featuring Louis Cato, currently featured nightly on Stephen Colbert’s show.
Left End pulls off the adage “a little attitude goes a long way.”
Four Stars. John Ephland, Downbeat Magazine, May 2005.
The rock side is resplendent. “Gibbons” roars and soars on the sizzle of Peckham’s notes, which bend and reverberate as they light a hot, streaming path. Sean Fitzell, All About Jazz New York.
Left End is a new chapter in the tradition of the “power trio.” Peckham’s concise composing serves an array of sonic textures and unexpected twists, with a healthy dose of attitude and wit. Sean Fitzell, About Jazz New York.
…Peckham’s understanding of rock guitar goes way beyond the application of the odd power chord or turning his amp up to 11…Peter Marsh, BBC website.
The resulting blend is something that’s not quite rock, not quite jazz, but somewhere in the middle. And that’s exactly where Peckham wants it to be.John Kelman, All About Jazz.
Peckham is a monster guitarist, with a full arsenal at his disposal. From modal jazz noodlings to heavy-metal axe attacks, Peckham has as broad a range of tricks up his sleeve as you’ll find. But he leavens that technical brilliance by putting the music first. Jim Trageser, Turbula.net.
It is refreshing to hear work that bears the influence of Grant Green along with those various schools of rock guitar without a trace of incongruity. Paul Donnely, ejazz news.
With influences from Monk to Led Zeppelin, Peckham has opted to not just combine two styles but to more so articulate a passion for the music. His guitar playing is quite accomplished as he uses and abuses his axe with fiery skill, utilizing sounds such as distortion, delay, and phase effects without the use of overdubbing. Read Mark F. Turner’s review from allaboutjazz.com.
Complex tracks such as “353-1001” and “Hammer Damage” are, in turn, straight-up jazz and freeform jazz. But Peckham, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Jim Black just plain rock out on the Jeff Beck-influenced title cut and the heavily picked “Gibbons…” Ed Symkus, Boston TAB newspapers.
…there’s a refreshing sense of engagement and discovery about Rick Peckham’s début as leader, not least because he’s an inventive, probing player who knows the best qualities of both (jazz and rock) traditions and creates a synthesis of the two that works.Ray Comiskey, from the Irish Times.