Peter Wolf
Peter Wolf is an Austrian pianist, keyboardist, composer and music producer.
He should not be confused with the Peter Wolf of J. Geils Band fame (who's real name is Peter Blankfield).
His father was a pianist, so Peter started playing piano at age 4, and started at the Conservatory of the City of Vienna in Vienna at age of 6. He came to the US in 1975 at the age of 23 and played bebop for a year, before hooking up with FZ. Wolf auditioned for The Mothers thanks to Andre Lewis, who knew one of Peter's collaborators.
One of Peter Wolfs friends at the time was Thomas Nordegg, who for a period of years was Zappa's road manager, videographer etc.
Also of Viennese extraction is André Heller, an international most distinguished artist, performer, writer, singer, who in August 1978 organized a side event of the Forum Alpbach, [1], hiring Frank Zappa to write a signation for the daily TV reports. Artopia Hymn [2], Artopia Signation[3].
Peter Wolf provided keyboards for Sheik Yerbouti, Joe's Garage Act I, Joe's Garage Acts II & III, Tinseltown Rebellion, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar set, Baby Snakes, Frank Zappa: Guitar, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 4, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6, Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa, Halloween, and Quaudiophiliac; also for the Beat The Boots series disks Anyway The Wind Blows (BTB), Saarbrücken 1978 (BTB), & At The Circus (BTB), and on Trance-Fusion.
Peter can be seen in the Zappa movies Baby Snakes and Video From Hell. He returned to his native Austria in 1994 to work as a producer and composer.
He wrote the foreword in the liner notes of the album Hammersmith Odeon (2010). In these notes he mentions how he grew into a Zappa fan after playing in his band, rather than being an admirer before joining in.
See Also
"Frank put musicians through this ordeal because he liked to make them humble. He even did that to Jean-Luc Ponty! He looked him in the face and said, 'So you can't play that, eh?' You have to say, 'I guess not, Frank!' I said to him once, 'Why don't you play this?' He laughed and said, 'I can't play that! I have to make a living for all of us by writing it.'"
