“When Pete Malinverni plays, the people listen”, observed Patricia O’Haire in the New York Daily News. That’s no mean feat in the Mecca of Jazz. Since coming to New York in 1981 Pete has established himself as a highly respected presence in NYC and national concert performances, as well as abroad in Europe, South America, and Japan, his work earning him entry in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, as compiled by Ira Gitler and Leonard Feather. Writing in the Charleston (SC) Post and Courier, Jack McCray called him “a fiery but elegant pianist”, and his varied collaborations stand as testament to his abilities. Pete’s enthusiastic audience has found him on stages in NYC and around the world such as the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Caramoor Festival, Symphony Space, Rome’s Jazz and Image Festival at Villa Celimontana, Chile’s Santiago Jazz Festival and clubs such as Birdland, the Blue Note, Bradley’s, etc. Most often playing solo piano or with his trio, Pete has also appeared with the likes of Joe Lovano, Charles Davis, Vernel Fournier, Mel Lewis and other bright lights, exhibiting what Enso Fresia of Italy’s Musica Jazz called “an extremely unconstrained and brilliant pianism”.

March 2006 saw the heralded release of “Theme and Variations”, a highly anticipated solo piano release on Reservoir Music, which garnered four stars in Down Beat Magazine, earning it honors as one of the best jazz albums of 2006 and like-minded reviews in many other publications, such as JazzTimes, Cadence Jazz, The Buffalo News, All About Jazz, Jazz Improv, etc. Among Pete’s many earlier releases, “The Tempest”, in 2004, “Autumn in New York” in 2003 and “Of One Mind” in 2001, received like acclaim.

His life in music began at age seven in his hometown of Niagara Falls, NY, where he studied classical piano with local legend Laura Copia. He continued in NYC with Elena Belli, Anthony Newman and Sophia Rosoff. Pete himself is now a teacher much in demand, serving as Professor on the Jazz Studies faculty of the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and leading clinics and master classes worldwide.

Dave McElfresh said in Jazz Now that “Malinverni’s writing makes as much of
an impact as his playing”. A composer of great depth, passion, and individuality, he has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Meet the Composer Foundation. His trio was featured in a concert for Chamber Music America at New York’s Symphony Space in early 2003. Not only have his vehicles for jazz improvisation been described by Gary Giddins in the Village Voice as “knotty and original”, but musicians and public alike agree with McElfresh in Jazz Now that Malinverni’s ballad “This Time”, the title track of his third recording as leader, is “truly the stuff standards are made of”.

Since 1993 Pete has served as Minister of Music at the Devoe Street Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY, exposing him to the music of the African-American church, and his suites for vocal choir and jazz quartet based on the Psalms of David, demonstrate his abilities as a composer on a grander scale. His June 2006 release “Joyful!”, an ArtistShare CD/DVD, documents this new and exciting form of music. Highlighted and reviewed favorably in Down Beat, JazzTimes, Jazziz and many other jazz publications, “Joyful!” also “crossed over” to media of wider reach, including features on several nationally heard NPR shows and national print publications such as the Los Angeles Times, the Portland (OR) Skanner the Montreal Mirror and the Pittsburgh Tribune.

In his four-star Down Beat review, Paul de Barros said, “Pete Malinverni doesn’t seem capable of playing a dishonest line”, and it is this unaffected, pure approach to music of real depth which draws audiences and students alike to Malinverni’s appearances. Through the release of Pete’s nine recordings as leader, “Don’t Be Shy”, “The Spirit”, “This Time”, “A Very Good Year”, “Of One Mind”, “Autumn In New York”, “The Tempest”, “Joyful!” and “Theme and Variations”, one views the development of what Stuart Troup, in a feature article in New York Newsday, has called “a supple player, full of nuance”.

"Joyful!" is the CD and companion DVD of a live concert recording of Pete Malinverni's music for Gospel Choir and Jazz Ensemble. It features the Devoe Street Baptist Church Choir of Brooklyn, NY and a host of great singers and players, including Yvette Glover, Jody Sandhaus, Afua Monk-Addo, Steve Wilson, Joe Magnarelli, Todd Coolman and many others. The music is a suite for Gospel Choir and Jazz Ensemble based on the Psalms Of David.

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Make A Joyful Noise	Let The Earth Shake
Other Pete Malinverni CD audio samples	Other Pete Malinverni CD audio samples
The Tempest Let The Sea Roar Psalm 98	This Time Psalm 100

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