It was a surprising comment – something so different from Jesse Peters’ present lifestyle. But there was a time when Peters, 32, a jazz, pop, funk and soul man dedicated time to laying the bricks for a more conventional career. He studied law.

But those musical notes were constantly firing off in the Edmonton-based pianist’s brain. At the urging of his wife, he shelved the law books and followed his passion.

Drawn to the improvisational quality of jazz, Peters says, “Even when you’re playing a familiar song, you still work at playing it creatively. It’s the spontaneity – the ability to create something in front of an audience that I like. It’s never static. It’s always changing. It truly expresses who you are and helps find our own voice.”

Today Peters spends almost as much time touring across Canada and North America as he does at home. And as part of Alberta Culture Days, the Jesse Peters Trio is unveiling the Morinville Community Culture Centre’s professional series on Friday, Sept. 28.

Helping Peters play his collection of soothing, romantic and at times cheeky jazz is Morinville’s own Travis Switzer on bass and former St. Albert resident Matthew Atkins, a Canadian Country Music Award winning drummer flying in from Mexico for this event.

The threesome met years ago freelancing for country artists such as Gord Bamford, Gil Grand and Samantha King. One night after a country gig Peters and Switzer just started jamming jazz. They clicked.

In 2007 Peters recorded Paramedics, an urban music project that meshed funky soul and hip hop with R&B. Building on that initial success, Peters released a second album Love, Doubt and Soul, winner of the 2009 Western Canadian Music Awards.

After a grueling two-year touring schedule for Love, Doubt and Soul was completed, the band took a break recharging their musical batteries.

“I was without an agenda, but I found myself gravitating towards jazz. My first song was That Ain’t Today, a traditional jazz chart.”

His recent full-length album Face Time was recorded in two 12-hour sessions at the Winspear Centre’s symphony rehearsal hall.

“I wanted it to be recorded in one session where all the musicians could see each other. We recorded it live off the floor and it was great.”

A huge fan of Stax Records, where Otis Redding was its biggest star, Peters used their recording model as a template.

“We didn’t use headphones. We just turned it up loud and played. There was something so amazing about making it so organic. So many modern records are chopped, sliced and glued it’s hard to recognize a musician did it.”

Influenced by the likes of Ray Charles, Black Boys of Alabama and Howlin’ Wolf, Face Time explores the different textures of jazz’s soul. At the Friday night concert, the trio will be playing some older material as well as new songs.

“I’m debuting some new material. We want people to know we’re progressing. The creation of music is ongoing so you don’t end up as a tribute act to yourself.”

“We’re going to dig deep. For me it’s about energy, bringing the audience along for a journey and sharing music we are so passionate about.”

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