Home » Member Page

Tom Zlabinger

About Me

TOM ZLABINGER is an instructor of music and the director of the Jazz Workshop and the Blue Notes at York College/CUNY. He is a professional bass player and an ethnomusicologist with a focus on jazz. He holds a B.A. in music from Grinnell College and an M.A. in jazz performance from Queens College/CUNY. His bass teachers have included Bob Anderson (Minnesota Orchestra), Terry Burns, Anthony Cox, Leon Lee Dorsey, Mark Dresser, Henry Grimes, and Rich Mollin. Over the years he has performed at such places as Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, and Off-Broadway. He has also shared the stage with a wide range of musicians, including Richard Augustin, Roy Ayers, Glenn Branca, Neil Clarke, Jimmy Cozier, Stanton Davis, Bill Easley, Lukas Foss, Alex Foster, Wycliffe Gordon, Antonio Hart, Patience Higgins, Bill Jacobs, Myrna Lake, Oliver Lake, Joel Martin, Emeline Michel, Arturo O’Farrill, Dorothy Parks, H. Robert Reynolds, Gino Sitson, Blaise Siwula, Bobby Stanton, Steve Turre, Ray Vega, Wally Gator Watson, Diana Wayburn, Lenny White, and Rachel Z. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at the CUNY Graduate Center.