An exciting, serpentine solo maker in the mold of
Don Cherry --
Peterson has chops but leaves precision to the wind in favor of spontaneous eruptions of melody.
Peterson has a more well-rounded technique than
Cherry, however, and plays with greater force. Unlike many contemporary free jazz players,
Peterson is adept at older styles; he's played under such adventurous yet tradition-bound bandleaders as
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Gil Evans, and
Elvin Jones, and with such dyed-in-the-wool avant-gardists as
Roswell Rudd,
Ken McIntyre, and
Deidre Murray.
As a youth,
Peterson learned drums and cornet. He attended North Texas State University from 1967-1969 before moving to New York in 1970. That year, he toured the East Coast with
Kirk; the next, he joined
Evans' orchestra, with which he would continue to play into the '80s. In the early '70s he performed and recorded with a variety of big-name leaders, including
Pharoah Sanders,
Roy Haynes, and the aforementioned
Jones. He also led and played trumpet and koto with the Sunrise Orchestra, a group that included the cellist
Murray. Tenor saxophonist
George Adams was a frequent collaborator.
Peterson has led recording sessions infrequently; his first album was called Children of the Fire, for the defunct Sunrise label (1974). He recorded subsequently for Enja, MPS, and Inner City. Though as a performer he's kept something of a low profile over the years,
Peterson -- now known simply as
Hannibal -- emerged in the mid-'90s having composed the monumental African Portraits, an orchestral piece that incorporated a jazz quartet,
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (conducted by the eminent composer/conductor
Daniel Barenboim), the Morgan State University Choir, the Kennedy-King College Community Chorus, the Doris Ward Workshop Chorale, four operatic singers, various traditional African musicians, and a handful of African-American vocalists. The meticulously composed (and critically hailed) piece differed greatly form the small jazz ensemble contexts with which he had made his professional name. A recorded version was issued by the Teldec label. ~ Chris Kelsey