Peter Bernstein is an American jazz guitarist whose many recordings leading his own band and as a sideman with other artists have made him a star of the New York jazz scene and around the world. His release 'Let Loose' went to number 20 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart in 2016 and 'Signs Live!' reached number 12 in 2017.
Born in New York City, he learned to play piano as a small child and switched to the guitar in his teens. He studied at Rutgers University and the New School where guitarist Jim Hall invited him to perform at the JVC Jazz Festival in 1990. He featured on the resulting album 'Live at Town Hall Vol. 2' along with guitarists such as Pat Metheny and John Scofield.
He has performed and made recordings with several aggregations including drummer Jimmy Cobb's Cobb's Mob, a trio with organist Larry Goldings and Bill Stewart, saxophonist Joshua Redman's band and units led by organists Melvin Rhyne and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Other collaborators include Eric Alexander, Tom Harrell, Lee Konitz, Diana Krall, Nicholas Payton and Sonny Rollins. His first release as leader or co-leader of a band was 'Somethin's Burnin'' in 1992 and several albums followed including 'Consenting Adults' (1992), 'Signs of Life' (1995), 'Brain Dance' (1996) and 'Earth Tones' (1997).
Bernstein played with Bill Stewart and bassist Doug Weiss on 'Monk' (2009) which featured tunes by pianist Thelonious Monk, and he played on the 2009 album 'Mosaic' to mark the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. He joined pianist Bill Charlap, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, drummer Lewis Nash, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, bassist Peter Washington and Steve Wilson on alto saxophone and flute in a group called the Blue Note 7. Stewart and Weiss teamed up with Bernstein and pianist Gerald Clayton for the album 'Let Loose' while pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Gregory Hutchinson joined him for 'Signs Live!'.
