NATHAN PECK, was born in Ohio, grew up around Wheeling WV and Pittsburgh PA and came from a family of musicians. He began playing professionally with them at age 15. Originally starting on piano at age 9, he also played clarinet, baritone saxophone, and drums before becoming a bassist in 1991. At age 16 he won the Milt Hinton Award, a Scholarship for Students of the Double Bass and also won an honorable mention from the National Endowment for the Arts. Mr. Peck was honored to perform at the International Duke Ellington Conference which was held in Pittburgh, Pennsylvania, in May 1995.
From 1995-2002 he was based in Pittsburgh, PA where he performed regularly with his family featuring his mother, Donna, a vocalist/drummer, father, Skip, a pianist and composer, as well as his brother Alex, a talented drummer and singer. He also played with Pittsburgh greats such as Joe Harris, Roger Humphries, Jimmy Ponder, Jay Ashby, Marty Ashby, David Budway, and Joe Negri.
In 1999 Mr. Peck toured the US and Asia with the great Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau Band which included a command performance in Bankok for the king of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Since moving to New York City in 2002, he has also had the privilege to perform with artists such as Mark Murphy, Maria Muldaur, Bonnie Tyler, Vernon Reed, Howard Fishman, James Wlliams, Ralf Lalama, Donny McCaslin, Gino Sitson, Lafayette Harris, Joel Frahm, Eteinne Charles, Roy Campbell, Jonathan Kreisberg, Bruce Cox, Allison Miller, Ari Hoenig, and is currently touring/recording with guitarist Alex Skolnick. He has been a part of Skolnick's trio since 2003 and is on Skolnick's current release, Last Day In Paradise (Magna-Carta records).
In summer 2004, he participated in the Kennedy Center's Jazz Ambassador Program along with the Kelley Johnson Quartet which included performances in Russia, Croatia, Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan In 2005 Peck performed in Moscow, Istanbul, and Baku, with Shahin Novrasli, a virtuoso pianist from Azerbaijan and is on his current release Live in Moscow. He was also accepted to the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program in 2006. In winter 2008 Nathan toured Central America and the Caribbean with the Kelley Johnson Quartet as part of Lincoln Center's American Music Abroad Program. In the spring of 2009 he toured Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic with the fusion trio, Phishbacher led by pianist and composer Walter Fischbacher.
Currently based in Queens, New York, he is a fulltime musician and leads his own band, The Spankray Funk Band. He has performed in NYC at the Blue Note, Knitting Factory, Smoke, Iridium, The Zinc Bar, Cleopatra's Needle, 55 Bar, Lenox Lounge, Deer Head Inn, Joes Pub, Barbes, Kenny's Castaways, Arthurs Tavern, Village Underground and others.
