Peter Lemer

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Peter Lemer (born June 14, 1942) is an English jazz musician. He worked with the Pete Lemer Quintet, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Annette Peacock, Harry Beckett, Gilgamesh, Baker-Gurvitz Army, Seventh Wave, Harry Beckett's Joy Unlimited, Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia, Pierre Moerlen's Gong, Mike Oldfield Group, In Cahoots, Miller/Baker/Lemer, and the Peter Lemer-Billy Thompson Quartet and Duo. He currently works with In Cahoots, Peter Lemer Trio/Quartet, Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia, and the Peter Lemer-Billy Thompson Quartet and Duo.

1 Early life and education
2 Career
3 Present
4 External link

[edit] Early life and education

Peter Lemer was born in London in 1942. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and then at workshops in London run by Jack Goldzweig ( who had himself co-coached in NY with Mal Waldron and John Mehegan) . Lemer then went to NY to study Double Bass with David Walter, attended workshops run by Bill Dixon, and studied piano with Jaki Byard and Paul Bley.

[edit] Career

In 1965 , he formed a trio with John Stephens and Jeff Clyne, which opened the Little Theatre Club. In 1966, he formed the Peter Lemer Quintet, with Jon Hiseman on drums, George Khan on tenor sax, John Surman on Baritone Sax and Tony Reeves on bass. This band successfully played a season at Ronnie Scott's and helped to pave the way for the British free jazz movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, along with the Mike Taylor trio. It cut one LP, Local Colour which was engineered by Eddie Kramer.

In 1969, Lemer worked with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, which was an experimental jazz group.

In 1974, Lemer joined Gilgamesh and played several gigs and some BBC sessions. He subsequently became an in-demand session player.

In 1974, he joined Ken Elliot's 'Seventh Wave' a pioneer synthesiser-based rock band, and recorded 'Psi-Fi'

In 1975, he joined Ginger Baker, Mr Snips, and The Gurvitz brothers in the 'Baker Gurvitz Army' - recording 'Elysian Encounter' .

In 1979, Lemer joined Mike Oldfield's fifty piece touring band as one of two keyboard players. This led to him guesting on Moerlen's album Time is the Key.

Lemer has done much recent work with the band In Cahoots. With them, he played in the album Cutting Both Ways (1987) and toured Europe. He joined the band Paraphernalia in 1987 and played in the albums A Cry from the Heart (1987), Everlasting Flame (1993) and Shifting Sands.

Lemer again worked with In Cahoots. He played on the album Digging In (1991) and rejoined the band on a permanent basis in 1995. After two In Cahoots tours, Lemer devoted 1999 to touring with Paraphernalia in support of the album they had recently released.

[edit] Present

Lemer's most recent albums include Players of Games recorded with Billy Thompson, Looking for Soup, All That with In Cahoots, and Never Say Goodbye recorded with Paraphernalia.

He is now coaching piano, improvisation, music technology.