Artist: Peter Appleyard

Peter Appleyard was a British–Canadian jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer.

He spent most of his life in the city of Toronto, where for many years he was a popular performer in nightclubs and hotels such as The Park Plaza, Stop 33, The 54th, The Chelsea Inn, and The Montreal Bistro. He also played and recorded with many of the city's orchestras and was featured on Canadian television and radio programs.

In the early 1970s he drew wide acclaim for his performances with Benny Goodman's jazz sextet with which he toured internationally. In 1992, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his being an "internationally renowned vibraphonist [who] has represented the Canadian jazz community across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia".

Born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, Appleyard became apprenticed to a nautical instrument maker after being forced to leave school owing to economic reasons related to the Second World War. At that time the popularity of the American Big Bands was growing in England, particularly through a major influx in big band recordings from America by jazz musicians like Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. These recordings had a strong influence on Appleyard, and he decided to pursue a career as a jazz musician. He began his career in the early 1940s playing in the Boys Brigade, a youth organization. He performed as a drummer in several other British dance bands during the 1940s and, while a member of the Royal Air Force in the mid-1940s, played in RAF bands.

In 1949 Appleyard moved to Bermuda, where he lived for several years performing as the resident band leader at the historic Princess Hotel, The Elbow Beach and Belmont Hotel. While there he spent his holidays in Canada and picked up his first set of vibes. He was so impressed with Canada that when the time came to leave Bermuda, he headed for New York and finally Toronto. He studied music with Gordon Delamont and soon thereafter began playing the vibraphone in concerts with Billy O'Connor in the early 1950s. From 1954 to 1956 he played with a band at the Park Plaza Hotel and made numerous appearances on CBC Radio with jazz pianist Calvin Jackson.

FIn the late sixties, he ceased his busy touring schedule and returned to Toronto on a more permanent basis. He began playing once more at the Park Plaza Hotel. In 1969 he co-hosted the program Mallets and Brass with Guido Basso for CBC TV. In addition he began studying timpani and percussion and extended his musical expertise substantially.