Pete Downes is one of those incredible talents that only surfaces once in a blue moon. Completely self taught, he is rapidly becoming one of Europe’s leading guitarists in the modern jazz fusion genre. Already established on the jazz scene in the UK and Italy with a string of regular appearances culminating with a packed audience at Glastonbury Festival where they played the Jazz Lounge.

In the 90's he wrote and produced music for a series of very successful self-help tapes with hypnotherapist Christine King. This led to solo albums Fantasea and Joy. Both are soon to be re-released by Wiser Productions. His solo album Sea of Tranquility was recently re-released

With influences that cover such a wide spectrum as Pat Metheny to Jimi Hendrix their first album “Street Scene” caught the attention of Jazzwise, Jazz FM and critic praise from The Guardian, The Observer and many other Radio Stations and newspapers.
The eagerly awaited follow up album “Into The Blue.” is a further step on the road to a wider audience. On this album PD3 blend their infectious original compositions with totally fresh and inspired versions of popular songs from the 70s to present day in a way that simply underlines the incredible versatility of the trio and the ease in which they can provide assessable jazz routed music to a much wider audience.

PD3 - Tim Bruce (drums) and Andy Coe (double bass) complete the Trio and were the rhythm section on the first two recordings. "Tim is a very percussive drummer and when you play with him you can feel him listening.

Andy is very visual and entertains the audience with his physical approach."  Andy'’s extreme and unique bass playing not only providing a solid back line, but pulsing through on solos and driving the music along to Tim Bruce’s meticulous drumming.

Pete Downes’ guitar work is unrivalled, but never over the top or self indulgent.

He is a master of understatement and delicate phrasing, but when the track requires power, he’s there adding just the right amount of weight so as not to overpower or derail the beauty of the theme.

Andy Coe - Double Bass

Andy studied classical music for the double bass at school in England, but took up jazz seriously after hearing Miles Davis's Bitches Brew performed live at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970.
His prime influences include Charlie Haden and Ray Brown.

His versatility has enabled him to experiment with a variety of sound combinations and music forms, including a period with John Stevens' Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Portsmouth Sinfonia,

Andy also performs with Jack-E McAuley's Poormouth.

Tim Bruce - Drums
Having studied under the tutelage of drum masters Mal Cutland and Lloyd Ryan, Tim is a master in versatility on drums.

He has played a wide variety of music live & in session for Roogalator, Polly Brown Blues Band, Boney M and has toured with The Stranglers.

His own jazz trio played recently at the Ealing Jazz Festival and Tim was a regular on stage at the Bulls Head (Barnes) with the Latin Jazz group Seventh Wave.

In addition to PD3, Tim gigs regularly with the rock band Shades of Red.

The PD3 band delivered two magnificent sets -
Set 1
Moondance - Van Morrison
Eclipse - Peter Downes
Straight No Chaser - Thelonius Sphere Monk
Dont Know Why -Jesse Harris for Norah jones
9+7
Fragile - Sting
Autumn Leaves - Kosma/Mercer
Belsize - Andy Coe/Peter Downes
My Favourite Things - Rogers/Hammerstein

Set 2
Misty - Errol Garner/Burke
Rolling Hills
Stella by Starlight - Victor Young
Timba
Requiem - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Footprints - Wayne Shorter
Little Wing - Jimi Hendricks
Round Midnight - Thelonius Sphere Monk
James - Pat Metheny
Black Orpheus
Joy Spring - Clifford Brown - The Encore was  - So What - Miles Davis
 

Dick Pearce - A player with an equally formidable reputation who has suffered a similar fate of neglect by record labels is Dick Pearce. More than any other British jazz trumpeter, Pearce probably deserves the mantle of heir to Jimmy Deuchar, offering a style that contains a fractured lyricism reminiscent of his forebear. Pearce began his career as a military band musician and subsequently emerged in the 1970s from one of the earliest editions of that ongoing jazz dynasty, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO). Surrounded by would-be plugged-in Miles Davis clones, and by those musicians who had reached attention through the very different apprenticeship of free music, Pearce was notable for being the kind of straight ahead player who might well have appeared on the London jazz scene twenty years earlier. He has a sophisticated command of harmonic improvising, although, as with his self-confessed (and disparate) trumpet heroes - Chet Baker, Art Farmer and Don Cherry - his playing comes across as anything but contrived. Pearce had a lengthy association with Ronnie Scott which lasted from the 1970s until Scott's health forced him to abandon performing in the mid-1990s, and some of his best recorded work can be found on the CD Never Pat A Burning Dog (Jazz House, 1990), where his solos contrast admirably with Scott's more forthright contributions, and contain a heat and urgency never far beneath the cool surface.
A quartet CD for FMR records in 1994 remains Pearce's only noticeable solo recording effort and, as with virtually all the players mentioned here, his reputation would be ill-founded if one were to base it solely on the quantity of his recorded output. However, Pearce's beautifully integrated mix of hard bop and abstraction influenced a whole generation of British trumpeters including those who followed in his footsteps with NYJO, such as Gerard Presencer and Guy Barker, both of whom have made careers representative of the kind of failsafe adaptability that has long been the way for British trumpeters
© SIMON SPILLETTJune 2005

Bring some extra cash to buy your Memento CD's of these Stars and get them Autographed

Music for Guitar: Bach now on iTunes
Pete Downes' new solo guitar recording of JS Bach lute suites is now on iTunes.
"Many excellent classical guitarists have recorded this music," says Pete, "However, I felt that my experience in jazz, rock and contemporary music would allow me to approach them in my own way. A traditional instrument with a modern feel".
http://www.petedownes.com/cdbach.htm
 

Reviews
PD3 do have a very strong set which is surprisingly diverse and has earned great reviews - deservedly so..

"Tone, nuance and balance are their strong points. Pete Downes (the 'PD' of the title) plays guitar, both electric and acoustic, with a distinctively bright and crystalline sound, while bassist Andy Coe and drummer Tim Bruce match him to perfection."
                                                                                                                                                                           Dave Gelly
"PD3 have surpassed all my expectations with an album that is nothing short of brilliant.
"This was the album PD3 were meant to record, like Floyd's Dark Side Of the Moon or Miles Davies' Kind Of Blue - ultimately listenable without a single bad track." Gareth Forman

Jazz Eddie - I was sat banging away at my computer and listening to thejazz top 500 over Easter and the most wonderful, celestial and pure Metheny like guitar sound came washing through the speakers and made me sit up and listen - fortunately the number 'Into the Blue' was back announced so I then pursued the band name only to find to my astonishment it was a British group  - and now they are booked for a live performance at Concert Jazz - its no Miracle they just want to play and you are going to love it - 'home grown is a good thing'..

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Musicians and Deputies
The line-ups as listed are correct at the time of Publication and are those given to us by the leader of the group, and information is as accurate as we can make it. With the Music business being what it is, inevitable changes happen, and we amend the listings except for those that happen on the night. We have been very fortunate, as the substitutions made by the groups have often been surprise upgrades. Nevertheless, the situation is not one we can control due to the fallibility of the ever sensitive musicians.  Blessed as they are - they are not invulnerable.