Finn Peters

Finn Peters is a flautist and saxophonist. He studied music at Durham University and took the postgraduate jazz course at Guildhall School of Music. He comes from a family of musicians which can be traced back to the 1600s, and he started playing the flute at the age of five.
His widescreen approach to composition and improvisation comes from working with some of the last decade's most progressive artists. Moving to London in 1994 exposed Finn to many disparate musical styles, from which he has created an individual and genre-spanning musical language. He has traveled the world as a much-in-demand session player and has continued to learn about music from around the globe. This explorative nature has led him to work with such pioneers as Frederick Rzewski, Bill Frisell, DJ Spinna, Sam Rivers and Sa-Ra creative partners, to name a few. All the while he has been developing his own productions, writing and playing and forging a new musical alloy from this melting pot of traditions.
Besides working on upwards of 200 recordings for other artists, Finn has released a number of his own recordings. The two Dr Seus EPs, released on his own imprint, Mantella records, were played in clubs across Europe by high-profile tastemakers such as Gilles Peterson and Mr Scruff. Two tracks for Club Brasil, Joyce covers ‘Femenina’ and ‘Aldeia de Ogum’, were championed by DJs in the know like Rainer Truby and charted all over the world as well as getting extensive amounts of airplay. Two co-productions with ‘The Deal’ for Trip do Brasil were also club-land favourites.
Fellow musicians and critics alike have consistently praised Finn’s work. In 1999 his achievements were recognised when he won the London Young Jazz Musician Award. Bansuri, released in 2005, pushed his name further into the limelight when his collaboration with Bembe Segue on "The Birds" was nominated for track of the year in the BBC Radio 1 Worldwide Award. He has been described by Straight no Chaser magazine as being "the blazing definition of a seriously heavy player" and by Jazzwise as being "head and shoulders above his peers."
Su-Ling, his debut release for Babel records, received a great deal of airplay on BBC Radio 1,2,3 and 1xtra. In 2007 Finn’s Quintet won the BBC Jazz Awards Best Band. Mojo Magazine described Peters as “a major figure in the making.”
Finn was also chosen as part of the Jerwood Rising Stars programme. The Finn Peters Quintet (or 'Finntet') beat the bands of Stan Tracey and Byron Wallen in the best jazz group category of the BBC Radio 3 Jazz Awards.
2008 saw a successful Arts Council UK tour and appearances at the North Sea and Gateshead Jazz Festivals for the Finn Peters Sextet. The album Butterflies, released on Accidental Records and co-produced with Matthew Herbert was received to great critical acclaim. Time Out called it “Mesmerising and deeply rewarding...an essential listen **** and The Daily Telegraph, “…a gem of a disc…Peters is onto something distinctive.” He was also nominated for the Paul Hamlyn Composition Award.
Finn went on to win the 2009 Radio 1 Worldwide Awards “Best Session” category and was runner up in the “Best Album” category. His improvisation on an Algorythm was chosen as part of the Radio 3 best line up of 2009 for Jazz on 3.
Throughout 2010 Finn worked on a new electro-acoustic project entitled “Music of the Mind” which deals with brainwaves in music and new forms of algorhythmically based composition and improvisation. This groundbreaking project, supported by the Arts Council and Californian based Neurosky, garnered press attention with appearances on Radio 4's “Today” programme, BBC World and GMTV on ITV. The album was described by The Independent as “nothing like you have ever heard before.” The group toured the Music of the Mind in the UK, performing with live visuals and a film made about the project by Nick Hillel during 2010 and 2011. Music of the Mind is to be featured in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary.

• Dr Seus EPs 1 and 2, (Mantella 2002)
• Bansuri, (Traficante, 2005)
• Suling, (Babel, 2006)
• Butterflies, (Accidental, 2008)
• Music of the Mind, (Mantella, 2010)
• Purple and Yellow, (Mantella, 2011)