Play it again, Pete

Pianist Pete Malinverni performs Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Pound Ridge Community Church, where he leads the Jazz Verspers series. SALLY GREEN PHOTO

Pete Malinverni. SALLY GREEN PHOTO

By MARC WOLLIN

When I was a kid I wanted to be a musician, someone so at home in the world of notes and melody and rhythms that it was a second language. And while I did learn to play several instruments, I had way more enthusiasm than talent. And so I took a different path, while always looking longingly at those who had the gift.

I find I need to amend, or at least augment that childhood wish. What I really wanted to be was Pete Malinverni.

Pete started to learn music at age 6 when growing up in Niagara Falls. His first lessons were on a piano his family got from someone at his church, and whenever he got a piece to a playable level, that’s where he performed. But while his teacher focused on classical, his own tastes ran to Motown and Sly and the Family Stone. 

Crossbreed those three influences, and you can see how jazz was a natural home for him.

That led him to an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam, and a graduate degree from Purchase College. From there it was a short trip to the New York City jazz scene in the 1980s. There he recorded 16 times as a band leader in solo piano, piano/violin duet, trio, quartet, quintet, big band and choral formats, as well as taught, collaborated, composed, accompanied and more. If there’s a musical verb, he’s done it. 

Back when he was starting out, a college buddy who became a Baptist preacher in Brooklyn hired Pete to be his minister of music, a position he held for 18 years. 

“It remains perhaps my most important musical crucible,” he said. “While there, I began to understand how the music of the Black church has led to jazz and all other forms of American — and world — music, including the things I loved as a kid.” 

That led to an epiphany one Sunday: “I realized that I wasn’t the least bit concerned with ‘what’ I was playing (it was bound to be right) because of ‘why’ I was playing ... which was to allow and encourage folks (and myself) to have a spiritual experience. I resolved that day to treat all my performances that way.” 

A move northward and that attitude led to his current postings as conductor/pianist at the Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, as well as music director at the Pound Ridge Community Church, in addition to his weekday gig as professor of jazz studies at Purchase College. Add in club dates in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere, pop-up shows at the local library and more, and it’s easy to wonder when he sleeps.

To watch Pete play is to see a person who is comfortable, cozy and indeed in love with what he is doing. His body sways as his fingers seem to effortlessly glide up and down the keys, as he seems to telepathically connect with the other performers. While he makes it look easy, it takes work. “It’s a two-pronged approach. One, lots of time at the piano, playing scales, working on new concepts that’ve occurred to me, composing, etc. Two, coming to a performance with the realization that I’m as prepared as I can be, to allow the spirit, the muse, to speak. It’s like starting a fire: the preparation is the kindling, and the inspiration is the spark. You need them both. Once I thoroughly know the music I feel confident that my instincts will lead me the right way,” he said.

Pete has performed with legends like Clark Terry and Mel Lewis, as well as hosting a local Jazz Vespers series in his hometown to which he brings upcoming talent, not to mention buddies such as Grammy winners Joe Lovano and Janis Siegel of The Manhattan Transfer. Seeing the wide range of people he’s played with, I asked about his biggest musical influences: “JS Bach, Sly Stone and Thelonious Monk.” Other than the fact that they are all keyboard players, it’s hard to imagine anyone putting them into the same sentence. Except for Pete. And that tells you all you need to know about him. That, and his response when I asked what he wants his audience to take away from his playing. “I sincerely hope they get the fact that every note I play is for them. I really do want to give them a moment in life to just feel, to be in a place they don’t get to visit too often,” he said. 

This Sunday, Jan. 18, at 4 p.m., in the latest performance in the Pound Ridge Community Church Jazz Vespers series, Pete presents “It Takes Four to Tango,” with violinist Juliet Kurtzman, pianist Malinverni, bassist Charlie Himel and Aaron Seeber at the drums, featuring music from the Americas: tango, choros, salon music and American Jazz. 

More of Pete’s upcoming gigs can be found at petemalinverni.com.