Peter Cherches' New Words/Old Songs

My new jazz vocal project features my lyrics to jazz compositions and solos as well as additional lyrics to standards of the Great American Songbook. It's my return to jazz performance after many years.

While some of the tunes are drawn from my jazz work in the '80s, I've written much new material over the past year or two.

For this project I'm pleased to be joined by my long-time collaborator Lee Feldman on piano, Claire Daly on baritone sax, and Dave Hofstra on bass.

Peter Cherches has balanced writing, music and performance work since 1981. In the 1980s he performed his lyrics for the music of Thelonious Monk and other jazz composers at various New York City venues. Having recently published a new book of fiction, he decided that it was time to write more of his quirky lyrics and return to jazz performance.

Baritone saxophonist Claire Daly is a six-time winner of the Downbeat Critics' Poll "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" and was named the Jazz Journalists' Association's Baritone Saxophonist of the Year in 2005. Her latest recording, "Baritone Monk," features the compositions of Thelonious Monk.

Lee Feldman, with whom Peter Cherches has had the pleasure of working since 1984, is a stylistically eclectic pianist and a singer/songwriter of great wit and imagination whose work has been compared to that of Tom Waits and Randy Newman. His latest CD is "Album No. 4: Trying to Put Things Together that Never Been Together Before."

One of the most sought-after bassists in New York, especially on the "downtown music" scene, Dave Hofstra has played in a wide range of settings including blues and country, but is most frequently heard in jazz contexts. He is a charter member of the Microscopic Septet.

Upcoming Shows

Sunday, September 21, 7PM. The Drawing Room, 56 Willoughby Street #3, Brooklyn. Seating is limited; no reservations. Please arrive between 6:30 & 6:45 to guarantee a seat. It's right near the Jay Street Metrotech subway station. Admission is $15.

Tuesday, November 18, 7PM. Somethin' Jazz Club, 212 E. 52nd Street (between 2nd & 3rd Ave.), Manhattan. Cover is $12. (212) 371-7657, www.somethinjazz.com/ny/.

Audio

From a June 2014 performance at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, with Chris Forbes (piano), Max Johnson (bass) and Bernice "Boom Boom" Brooks (drums).

I wrote an additional lyric for the last chorus of this Illinois Jacquet composition.

My lyric for Dexter Gordon's composition "Fried Bananas," which is based on the chord changes of "It Could Happen to You."

For more of my own music as well as lots of music I love across genres, visit and "like" my Facebook page Peter Cherches Music.