Tom is a New York City based guitarist, pianist, composer, arranger, journalist, photographer, & educator.
I was born and bread (9-grain organic whole wheat, of course!) in Berkeley, North California and have lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn for the last six years. I teach music and direct the chorus and band at A. Philip Randolph High School in Harlem. I earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology (September 2007) that focuses on the jazz community in New York. My thesis argues that jazz is a “village” activity - a collective improvisation in which musicians, venue providers, various professionals, and fans all play active and essential roles. Having made my living as a guitar player for five years, I continue to perform as a piano accompanist for my chorus and occasionally as a vocalist. As a writer and photographer I have contributed to Signal to Noise and All About Jazz: New York magazines, Ted Gioia's jazz.com website, the Journal of Folklore Research, and the Journal of the Society for Ethnomusicology. Best of all, my wife Kim and I have been blessed with a darling daughter named Talia.
Home
Brooklyn, NY
My Desert Island Picks
- George Jones - Anniversary/Vintage Collections: George Jones & Melba Montgomery
- Ray Charles - The Birth of Soul/Genius Sings the Blues
- Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold as Love/Are You Experienced?
- John Coltrane - Crescent/Blue Train
- Wes Montgomery - Incredible Jazz Guitar/Smokin' at the Half Note
- B.B. King - Live @ the Regal/Live at Cook County Jail
- Thelonius Monk - Alone in San Francisco/Brilliant Corners
- Clifford Brown - The Beginning & the End/A Night at Birdland (w/Art Blakey)
- Sonny Rollins - The Bridge/A Night at the Village Vanguard
- The Beatles - Rubber Soul/Revolver
What I'm Listening To Now (As of 2010-02-06)
- Various - Mexican-American Border Music: Pioneer Recording Artists
- Various - Gospel Music (Joel Dorn compilation)
- Little Feat - Sailin' Shoes
- Len "Boogie" Sharpe - Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove Steel Orchestra
- Shivkumar Sharma & Zakir Hussain - Ragas Madhuvanti & Misra Tilang
- Vincenzo Bellini - Norma (w/Maria Callas)
- Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle
- Raffi - The Singable Songs Collection
- Django Reinhardt & the Quintet of the Hot Club of France - Mosaic box set
- Loretta Lynn - The Definitive Collection
