Biography of Pete Canter

Pete Canter began playing on the London jazz scene of the 1980s, spent several years playing in Wales and moved to the South West in 2001. Since then he has firmly established himself on the UK jazz scene as a fine player with an exceptional sound. He is known for his intense, straight ahead playing on the hardbop and latin material he favours, and for his exquisite tone on ballads and slower tunes. In 2005 Pete was awarded an Artsmatrix grant to study jazz composition with Iain Ballamy and he has gone on to become a prolific composer, writing small group jazz, composing for larger ensembles, notably his jazz meets classical suite Sketches commissioned for the 2010 Exeter Vibraphonic Festival, and contemporary music works. He has performed with Iain Ballamy, Harry Becket, Christian Brewer and Ted Beamant and his bands have supported Polar Bear and Kyle Eastwood. He plays around the UK in duo, trio, quartet and quintet formats with diverse line ups including a great combo with top Bristol pianist Jim Blomfield. He is a member of experimental improvised music group Get Rich Quick.