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Pete Christlieb

From the 1970s through the 1990s, the sound of Pete’s tenor could be heard on television and motion picture sound tracks and recordings. The son of a famous bassoon player, Don Christlieb, Pete began his musical journey on the violin at age 7. At 12, he was introduced to the sounds of jazz through the recordings of Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Johnny Griffin, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley. The violin was replaced by the tenor sax, but not without opposition. At 17, Pete enrolled in the Greyhound school of music through his association with the bands of Si Zentner, Woody Herman, Louis Bellson and even a short but delightful stint with Count Basie.

Today he can be heard with his own recently formed 10 piece group, The Tall and Small Band, with his own quartet, and with the Bill Holman Orchestra, both live and on CD. Electing to follow in his father’s footsteps as a studio musician, Pete has played in the wind section on the Star Trek shows, and has had featured solos on CDs like Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable.”

During this long career, Pete has maintained a healthy interest in drag racing and is the proud owner of two national championships for Blown Alcohol Dragsters. Some people will do anything to avoid practicing the clarinet!

Gear

Cannonball Pete Christlieb Signature Series tenor sax

Hadley Caliman / Pete Christlieb: Reunion

by Thomas Conrad
March 28, 2024

At the end of the first decade of the new millennium, one of the most gratifying developments in jazz is the late blossoming of Hadley Caliman. In 2008, at 76, he released Gratitude, his first recording as a leader in 31 years. It was followed in 2010 by Straight Ahead. They created a buzz on the jazz street. It is not just that he has lasted long enough to finally get the attention he deserves. Hadley Caliman is currently playing ...

Album Review

Scott Whitfield & Friends: A Bi-Coastal Christmas

Read "A Bi-Coastal Christmas" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 31, 2020

If trombonist Scott Whitfield's A Bi-Coastal Christmas cannot quicken your inner holiday spirit, that will not be for lack of trying. Whitfield uses every ribbon in the packet and every tool in the shed to help make the season bright, from big band to quintet, from duo to solo (Whitfield's trombone all by itself). Two of the selections were recorded in 2004, four others in 2005, whereas Whitfield's brace of solo tracks was taped in 2020 as he cast off ...

Live Review

Pete Christlieb Quintet, "Santa’s Bones" at Phoenix Musicians Hall

by Patricia Myers
December 9, 2014

Pete Christlieb, “Santa's Bones" Musicians Hall, Phoenix Musicians Union, Local 586 AFM Phoenix, AZ November 30 and December 2, 2014 Concerts by tenor saxophonist Pete Christlieb and a trombone ensemble called “Santa's Bones" were presented as part of on ongoing series at the Musicians Hall of the Phoenix Musicians Union, Local 586 AFM. jny: Los Angeles-based Christlieb is a longtime big-band and studio musician who played 20 years in “Johnny Carson's Tonight Show" ...

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Album Review

Hadley Caliman and Pete Christlieb: Reunion

Read "Reunion" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
September 30, 2010

Both Hadley Caliman and Pete Christlieb were active on Los Angeles jazz scene going on 50 years ago, and the two tenor saxophonists actually performed together at the time. Real life got in the way, guiding each man in his allotted direction. Origin Records' house pianist (and All About Jazz Contributor) Bill Anschell brought the two together for Reunion, composing a good old fashioned cooker to open the disc. “Little Dex" (after Dexter Gordon) is thus titled ...

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Album Review

Hadley Caliman / Pete Christlieb: Reunion

Read "Reunion" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 28, 2010

Reunion showcases a couple of old saxophone pros diving deep into the jazz mainstream, backed by an energized rhythm section. Tenor men Hadley Caliman and Pete Christlieb worked together on the Los Angeles Central Avenue jazz scene back in the 1960s, at a club called Marty's, where Caliman was the mentor. Forty-plus years later, they're back together again, on an absolute jewel of a straight-ahead offering.Caliman's recording career went dormant for thirty years--a drug problem, jail time, rehabilitation, ...

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Album Review

Pete Christlieb with the Lori Mechem Quartet: Live at the Jazz Cave

Read "Live at the Jazz Cave" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 20, 2007

I fell head-over-heels in love with the tenor saxophone the first time I heard Zoot Sims play one, and my heart (thank goodness) has never quite recovered from the impact. These days I have two tenors of choice, one on each coast--Eric Alexander in the east, Pete Christlieb way out west. And the strange part is, about the only thing they have in common is that they both play the same horn. Alexander is a hard-line, straight-ahead, no-nonsense swinger from ...

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Album Review

Pete Christlieb/Warne Marsh Quintet: Apogee

Read "Apogee" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
May 24, 2004

Apogee plays in a hard-bop format you almost never hear any more: saxophonists Marsh and Christleib screaming twin tenors in a quintet with piano (Lou Levy), bass (Jim Hughart) and drums (Nick Ceroli), immensely aided by several loose yet tight arrangements by Joe Roccisano. Of course, you almost never heard this format when Apogee was originally released in 1978, either.

Christleib “worked the saxophone” in “Deacon Blues” for Steely Dan on its pop breakthrough, Aja ; co-leaders Walter ...

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