Peter Fraize is a

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

and

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

professor best known for his freestyle

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and for performing as a part of the Peter Fraize Quintet.

Biography

Raised in northern Virginia, Fraize attended the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

in Boston where he studied classical saxophone. He later studied at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Nether ...

under Dutch saxophonist Leo van Oostrom. While there Fraize worked with Scapes, a quintet which won first prize at the 1989 Middelzee Jazz Concours. On returning to the United States in 1989, Fraize formed the fusion group Stickman, which performed at the Mellon Jazz Festival in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. He is a member of the Greg Hatza Organization and is also in a rock group, The Emptys. His jazz group, The Peter Fraize Quartet, won the 1999 Wammie award (Washington Area Music Association) for Contemporary Jazz Ensembles. Fraize is the director of jazz studies at

.Faculty page
Peter Fraize:Director of Jazz Studies
George Washington University Department of Music

Discography

As leader or co-leader

* ''Organic Matter'' (Union, 2009) * ''Third Attention'' (Union, 1998) * ''You St.: Live at State of the Union'' (Union, 1996) * ''Stickman'' (independent release, 1995) With Gilbert Engle * ''Supernatural Absence'' (New Jazz Media, 2003) * ''Jazz Fusion 1 thru 5'' (New Jazz, 2015) * ''Jazz Fusion 1 thru 3'' (New Jazz, 2015) * ''Jazz Reggae Fusion'' (New Jazz, 2016) * ''Odd Time Signature Fusion'' (New Jazz, 2016) * ''Petite Jazz Fusion'' (New Jazz, 2016) * ''Magnum Opus Jazz Fusion'' (New Jazz, 2016) With The Emptys * ''Bridge Across the Ocean'' (Safari, 1994) * ''Pick Your Ears Up'' (Safari, 1995) * ''Loveversesnothing'' (Safari, 2002)

As sideman or guest

With Larry Brown * ''Hard Bop Cafe'' (Lush Life, 2006) * ''The Long Goodbye'' (Lush Life, 2002) With Greg Hatza * ''To a New Place'' (I Ching, 2001) With Vaughn Nark * ''Panorama'' ( Summit, 2004) * ''Somethin' Special'' (Summit, 2000) With Giancarlo Schiaffini * ''Deconstruction!'' (Pentaflowers (Italy), 2000) * ''Post – Deconstruction'' (

Cadence Jazz Cadence Jazz is an American record company and label specializing in noncommercial modern jazz. It is associated with ''Cadence Magazine''. Cadence Jazz was founded by Bob Rusch in Redwood, New York in 1980. By 2000 the label had issued more ...

, 2002) With

Mark Stanley Mark Robert Speight, known professionally as Mark Stanley, is an English actor. He portrayed Grenn in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones''. He is also known for his roles in the films ''Kajaki'' and '' Our Kind of Traitor'', and the series ''Dic ...

* ''Live at Blues Alley'' (Sir Eel, 2006) * ''Humans'' (Sir Eel, 2003) With others * ''The Fisher Prince'' (Billion Dollar Films, 2006) * King James and the Serfs of Swing, ''Introducing...'' (Josephsson, 2004) * Jose Bowen, ''A Jazz Shabbat Service'' (Cross Over Music, 2003) * Origem, ''Ijexa'' (Union, 1999) * Radio Mosaic, ''Look Around'' (Little Guy, 1999) * Ritmo Junction, ''Suburban Descarga'' (CSR, 1998) * Dan Reynolds, ''To Be Sure'' (Never Alone Music, 1998) * Sharón Clark, ''Finally'' (Union, 1997) * River, ''Songs for the Harbinger'' (Grantham Dispatch, 1997) * Red Letter Day, ''Four Bowls of Colour'' (Antwinnie Music, 1996) * ''Music for Film and Television'' (Omnicast Music, 1996) * June Rich, ''Rain'' (Hard Time, 1996) * ''Primal Virtue'' (TOG Recordings, 1993) * ''Fusion Hackers'' (Dungeon Music, 1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraize, Peter American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Living people Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Year of birth missing (living people)