Austin Topper Peralta (October 25, 1990 – November 21, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer from Los Angeles, California. He was the son of film director and

Z-Boys The Zephyr Competition Team (or Z-Boys) were a group of American skateboarders in the mid-1970s from Santa Monica and Venice, California. Originally consisting of 12 members, the Z-boys were originally sponsored by the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zeph ...

skateboarder Stacy Peralta.

Early life

Austin Peralta was born on October 25, 1990 to filmmaker Joni Caldwell and

skateboarder and film director Stacy Peralta. Peralta started playing piano at the age of five and was soon recognized as a prodigy. At age 10 whilst learning classical piano, he developed an interest in jazz when a friend gave him a Bill Evans CD. Peralta studied classical piano for five years at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

and later with jazz pianist

Alan Pasqua Alan Pasqua (born June 28, 1952) is an American rock and jazz pianist. He studied at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music. His album ''Standards'' with drummer Peter Erskine was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. As a ...

and saxophonist

Buddy Collette William Marcel "Buddy" Collette (August 6, 1921 – September 19, 2010) was an American jazz flutist, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He was a founding member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Early life William Marcel Collette was born in L ...

. In 2003 at age 12, Peralta was awarded the Shelly Manne New Talent Award by the Los Angeles Jazz Society, which was presented to him by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

. In addition to the piano, Peralta also played the

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

, drums and saxophone. He was an honor student at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

Career

At a young age Peralta performed in Los Angeles with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra at venues such as the Jazz Bakery and the Blue Whale jazz club. At age 15, he performed at the 2006 Tokyo Jazz Festival with his group, The Hour Trio, and with Chick Corea and Hank Jones. In 2006, he released two albums: ''Maiden Voyage'' with bassist Ron Carter and ''Mantra'' with bassist Buster Williams. In 2007, he performed at the Java Jazz Festival. In 2011, Peralta met Steven Ellison (a.k.a.

Flying Lotus Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ, filmmaker and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder. Flying Lotus ha ...

) through mutual friend David Wexler (Dr. Strangeloop). Peralta joined Ellison's Brainfeeder label, which released his final album, ''Endless Planets''. Ellison considered Peralta's addition to the label a turning point in the label's expansion of genres and movement towards jazz. Peralta said that he did not promote his first two albums because the producer did not allow him to express his artistic vision. Under the Brainfeeder record label, however, he was free to defy conventional genres and express spirituality through his music. Peralta composed and performed the score for the remastered documentary ''What Happened to Kerouac?'' (2012) and appeared on the track "DMT Song" on the album ''

Until the Quiet Comes ''Until the Quiet Comes'' is the fourth studio album by American electronic music producer Flying Lotus, released on September 26, 2012 by Warp Records. Flying Lotus was inspired to create the album by psychedelic music, African percussion, and ...

'' (2012). Peralta was a touring member of jazz group

The Cinematic Orchestra The Cinematic Orchestra is a British nu jazz and downtempo music group created in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. The group is signed to independent record label Ninja Tune. The Cinematic Orchestra have produced four studio albums, ''Motion'' (1999) ...

and performed regularly with Allan Holdsworth and

Virgil Donati Virgil Donati (born 22 October 1958) is an Australian drummer, composer and producer. He holds the drum sticks in the traditional style and is also proficient at the keyboard. Donati formed Planet X with Derek Sherinian and was the band's princ ...

. Peralta was a regular collaborator with

and Thundercat and made recordings with

Teebs Mtendere Mandowa, better known by his stage name Teebs, is an American record producer and visual artist from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of the My Hollow Drum collective. He is also one half of the duo Sons of the Morning. Life and c ...

, Strangeloop, and

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

Death

Peralta died on November 21, 2012, at the age of 22. The LA County Coroner's Report indicated the most likely cause of death was

viral pneumonia Viral pneumonia is a pneumonia caused by a virus. Pneumonia is an infection that causes inflammation in one or both of the lungs. The pulmonary alveoli fill with fluid or pus making it difficult to breathe. Pneumonia can be caused by bacteria, vir ...

aggravated by a combination of alcohol and drugs.

Deathgasm Ensemble

The ensemble name Deathgasm is an inspiration from the ''

Bardo Thodol The ''Bardo Thodol'' (, "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), commonly known in the West as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', is a terma text from a larger corpus of teachings, the ''Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation ...

'' (the so-called ''Tibetan Book of the Dead'') and the

Gaspar Noé Gaspar Noé (, ; born 27 December 1963) is an Argentine filmmaker based in Paris, France. He is the son of Argentine painter, writer, and intellectual Luis Felipe Noé. In the early 1990s, Noé along with his wife Lucile Hadžihalilović were ...

film ''

Enter the Void ''Enter the Void'' is a 2009 English-language experimental art film written and directed by Gaspar Noé and starring Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, and Cyril Roy. It is a psychological drama fantasy film set in the neon-lit nightclub env ...

''. Peralta felt that his music had the power to evoke spiritual places similar to death, orgasm, love, or "whatever". So he decided to name his ensemble Deathgasm. ;Personnel *Austin Peralta - Leader * Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Violin, viola *Sam Gendel - Saxophone *Ryan McGillicuddy - Bass *Zach Harmon - Drums, tabla *Ian Simon (Earnest Blount) - Electronics, laptop *Ben Olsen - video/photography

The Peralta/Strangeloop Project

Peralta and Strangeloop (another Brainfeeder artist) met at a coffee shop when Strangeloop ranted to him about the apocalypse. Peralta found him like-minded and ended up connecting, becoming best friends. Strangeloop's music is more electronic and Peralta wanted to introduce that world into his acoustic style of music. Peralta felt that something was missing in his Endless Planet's project that was in the works and decided to tie Strangeloop's work into his. They performed live together at the Roy O. Disney Theatre on July 7, 2010 and numerous other occasions.

Discography

* ''Maiden Voyage'' (Eighty-Eight's) (2005) * ''Mantra'' (Eighty-Eight's) (2006) * ''Endless Planets'' ( Brainfeeder) (2011) Singles * ''Views of Saturn Vol. 2'' (2012) with The Hour Trio * ''Inta' Out'' (2005) Guest appearances *Grey Reverend - 'A Hero's Lie' (2013) * Octavious Womack – 'Superstar' (2012) * Flying Lotus - 'DMT' *

- ''Collections 01'' (2011) * Thundercat - ''The Golden Age of Apocalypse'' (2011) * Strangeloop - "Fields" (2011) *

- "New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh" (2010) *

Shafiq Husayn Sa-Ra is an American musical group based in Los Angeles, California, also known by its full name, The Sa-Ra Creative Partners. The group is composed of Om'Mas Keith, Taz Arnold, and Shafiq Husayn. The name translates roughly to "the children of ...

- "En' A-Free-Ka" (2009) * Tim Ries - "Stones World: The Rolling Stones Project II" (2007) *

Adam Rudolph Adam Rudolph (born September 12, 1955) is a jazz composer and percussionist performing in the post-bop and world fusion media. In 1988, Rudolph met jazz musician Yusef Lateef, and the two would go on to collaborate and perform together for t ...

& Go: Organic Orchestra - "Thought Forms" (2006)

References

External links

Official siteJava Jazz Festival 2007 profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peralta, Austin 1990 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American pianists American child musicians American jazz pianists American male pianists American musicians of Mexican descent American people of Irish descent Crossroads School alumni Deaths from pneumonia in California Jazz musicians from California Pepperdine University alumni 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians