Ralph Peterson Jr.


Ralph Peterson Jr. is an American jazz drummer and bandleader.

Early life

Four of Peterson's uncles and his grandfather were drummers. Peterson himself began on percussion at age three. He was raised in Pleasantville, where he played trumpet at Pleasantville High School and worked locally in funk groups. He applied to Livingston College and Rutgers to study drums, but he failed the percussion entrance exam and enrolled as a trumpeter instead, graduating in 1984.

Later life and career

In 1983, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as the second drummer, playing with him for several years. He worked with Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison in 1984, and with Walter Davis, Tom Harrell, Out of the Blue, Branford Marsalis, David Murray, Craig Harris, James Spaulding, Roy Hargrove, Jon Faddis, Dewey Redman, Mark Helias, and Wynton Marsalis.
During the 1990s, Peterson played as a sideman with Jack Walrath, Craig Handy, Charles Lloyd, Kip Hanrahan, Bheki Mseleku, Courtney Pine, Steve Coleman, George Colligan, Stanley Cowell, Mark Shim, and Betty Carter.
He began recording as a leader in 1988, with a quintet on V and Volition. He also worked with Allen and Bowler as a trio in "Triangular"; Essiet Essiet replaced Bowler for the 1988 Triangular recording. In 1989 he recorded in the quartet format as "The Fo'tet" with Don Byron, Steve Wilson, Melissa Slocum, and Bryan Carrott. After living in Canada for some time, he returned to Philadelphia, where he worked again with "The Fo'tet", and recorded as Triangular 2 with Slocum and Uri Caine. He also led the group "Hip Pocket", with whom he played trumpet.
Peterson has taught at Berklee College of Music in Boston and University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In 2010, Peterson took another bold step with the start-up of his own Onyx Productions Music Label.

Discography

As leader

With Uri Caine
With Craig Handy
With Craig Harris
With David Murray
With Tom Harrell
With James Spaulding