Pete Petersen & Paul Tillotson at the Blue Door in Eagle, ID Friday June 10

[Pete Petersen Jazz]

Please Join us for an evening of World-class jazz at the Blue Door in Eagle, Idaho! 

SAXOPHONIST PETE PETERSEN AND PIANIST PAUL TILLOTSON WILL SHARE THE STAGE WITH VOCALIST AMY WEBER, GRAMMY AWARD WINNING BASSIST CLARK SOMMERS, AND DRUMMER GREG WYSER-PRATT AT THE BLUE DOOR CAFE IN EAGLE, IDAHO – JUNE 10, 2011

June 10 - Paul Tillotson, Pete Petersen, Clark Sommers, and Greg Wyser-Pratt with Amy Weber 

Doors Open - 5:00 pm 

Performance Starts - 7:00pm 

Dinner Served 5:00-10:00pm – Table Reservations Suggested 208-938-6123, www.BlueDoorCafe.com 

Tickets - $10.00 At The Door

Also featured on the playbill will be Boise vocalist Amy Weber. Petersen and Tillotson have performed together on various occasions in the past and this special evening brings them together again for the first time on the Blue Door Café stage with Sommers, Wyser-Pratt and Weber. The evening promises world class jazz and ‘feeling good’ times for jazz aficionados.

Petersen and Tillotson both graduated from Borah High School in Boise in the 1980's, and both are happy to assign some credit to the Boise School District's robust music programs for giving them a solid foundation that would eventually help them develop careers as professional musicians. "I used to devour everything they could put in front of me," says Petersen. "The school district had a summer music program where we could come in and play in groups on as many different instruments as we wanted, all summer long. One summer I played in the Advanced band on clarinet, Intermediate band on flute, Beginning band on snare drum, Orchestra on cello, and also the choir. Since then I've lived and taught in different cities and seen firsthand what some other school music programs have to offer; Boise's school music program truly is a rare gem."

The Blue Door Café is located at 3300 W. State Hwy 44 in Eagle, Idaho. The world class venue features live jazz every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and various other concerts throughout the week. The contemporary and hip venue is available to special events, private parties, receptions and business groups. Be sure to check the website for complete live music schedule. Most nights, reservations are suggested, as the dinner tables surround the stage and seating is limited. www.BlueDoorCafe.com

PAUL TILLOTSON - PIANIST

“The leader’s chair was filled by Paul Tillotson, a talented [Gene] Harris protégé.” –The Los Angeles Times Paul Tillotson says “my mission is to play great improvised music, deeply touching the souls of audiences around the world, spreading the joy

that is created while creating music that comes from love.”

What separates Tillotson from many jazz pianists today is his ability to write and create his own beautiful music. When he performs live, the audience experiences his pleasure of sharing his music with them. For Tequila Time, he wrote seven original tracks. "My writing style is simple – I wake up with an idea in my head and I sing it. Sometimes I’m walking down the street in Manhattan or skiing down a double diamond slope in Sun Valley and a melody will come to me . . . I sing it over and over then I sit down at the piano (Margaret, his 1928 Mason & Hamlin) and fill it out. When it’s done I present it to the guys and we create a masterpiece together.”

Born in Boise, Idaho, Paul has made New York City his home since 1989. The last of six kids, Paul started playing the piano at age ten. His first gig was playing juice harp with his mother on guitar in church. He returns to Idaho every winter to play for four months, with his trio, at the famous Sun Valley Lodge. Over the years, Tillotson has been celebrated for many successes - from his early self produced recordings to his live shows. He's played across America with such renowned performers as Gene Harris, Lynn Seaton, Vernel Fournier, Mike Merritt(Conan O’Brien Show), James Wormworth, Lew Soloff, Chris Minh Doky, Luther Hughes, Paul Kreibich, Matt Wilson, Aton Fig (David Letterman Show), Shawn Pelton (Saturday Night Live Band), Mark Pender, Jerry Vivinno, Red Hollaway, Jimmy Norman (The Coasters), Ernie Watts, Chris Botti (Sting) and Diana Krall. Tillotson has performed his music in "The Montreux Jazz Festival," "The Den Haag Jazz Festival," “The Jazz in the Canyon Festival,” “The Gene Harris Jazz Festival” and ”Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble.”

Gene Harris spent the last twenty years of his life in Boise, Idaho. "I have witnessed so much great music beginning with my mentor and close friend Gene Harris,” Paul recalls. “We used to hang out after hours in the bar after Gene’s gig in the lobby of the Id anha Hotel. We talked about everything from philosophy, relationships, politics, adventure, life, love, to music. He instilled the master’s love of perfection and love of life onto me and helped me understand the path to great music is peaceful and rewarding.

PETE PETERSEN – SAXOPHONIST

“Petersen’s an accomplished player. He has a big, throaty tone and a blowzy, swashbuckling style with the conversational touch of old-time sax players.” - Paul DeBarros, Seattle Times

Pete Petersen grew up in Boise, Idaho, and later cut his musical teeth in Denver, Colorado, honing his chops by sitting in with local greats while earning a degree in Jazz Studies from Denver University's Lamont School of Music. While living in Colorado he fronted a quintet that earned top runner-up honors in the prestigious HennesseyTM Jazz Search for two consecutive years. He has been featured on NPR's nationally-syndicated JazzSet program and has performed with many luminary headliners in the jazz world including vocalist Kevin Mahogany, Mingus band veteran Jack Walrath, Bay-area boogie-woogie legend Mitch Woods & his Rocket 88's, Grammy-nominated saxophone sensation Patrick Lamb, and pianist Darrell Grant. The list of groups he has performed with is extensive and runs the length and breadth of the stylistic spectrum from the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra to Lynyrd Skynyrd. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon, where he is among the list of that city's in-demand players. He performs and tours all over the United States as a side musician with various bands, teaches clinics and master classes, and also leads his critically-acclaimed "Porkpie" septet. The Septet's 2007 release "Keep Your Hat On" is available in stores nationwide through Pony Boy Records.

GREG WYSER – PRATT – DRUMMER

“Greg Wyser-Pratte fills out the soundscape with a full breadth of percussion that is intimately connected to everything happening around him.” -Tim Gault, Chicago Jazz Magazine

Greg has worked with bassist Clark Sommers and formed the Dan Cray Trio in 2000. Since its inception, this group has had the unusual fortune of playing together several nights a week. Working so closely with like-minded and wonderful players has been a terrific musical and personal experience for Greg. Career highlights over the last nine years include performances at The Idlewild Jazz Festival, The Chicago Jazz Festival, The Jazz Showcase, Pops for Champagne, The Morse Theater, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge 75th Anniversary celebration, and our ongoing steady gig at The Rhythm Room. Their music has been featured on the hit TV series Gossip Girl twice, and they worked under the direction of Michael Keaton in the major motion picture The Merry Gentleman. Their four CD releases, Who Cares, No One, Save Us!, and Over Here/Over Heard have received strong critical acclaim both in the U.S. and abroad.

Still, playing live is hard to top, and he continues to have quite a range of experiences on the local, national and international stage. Greg toured the US with a swing band called Three Cent Stomp in 1999. He also played both festivals and dive bars in much of Western Europe with the eclectic country-pop band Utah Carol in 2002. He has performed for huge audiences with The Mighty Blue Kings, and for intimate gatherings with Ira Sullivan and played great jazz for not-so-great money at Smalls in NY (and a lot of other places), the blues at Buddy Guy’s Legends with Dave Specter and Chicago blues giant Jimmy Johnson.

Greg recently moved to San Francisco, and now maintains a dual-city professional footprint. On the West Coast, he is currently involved with several exciting projects. He’s played featured concerts with pianist Dan Zemelman at premier Bay Area venues such as Yoshi’s and the Red Poppy Art House. He currently works with bassist Andrew Emer in his dynamic trio. Greg is also very excited about performing with another recent Bay Area transplant, vibraphonist Christian Tamburr, both in his quartet, and with the Tamburr/Vitchev Project – a group which just debuted at the San Jose Jazz Festival in 2010.

CLARK SOMMERS – GRAMMY AWARD WINNING BASSIST

Straddling a career in both New York City and Chicago, Clark has toured and performed extensively throughout the world. Clark's most recent touring activity includes extensive work with vocalist Kurt Elling, which culminated into a live recording that won a Grammy award for best vocal jazz album in 2009. He has also been a member of the Dan Cray trio for 10 years, which produced four recordings. Currently, he is pursuing classical studies with David Grossman of the New York Philharmonic. Clark is frequently on stage with the Blue Door Café’s house quartet, the Blue Door Four, including drummer, Kobie Watkins, pianist Justin Nielsen, and vocalist Jeff Baker and guest musicians from around the country who frequent the Blue Door Café stage. Eagle, Idaho is very fortunate to witness the amazing talents of Clark Sommers.