Peter Washington

Peter Washington is perhaps the most recorded bassist of his generation, with a discography of more than 450 recordings.

Born in Los Angeles in 1964, Washington played classical bass as a teen and majored in English literature at University of California in Berkeley, where he played in both the UC Symphony, and the San Francisco Youth Symphony. In 1986, while performing in San Francisco with saxophonist John Handy, he was invited by the legendary Art Blakey to join the Jazz Messengers in New York, and remained a member of the band until 1986. In 1990,

Washington became part of the Tommy Flanagan Trio, and toured and recorded with the pianist for the next decade. Washington is also a longtime member of the Bill Charlap Trio. Washington’s freelance work roster is a “who’s who” of jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Johnny Griffin, Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Charles McPherson, Mulgrew Miller, Tony Bennett, Joe Henderson, Gerald Wilson, Frank Wess, Jackie McLean, Cedar Walton, Tom Harrell and Lou Donaldson, among many others.

“Anything Peter Washington plays on gets 5 stars. He has always been one of my favorite bass players of all time. He has such a big, big sound and such great time, and picks such great notes.” - Christian McBride