Pete Whittaker was
born and grew up in the Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands
region of England. From an early age he was fascinated by
all things musical, and as a youngster attempted to teach
himself guitar and clarinet, while having lessons on piano
and violin.
Through his school years, Pete did the usual thing of
singing in choirs, playing violin (and viola) in the school
orchestra (and later in the Wolverhampton Youth Orchestra),
but also joined and formed teenage rock bands in which he
played guitar and occasionally an old Hohner Pianet
electric piano (all amplified via an insanely cumbersome
system, far too big to be wholly contained within the
boot/trunk of his parents' Austin Allegro - what a car!!).
Moving on to the University of East Anglia, Pete gained a
music degree, and got interested in electroacoustic music.
He furthered his studies, gaining a masters degree in
electroacoustic composition.
Having harboured since his mid-teens a subconscious love of
jazz (but having made little effort to try to listen to
much...) Pete became very much into the genre while at
college. Having met like-minded souls (notably saxophonist
Julian Siegel, and pianist Kate Williams - now Pete's wife)
the study and practice of jazz took over from the vague pop
and rock rumblings of his adolescence.
Jazz piano in due course gave way to the discovery of that
force-of-nature known to the world as the organist Jimmy
Smith, the single most important jazz Hammond innovator
ever. The sound of those old Blue Note and Verve albums
from the 1950s and 60s grabbed Pete by his charity-shop
lapels and made him determined to recreate the sounds for
himself. Obviously this would involve a return to the
acquisition and frequent transportation of even MORE
cumbersome musical equipment than was previously required.
Thus was the beginning of Pete's professional life as a
jazz organist... twenty years later and he's still as
excited by the music as he was then (but now he has a
proper van, and can play the organ better).
Pete was fortunate to gain wider experience and exposure in
the 1990s by touring with a couple of high-profile rock
bands. The first of these was an Indie-ish melodic rock
band (with a marked folk-music influence) called
The
Wonder Stuff. Pete toured UK, Europe and
North America with them (on and off)from 1991 to their
initial disintegration in 1994.
In 1996/7, Pete was invited by another "guitar" rock
band, The
Catherine Wheel to perform similar touring
duties as he had with The
Wonder Stuff. Several north American tours
ensued, but the band stopped working in 2000. Very soon
afterwards, The
Wonder Stuff re-formed to do a series of
high-profile come-back shows and Pete was once more
employed, but after a few years, the band fell out (again),
and has now re-formed with a significantly different
line-up, sans
Pete.
These periods of touring/recording gave Pete glimpses of
the Music Industry that is largely irrelevant to (or at
least far more rare in) the world of jazz. Back in the 90s,
major record companies were still making and spending
(often wasting) vast amounts of money, though surprisingly
little found its way to the musicians themselves.
Since moving to London in the late 1990s, Pete has had his
backside kicked (musically and literally) by many fine jazz
musicians. He will be eternally grateful to them all, and
continues to learn from their talent and his own mistakes.
Some really good bands/musicians with whom Pete has been
associated include:
Gareth Lockrane's Grooveyard
(early 2000s to
2006)
Jonny Boston Quartet
(2004? to
present)
Carl Orr (2005/6)
John Etheridge (2005 to present)
Theo Travis' Double
Talk (2006 to present)
Nigel Price Trio (for more than several years
so far!)
Steve "Billy" Buckley and Eryl Roberts (Ditto... new CD on
the way!!)
And occasional appearances with such UK jazz names as:
Jim Mullen, Dave Cliff, Dave O'Higgins, Julian Siegel,
Liane Carroll, Terry Smith, Mark Crooks, etc.
Other present projects include:
Jazzelation (group led by Oxford
guitarist Kevin Armstrong, featuring Alison Bentley on
vocals. CD available now!!)
The Baddest Blues Band (Ever!)
(Rob Koral/Zöe
Schwartz, powerful electric Blues. New CD out now!!)
The Filthy Six (Bad*ss Boogaloo band of the
highest order, new CD in production!!)