmates were regular
attendees at the camp. One summer, a saxophoneplayer friend of mine came back from the camp and said: “You
won’tbelieve this drummer playing with Kenton. And he’s only about 5 yearsolder than us”. I immediately went
and picked up the latest record. Itwas Peter Erskine. He had started playing with Kenton when he was 17years
old. Wow. And that was just the beginning.“I guess if I had todescribe the impact that Peter has had on
drumming (and popular musicin general) I’d have to write a book called “Six Degrees of PeterErskine.” In
fact, it probably wouldn’t take six steps to find aconnection between Peter and almost anyone else in the
music industry.The list of artists he’s played with is a true “Who’s Who”. Stan Kenton,Maynard Ferguson,
Weather Report, Steely Dan, Boz Skaggs, JoniMitchell, Dianna Krall. This list could go on for a very long
time.“Andif you’re a fan of the “Austin Powers” movies, the drumming you hear onthe soundtrack is Peter. So
now, every time you watch the movie andhear “boom, cha cha, boom cha, boom cha cha boom cha” from the
drums,you know who it is.“Oh yeah, did I mention he doesn’t just playdrumset? He is a composer, producer,
and complete percussionist. I evensaw him do a clinic once where he played the glockenspiel excerpt
from“Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Dukas. And nailed it.“It’s going to be agreat two days for us in the BGSU
College of Musical Arts as Peterpresents clinics, master classes, and concerts with our students andfaculty.
He’ll also be playing with the Toledo Jazz Orchestra onSaturday night (April 6 at 8 p.m.)Peter Erskine
videos & audio:http://www.petererskine.com/media.html
