A Denver native, Peter Gregory trained at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied with Joe Hunt, Skip Hadden, and Alan Dawson. A year after his Berklee education, he moved to New York City.
While in NYC, he had the honor of working with such artists and ensembles as Ralph Towner, Candido, Bo Diddley, The Drifters, The Ink Spots, The Marvelettes, The Coasters, The Crystals, Gary U.S. Bonds, Big Apple Circus, Brian Hyland, Lesley Gore and John Pizzarelli. He continued his studies with Kenwood Dennard, Frankie Malabe, and Buster Bailey, former percussionist of the New York Philharmonic. In addition to numerous other projects, Peter was a session drummer and contractor for the daytime show Guiding Light; was band leader for the cruise liner Spirit of New York; and worked in New York studios replacing drum machine tracks with live MIDI drumming.
Peter moved back to Denver in 2006, and worked with Nelson Rangell, Richie Cole, Freddy Rodriguez, Sr., Billy Wallace, Lenore Raphael, the Colorado Composers Big Band, Freddy Rodriguez, Sr., The Hot Tomatoes, the Denver Brass, Joe Smith’s Spicy Pickles, What’s Cookin’, Purnell Steen and Le Jazz Machine, the Ken Walker Sextet, Sean McGowan, Lannie Garrett, Shelly Taylor, Teresa Carroll, MaryLynn Gillaspie, Mark Diamond, Janine Santana, Chased, among many other jazz and blues artists. He also played for shows at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, including The Taffetas and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.
Peter has been teaching drums since 1985. In addition to teaching privately, from 1991 to 2000 he was an adjunct professor at The Juilliard School with the Music Advancement Program (MAP), a program dedicated to bringing music to inner-city children
Festivals include Estes Park Jazz Festival, Longmont Jazz Festival, Blues Under the Bridge (Colorado Springs), Blues from the Top Festival (Winter Park), Moab Arts Festival, Crested Butte Music Festival, Ritzville Blues, Brews & BBQs “Sweet 16 Party featuring The Women of the Blues” (Ritzville, WA), Bluewater Blues Festival (Lewellen, NE), Sweet Water Blues n’ Brews (Rock Springs, WY), Trinidaddio Blues Fest (Trinidad, CO), and Big Aspen Barbecue Block Party (Aspen, CO).
Peter is proud to have represented Colorado at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2009 and 2010.
He has shared stages with Steps Ahead, Joe Zawinul, Sadao Watanabe, Lew Soloff, Pierre Bensusan, Zac Harmon, Backdoor Slam, Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers, Tinsley Ellis, Indigenous, Otis Taylor, and The Neville Brothers.
Since relocating to Bucks County, PA in 2016 Peter has had the pleasure of performing with The Shirelles, Lurrie Bell, the Don Evans Band, Roger Girke, Mikey Junior, Gypsy Joe Alves, Slim and the Perkolators, Parlour Noir, DelVal Jazz Band, PA Jazz Society, the PCJB Alumni Big Band, and Scoville Blues.
Peter is also branching out into Early Music and has performed as a percussionist with Riverview Early Music and La Spirita – Viola da Gamba Consort. Riverview Early Music specializes in music from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Baroque periods.