For Old Times Sake

Born in Greeley, CO, tenor saxophonist Pete "Mr. Pete" Chavez was raised in Denver, where he studied clarinet with noted instructor Dr. William Gower. At age 13, he moved to Los Angeles where he played oboe during his high school years. His early influences included trumpeter Little Benny Harris, bassist George Morrow, and tenor saxophone giant Lin Halliday. In the 1960s he moved to New Orleans where he became a fixture on the local jazz scene and toured the east coast with the Woody Forrest Revue before ending up in Miami, where he landed a gig at the Knight Beat Club as sideman to a roster of soul stars. He toured with the legendary Jackie Wilson and Jackie "Moms" Mabley before returning to Denver towards the end of the decade. In Denver, he worked with Cedar Walton and "Big" John Patton, with whom he formed a lasting and close friendship. In 1973, Chavez was on the move again, this time to Boston where he played with some of the scene's finest Brazilian musicians, including trumpeter Claudio Roditi, Alyrio Lima, and Raoul DeSousa. Mr. Pete earned a good measure of notoriety with his own groups which included James Williams, Boots Maleson, and John Scofield, to name just a few. He then moved to the Big Apple to work with Saheb Sarbib's Multinational Big Band, recording a CD with Sarbib featuring Kirk Litesy, Rashied Ali and Joe Ford. He also worked and toured in Dom Um Romao's "Hotmosphere" and recorded "Blue Planet Man" with John Patton, Eddie Gladden, Bill Saxton, John Zorn, and Ed Cherry. While in New York City, Chavez performed with Archie Shep, Jaco Pastorius, John Hicks, Marcus Miller, Cameron Brown, Woody Shaw, and Mike Stern, among others. Chavez currently resides in the Philadelphia area, where he has performed with local legends, Bootsie Barnes, Mickey Roker, Shirley Scott, Norman Connors, Byron Landham, Tim Warfield, Lee Smith, Webb Thomas, and many more. In 1999, Mr. Pete recorded an album that he basically just sold at gigs. An adventurous affair titled "For Old Times Sake," the album reveals that aside from being an excellent saxophonist, Mr. Pete is an uncanny leader with a knack for picking the right material to suit the band at hand. Chavez assembled a mature, yet exciting group consisting of Dan Kostelnik (organ and piano), Arthur Harper (bass) and Duck Scott (drums) for these recording sessions. Some sparkling originals are featured along with a mixture of adventurous covers that range from Coltrane, Mingus, Duke Jordan and Wayne Shorter to blues rocker George Thorogood. Mr. Pete has managed to relate each piece as a separate and personal message. Finally warranting a proper release after all these years, Mr. Pete's "For Old Times Sake" will be a welcome revelation to jazz fans at home and abroad. .