Pete Belasco

Jazz-pop artist Pete Belasco first approached the piano in childhood before redirecting his efforts toward the saxophone. Both of his parents were also pianists. While in high school Belasco performed with rock bands, yet jazz gradually became his central focus, prompting formal saxophone study at Rutgers University and the Hart Conservatory. After finishing his training he moved to Miami, where he played saxophone and keyboards with local groups and simultaneously assembled a demo. A serious boating accident then fractured both of his hands. Unable to perform for several months, he devoted the time to composing and singing instead. Belasco has since called the accident a watershed experience that compelled him to strengthen his songwriting and vocal abilities. The demo reached Verve Records, which offered him a recording contract. Once healed, he relocated to New York to track his debut album, Get It Together, issued on Verve Forecast in the fall of 1997. The set blended touches of Mose Allison, Marvin Gaye, the Beatles, and Van Morrison with jazzy pop and lounge-music cool. Seven years later his long-awaited follow-up, Deeper, finally arrived.