faculty profile

Rick Peckham Moukaddem Sami

A Concerted Effort

By Mark Small

Rick Peckham

On Friday January 20, Guitar rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/ had blended different influences to Department Assistant Chair Rick rteradioweb.html#!rii=16%3A3174214 emerge with his own voice inspired Peckham found himself in Ireland %3A8861%3A20%2D01%2D2012%3A Peckham to do the same. onstage at Dublin’s National Concert to hear the premiere performance.) After earning his master’s degree Hall as the featured soloist with The whole experience was fairly at North Texas State in 1986, Peckham Ralph Peterson the Raidió Telifis Éireann National removed stylistically and geographi- read an ad stating that Berklee was Orchestra. With 90 top European cally from Peckham’s midwestern seeking faculty members. He landed orchestral musicians behind him musical roots. He grew up in Norwalk, a job and taught in the ear training and about 1,200 symphony goers in Ohio, which is between Toledo and and performance studies areas before front of him, the situation bore little Cleveland. His father played Chet being appointed as the assistant chair Appearing on the CD is Fred Lipsius on resemblance to the settings in which Atkins records around the house, and of the Guitar Department in 1992. , among others. Peckham typically plays. Cutting loose other relatives sang in church choirs, “Working with [Guitar Department on a Monk tune or jazz standard with but the younger Peckham is the only Chair] Larry Baione has been great. The Professor of Percussion Ralph Peterson a quartet behind him would have been career musician in the family. During position has allowed me to do a lot of will release The Duality Perspective more familiar territory. Nonetheless, the late 1960s, Peckham’s grandmoth- things educationally and performance- on June 19, his sixteenth CD as a about a year ago, when renowned Irish er gave him a guitar and he started wise. It’s been outstanding.” bandleader. It features a number of composer and bassist Ronan Guilfoyle learning rock tunes and joined a garage In addition to his other duties, current and former Berklee students, approached Peckham to be the solo- . He picked up the mechanics of Peckham teaches 8 to 10 guitar pupils plus Sean Jones (trumpet) and Tia ist for the premiere of his Concerto for the instrument from instructors at every semester. “Through the years, Fuller (saxophone). Electric Guitar and Orchestra, Peckham local music stores and from another I’ve had some great students,” he says. didn’t shrink from the challenge. teacher who was pivotal in Peckham’s “Lionel Loueke and Professor of Bass Oscar Stagnaro is Over the years since Guilfoyle and development as a player and, later, an were among them. I encouraged the musical director of the Congreso Peckham met in 1993, the two have educator. “I had a great high-school Lionel to do his vocal percussion thing Latinoamericano de Escuelas de collaborated on several projects. But teacher named R.P. Laycock,” Peckham along with his playing. I told him, ‘It’s Música and continues to play with this music was a different order of recalls. “He was very devoted to music great that you’re working at playing saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera. magnitude. “I thought Ronan would and teaching, and he made a big lines like or John Scofield, write something for me that was impression on me. It’s important for a but when you sing with your playing, Professor of Guitar Guy Van Duser similar to what I would usually play, young musician to run into someone you’re the only one on the planet who released the new CD A Session with but he was true to the concerto form,” like that. You never know how much sounds like that.’” Guy Van Duser, featuring a seven-piece Peckham recalls. “The lines he wrote that will affect you later on.” Peckham’s discography lists several faculty band. Rob Jaczko, the chair of for the guitar were angular and long. When it came time for college, albums, including two with Guilfoyle’s Berklee’s MP&E Department, engi- It was like a 20-minute bebop head.” Peckham wasn’t sure about becoming group Lingua Franca, Life Cycle with neered the album, a collection of songs With the exception of the cadenza, a musician. He took a number of gen- late faculty member John LaPorta, and in the style of guitarist Chet Atkins. Peckham says that there was little eral music courses before committing Peckham’s own critically hailed trio improvisation and a lot of reading. to being a music major. “There was outing Left End. He authored Guitar Professor of Composition Julius The three-movement work no interest at all in rock music [from Chords 101 and 201 for Berkleemusic. P. Williams was interviewed by integrated Peckham’s clean-toned the administration] at the school,” com, two 12-week online courses that Lynn René Bayley for the May-June Telecaster figures into the orchestral Peckham says. “So I went about rein- have reached thousands of guitar- issue of Fanfare magazine. Visit fabric in the outer two movements, venting myself in order to get a jazz ists worldwide. His DVD Jazz Guitar www.fanfaremag.com/content/ but the electric guitar was front and performance degree. I got interested Techniques: Modal Voicings and Berklee view/48061/10253/. center in an open-ended cadenza in in the playing of Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary have been the Adagio middle movement. During and Grant Green and found jazz pull- best sellers for Berklee Press. Professor of Harmony Michael an extended orchestral tacet, Peckham ing me in deeper.” He was drawn to As for the Guilfoyle concerto, it Wartofsky collaborated as the com- used his JamMan effects pedal to the more angular music on the jazz was a hit with the audience and con- poser on two new musicals: Cupcake build loops derived from the concer- spectrum. “I really loved the album ductor Scott Stroman. The maestro and Car Talk: The Musical, which will to’s themes and then improvised over The Avant-Garde with Don Cherry is planning future performances in run at Boston’s Club Café and the them. “I needed the loops to defend and . I sensed the kind the United Kingdom, so Peckham will Central Square Theater in Cambridge, myself against the massive sound of of energy in that music that I’d felt need to keep his fingers limber. “This respectively, in June and July. the rest of the piece,” Peckham recalls in the music of Jeff and other was a bit different from other work with a wry grin. He relates that the rock players.” In 1978, Peckham heard I’ve done,” he says. “I put in hundreds Professor of Music Therapy Karen orchestral players were quite intrigued drummer ’s band with of hours working on the piece. When I Wacks gave music therapy clinics at by his cadenza that incorporated an keyboardist George Duke and guitarist was onstage playing it, I was grateful the Panama Jazz Festival in January in array of effects pedals. (Visit www. John Scofield ’73. Hearing how Scofield for every minute I’d spent.” conjunction with the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. Spring 2012 9