Bio
Originally
from West Hartford, Connecticut, Pete McGuinness has been an
active New York City-based jazz musician since 1987. His
creativity is expressed in many capacities…well-established
NYC-based jazz trombonist, GRAMMY-nominated
composer/arranger, award-winning jazz vocalist, and long
time jazz educator.
After his many years of studies, starting back as a teenager
in the renowned Hall High School jazz program (West
Hartford, CT),
going on to college studies at New England Conservatory and
University of Miami (bachelor of music, 1986), and Manhattan
School of Music (master of music, 1987), Pete quickly became
involved in the NYC jazz scene. His credits as a jazz
trombonist over the years are many, including performances
with such jazz artists as Maria Schneider, Lionel Hampton,
Jimmy Heath, The Woody Herman Orchestra (dir. Frank
Tibieri), Mike Holober’s “Gotham Jazz Orchestra”, Dave
Pietro, the nonets of Mike Kaplan and Jim Cifelli, Manny
O’Quendo’s “Libre” and Bill Mobley's "Smoke Big Band". Pete appears as a sideman on over 50 jazz CDs,
including the GRAMMY-winning CD by Maria Schneider “Concert
In The Garden” He has performed in the pits of many Broadway
shows throughout the years. Pete is also featured as a
trombonist on 6 CDs he has either lead or co-lead through
out the years.
As a jazz composer-arranger, Pete has been equally active. A
former student of Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam (the BMI
Jazz Composers Workshop), Pete has gone on to write music
for his own projects as well as being commissioned to write
for many well-known jazz artists and schools. Some of these
include Dave Liebman, the University Of Miami (Florida), The
Westchester Jazz Orchestra, Charles McPherson and the New
Jersey City University Jazz Ensemble, as well as receiving
grants from such organizations as the National Endowment for
the Arts.
He writes for his own big band, “The Pete McGuinness Jazz
Orchestra”. The group has performed live at such NYC clubs as
The Blue Note, The Jazz Gallery, and Iridium. Its debut CD
“First Flight” was released nation-wide in 2007 on Summit
records to much critical acclaim and radio play. Pete’s
arrangement of “Smile” from the CD was officially nominated
in 2008 for a GRAMMY award. And his most recent CD "Strength
in Numbers" received TWO GRAMMY nomination; Best
Instrumental or A Capella Arrangement for “Beautiful
Dreamer” AND
Best Instrumental Arrangement With Vocals for “What
Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?” Many of his charts are available
for purchase through Kendor Music (pro-level arrangements) and Smart Chart Music (student-level arrangements), as well as directly from Pete. His music is performed by high school, college, and
professional big bands across the country, as well as in
Europe. The PMJO is currently working on material for its third CD, to be real released in spring 2019.
In his late 20’s, Pete added jazz singing to his areas of
creativity. Having been inspired by the great sound and scat
singing styles of Chet Baker and others, Pete has gone on to
forge his own jazz vocal concept, including a very
“horn-like” ability to scat sing and improvise. Some of his
achievements in this area include being chosen for the
semi-finals of the 1994 Thelonious Monk Vocalist
Competition, being the featured singer with Jimmy Heath’s
Big Band (S.S., Norway Jazz Cruise). Most recently, Pete was
chosen the winner of the 2010 Jazzmobile vocal competition
in New York City. He has been a member of jazz vocal
groups, including ‘The Manhattan Vocal Project” and “The
Faux Freshmen” (which includes former members of “The Four
Freshman”). In 2016, Pete joined the NYC-based bebop/vocalese style jazz vocal group "The Royal Bopsters", for which he sings tenor and contributes many compositions and arrangements.
Finally, Pete is an active jazz educator. He was a
member of the jazz studies faculty at New Jersey City
University (Jersey City, NJ) for 17 years. He is currently an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies/Arranging at
William Paterson University (Wayne, NJ). He has given concerts and
clinics with jazz students throughout the US and abroad,
including his annual week-long residence every July at
the
Poysdorf Summer Jazz Workshop in
Poysdorf,
Austria (teaching vocalists and trombonists a like). He
is a frequent guest conductor of jazz ensembles as well,
including for various NYC area all-county high school
groups and the New York State Summer Music Festival in
Oneonta, NY. Pete is a Conn-Selmer company affiliated
clinician, and is available for jazz clinics.
Pete currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife Joan and their wonderful pooch Phoebe.
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