Born in Paris, France, Peter Edelman was raised in a musical family in Northern Virginia. A steady stream of Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Jelly Roll Morton, Billy Holliday, James P. Johnson, Willie “The Lion,” Smith, Earl Hines, Ma Rainey, Jimmy Yancey, Robert Johnson, Sidney Bechet, Art Tatum, and Fats Waller, flowed from the family phonograph.
Peter began playing piano at age 7, and by age 14, he was playing blues piano, and composing. After attending North Texas State University, Peter performed at the Tip Top Club, One Step Down, Blues Alley, the Wharf, Harold’s Rogue and Jar, The Childe Harold, The Pig Foot, Jimmy McPhail’s Gold Room, Café Lautrec, Café des Artists, and Alva’s.
Peter Edelman has performed with Cecil Payne, Teddy Smith, Butch Warren, Wallace Roney, Wynard Harper, Nap Turner, Keter Betts, Tom Kozick, Steve Novosel, Ted Efantis, George Kelly, Ronnie Coles, Bull Moose Jackson, Panama Francis, Carter Jefferson, Charlie Hampton, Carl Grubbs, Webster Young, and members of the Count Basie Orchestra.
Peter Edelman’s musical influences include: Errol Garner, Red Garland, Ahmad Jamal, Thelonious Monk, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane.
In 1993, Peter performed a European Tour with the Marlon Jordan Quartet, and in 1999, performed in Istanbul, Turkey, at the “Q” Club, in the Cirgan Palace, with the Keisa Brown Quintet.
Peter Edelman has performed at Bohemian Caverns, Ellington’s, Eighteenth Street Lounge, Laporta’s, Bus Boys and Poets, Arts Club of Washington, The Smithsonian, Tabard Inn, Henley Park Hotel, City Club of Washington, Carlyle Club, Willard Hotel, Old Angler’s Inn, Chef Geoff’s, Carnegie Club, The University Club, Fort Meyers Officer’s Club, Army and Navy Officer’s Club, Westminster Church, and Fort Dupont Park. In terms of festivals, Peter played Adam’s Morgan Festival Day; and Takoma Park Festival, and Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festivals.
Peter Edelman currently performs at Normandie Farms Inn, and frequently leads and hosts a welcoming jam session, in Washington, D.C., at Columbia Station Jazz Club.