Left End

Rick Peckham | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 15, 2004)
• Original Release Date: June 15, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Perfected Music
• ASIN: B0002D0AKK
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #483,730 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Paul Donnelly, ejazznews.com, May 28, 2004

...bears the influence of Grant Green along with various schools of rock guitar without a trace of incongruity.

Product Description

Classic Rock Meets Free Jazz on guitarist Rick Peckham's debut, "Left End."

On Left End, his debut as a leader, Boston-based guitarist/composer Rick Peckham seamlessly marries rock tones and twisted intent with sophisticated jazz harmonies and freewheeling improvisational daring. Backed by the remarkable rhythm tandem of drummer Jim Black and bassist Tony Scherr, Peckham distinguishes himself as a gutsy, accomplished player whose mind is wide open to sonic possibilities.

"When I first started playing jazz...I don’t know how I got the idea...but it really seemed like part of playing jazz was that you had to hate rock," says Peckham. "And so I sort of bought into that for a while. I got a new guitar and put strings on it that were too heavy to bend and just tried to get into Wes Montgomery and Grant Green, which I did. And I still love those guys, especially Grant Green. But when it finally came time for me to make a record, I didn’t want to jump into something that would be just another jazz record, I wanted to get into the difficult work of integrating Paul Kossoff (guitarist in Free) and all the great classic rock guys that I always loved."

Echoes of rock guitarists of the ’70s and ’80s are heard all through the album. "Left End" takes its name and sound from a Cleveland Led Zeppelin-influenced band Peckham liked as a teenager. "Mr. Medium" is "my take on ‘Mr. Big’ by Paul Kossoff,’ Peckham says. "Shakey" is an homage to Neil Young. "I just love those huge sounds that he gets on his solo records," Peckham says, "that Crazy Horse sound." "Gibbons" is named for ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons.

But the music on Left End refuses to fall into any one neat category. "Free 1" and "Free 2" are completely improvised pieces that explore textures and tone colors more commonly heard in jazz. The odd meter of "353-1001" and the African-flavored beat of "Real Time" add rhythmic variety to the rock rhythms heard elsewhere on the album. The quirky, medium tempo "Hawthorn" previously appeared on the long out-to-print debut CD by new jazz quintet Human Feel, which also featured drummer Black. The trio even takes on a certified jazz classic, Thelonious Monk’s "Evidence."

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic, April 13, 2007

By 

Grant M. Wilcox (Castro Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Left End (Audio CD)

I don't review many items but seeing that no one has reviewed Rick Peckham Trio's "Left End" is a travisty. This is a great guitarist's guitarists album (CD). I had never heard of Rick Peckham but I'm sure glad I read a review and got this disc. I hope he puts out more stuff or comes to the Bay Area. This disc is playfully improvised jazz played with a hard rock edge. Simple and complex at the same time. The guitar has a nice nasty rock sound and the bass and drums hold down one hellova beat. I expect no less from Jim Black and Tony Scherr. Great work - give me more!

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Jazz/Rock Trio....., June 25, 2009

By 

J. Wilder "Wild Cats" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Left End (Audio CD)

I got interested in Rick Peckham's work after watching the closing performance on Berklee's Instructional DVD: Jazz Guitar Techniques Modal Voicings (it was OK but not so much new info for me). On DVD, Rick was using Boss Loop pedal and improvised over the repeated bass loop figures. It was a little weird but gave me an idea to use the loopie things.

So I expected something similar to the DVD but this CD was like rock/blues trio. Anyway, Berklee teachers should perform more on a real world - outside of the conservatory.