Ricky & The Peterson Brothers With Special Guest - Sheila E – The Propostrophy Tour

Ricky & The Peterson Brothers With Special Guest - Sheila E –
The Propostrophy Tour

The Peterson & Escovedo family’s are two of the most respected & Cultured Musical family’s of all time.  Ricky Peterson who is well known as the Keyboard player for Legendary saxophonist David Sanborn & is best known in Australia for producing and arranging the song ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the World’, which was Prince’s first independent & very successful release away from Warner under the name “ 0(+>”. 

Being around some of the best in the industry has kept him on his game & always made him want strive for more. Ricky has played with Joss Stone, Anita Baker, Lalah Hathaway, Sheryl Crow & Miles Davis to name a few.

He has put “the best of” the 4 records he has put out over the years into a double CD & included 3 new tracks that he has been working on with a close friend. Ricky put together a warm up gig featuring Michael Bland on Drums as well as some of the Ladies in the Peterson Family at his club “The Artists’ Quarter” in Minnesota. I was lucky enough to watch the first 10 minutes or so of the gig via LIVE streaming & the vibe from the crowd & the bang of the funk was excitingly refreshing. Ricky said they had to turn many people away & the nite was crazy!

Ricky has always wanted to come Down Under & is now fulfilling his dream to do so. Aussies are lucky enough to enjoy intimate shows from Perth To Byron & everywhere in between. He is here to promote the release of ‘The Best of Ricky Peterson Vol 1 &2’ & will be bringing some special Guests along with him!

Ricky is bringing his brothers Paul & Billy, Nephew Jason & Family Friend & Drumming Legend Sheila E (Escovedo).

Their Careers either in their own right or shows & collaborations they have done with other artists, reads like some of the worlds greats in just about every genre of music, from Punk to Country, Classical to Funk, R&B to Jazz & Hip Hop to Pop.

Paul Peterson aka St Paul, is the youngest Peterson & is well known for Replacing Jimmy Jam in The “Rival” band to the Revolution - “The Time”, in Prince’s Movie Purple Rain back in the 80’s.  He then went onto front the group “The Family” with Susannah Melvoin. Susannah was twin sister to Wendy Melvoin from The Revolution remembered for songs like “Screams of Passion” & the original version of “Nothing Compares To You” later made famous by Sinead O’Connor. Paul is another Powerhouse Peterson who started on the drums at the age of 15, playing Keyboards for The Time while he was still in his teens, & now gravitated towards Guitar & Bass.

Paul’s collaborations include Donny Osmond which brought Paul to Australia a few years back,
Session work with the likes of The Corrs, Mavis Staples, Rosie Gaines, & Tevin Campbell which isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. He was just about to go on stage with Kenny Loggins in Long Island New York when I spoke to him for this article.

Paul spoke of a Loving family that was hard on each other, & recalls a time when his older brother Billy would give him “the talk” on how to have a high level of respect for the instrument and their craft. In his other family with Susannah, exciting news that Paul shared for grooveon readers is that they will be getting together to Mix the new “Family” album in the first week of June.

Paul talked to me about spending time with Sheila’s family away from the music.  He was surprised at how similar their dynamics were to the Peterson family at home which has a huge impact on how they came together so well on stage.

Most people in Australia would remember Sheila E from Crush Groove or her association with Prince, but Sheila has pulled off a substantial amount more than most of the high profile triple threats currently out in the “artist” landscape.

Long regarded as a strong but feminine Dynamo on drums & percussion & playing strings & keyboards on her albums, Sheila has inspired a new generation of prominent female percussionists & musicians since her rise in the early 80’s.  A 25 year history that had Sheila working with Greats like Marvin Gaye, Placido Domingo, Herbie Hancock, Diana Ross & of Course Prince! Tito Puente was her godfather & dad & uncle played with Santana so its no wonder Sheila followed in their footsteps. 

Sheila’s family reads like a who’s who of Jazz, Latin, Funk, Punk & country so its no surprise she has gravitated to work with the Peterson brothers in the past as well as joining them on this tour Down Under. I asked Sheila if the family connection & friendly rivalry makes her a better artist:

“I think it makes me a better person. Ive been very blessed to have an incredible foundation with parents that who still married and love each other which is huge ,because there is so many people who don’t have both their parents or one. Im blessed that they are still around and we are best friends. That is the foundation of who I am. Family is important, we get together all the time, we speak every day and my family is huge! Also sometimes in the audience instead of saying hey u guys are my fans, I call my fans family, “family what’s up” you know because we are family. If we didn’t have people coming to the performances we wouldn’t have a career at all.”

Sheila reflected & attributed the family connection to her longevity as an artist.

This is the first time that Sheila has Teamed up with the Peterson brothers. I asked Paul Peterson to tell me what we can expect, this is what he wants Yall to know:

“This gig is a long time coming, its been something that we have wanted to do for many many years and it’s the first of hopefully many trips back over to Australia. Your gonna hear a lot of funk, your gonna hear a lot of great musicianship, and we are there to introduce a couple of cd’s while we are out there. Ive got a best of coming out called straight to the funk & Ricky got a best of cd as well. More importantly its all about the music and we are so thrilled to be able to come over there and share this music that cant be replicated by anybody else other than the people that lived it. We are proud to be part of the Minneapolis sound. We are proud to share in this experience together as Family, brothers & sisters. I think you will get that vibe when you come there. Don’t get me wrong its going to be stanky funky in there.”

Ricky Peterson & St Paul’s Greatest Hits CD’s will be available at the Shows & Sheila would like friends to go to http://www.elevatehope.org which is her foundation and doing great things & creating joy for disadvantaged kids through music.

The tour starts in Melbourne this Wednesday 19th May @ Corner Hotel In Melbourne Followed By

Brisbane Thurs 20th May Hi Fi Bar
Byron Bay Fri 21st May A& I Hall
Perth Sat 22nd May Fly By Night
Sydney Sun 23rd May The Basement
Adelaide Tues 25th May The Gov
Newcastle Wed 26th May Lizottes

Thanks to Neil Richards & the Kre w @ Square One Entertainment we have 2 Prize Packs to give away to grooveon’s friends! The Pack Consists of a double Pass to the Show in your City, a Signed tour poster & a “The best of Ricky Peterson Vol 1&2” on CD

Now go buy ur tix!