Updated: August 20, 2025
Born: December 2
Tom Teasley, described in the Washington Post as “a multi-instrumental genius,” maintains a unique career as a solo percussionist, composer, and collaborator. He is a Drummie Award winner for “World Percussionist of the Year by Drum! Magazine. Tom is a multi Helen Hayes Theatre Award recipient for outstanding sound design (nominations in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2019). Tom tours frequently worldwide, performing and presenting clinics for the instrument companies he endorses, including Yamaha, Vic Firth, Sabian, Remo, and Gon Bops. His educational book /DVD, An American Approach to World Percussion, is published by Alfred Publishing.
Tom is a five-time WAMA (Washington Area Music Award) World Music Instrumentalist of the Year. A six-time recipient of a Fulbright-Hayes grant for performances in the Middle East, Tom collaborated with indigenous musicians and gave historic performances by invitation of U.S. embassies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Samoa, Oman, and Jerusalem. He has been an artist-in-residence at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Tom has collaborated with the National Symphony as both a soloist and composer. As an international collaborator, he has performed by invitation in Europe, South America, New Zealand, Samoa, and Korea. Tom earned the Artist-of-the-year award from Young Audiences of Virginia for his creative and educational presentations. His CDs receive international airplay and acclaim. He has been the subject of numerous feature articles in Modern Drummer Downbeat and Drum! Magazines.
Awards
- 6 Fulbright Hayes Awards for concerts/collaborations in The Middle East, New Zealand, Samoa Kennedy Center Artist In Residence
- 3 Helen Hayes Theatre Awards for Outstanding Sound Design
- 3 Washington Area Music Awards for Outstanding World Music Instrumentalist
Gear
- Custom drumkit & percussion by Black Swamp Percussion
- Hand percussion by Gon Bops
- Cymbals by Sabian
- Drum heads by Remo
- Sticks & Mallets by Vic Firth
- Concert percussion by Yamaha
- RAV Vast Handpan
Tags
All About Jazz Articles
Tom Teasley: Wisdom - Tom Teasley Remembers Charles Williams
by Alberto Bazzurro
Testi tradizionali (africani, cherokee, ecc.) e per il resto soprattutto di Langston Hughes (ma ce n'è anche uno, “I Still Believe," di Martin Luther King), cantati o detti, costituiscono la spina dorsale, la fonte primaria, di questo singolare album, che riunisce (incisioni del 2022) Tom Teasley e Charles Williams, il primo anche autoproduttore del cd, che vuole essere un omaggio al secondo, “un tributo profondamente commovente--come ci dice Bill Milkowski nelle note di copertina--al compagno griot unitosi agli ancestors poco ...
Continue ReadingTom Teasley, Dave Ballou: Lunch Break
by Alberto Bazzurro
Il batterista e polipercussionista (nonché qua e là cantante scat, come in questo album accade per esempio in “Riqq Talk") Tom Teasley e il trombettista Dave Ballou si misurano in un tête-à-tête di poco meno di quaranta minuti che rivela un solido interplay, il piacere di suonare assieme facendo evolvere (sgorgare) la musica in maniera assolutamente naturale, senza fretta e senza pressioni di sorta (sarà magari anche--come ci viene detto espressamente, e come del resto “ufficializzato" dal titolo stesso del ...
Continue ReadingTom Teasley's Duo of Duos
by Geno Thackara
Tom Teasley Lunch Break (featuring Dave Ballou) Self Produced 2025 Considering that there's such a thing as talking drums, it is no surprise to hear how they can also whisper or sing or shout--at least in a skilled pair of hands, which is exactly what we have here. With a well-rounded array of things to tap and thump, Tom Teasley approaches percussion the way a chef approaches a pantry stocked with every spice known to ...
Continue ReadingPharoah Sanders, Anthony Joseph, Femi Kuti, New Jazz Underground, Mama Terra, Tom Teasley, & More
by Tony Poole
Your weekly journey into the freshest worldwide jazz grooves from around the globe. Join Tony Poole for more enticing rhythms and cutting-edge sounds, no filler, just the finest jazz to move your mind and your feet. Playlist All tracks released in 2025, unless otherwise stated.Pharoah Sanders “Prince Of Peace" (featuring Leon Thomas) from Izipho Zam (My Gifts) (Strata-East Records, re-issued from 1973) Sabrina Malheiros “Terra de Ninguém" from Equilibria--20th Anniversary Vinyl Edition (Far Out Recordings, re-issued from 2005) ...
Continue ReadingKristin Callahan: Lost in a Dream
by C. Michael Bailey
The body of compositions known as “jazz standards" has proved to be as durable as it is long lived. These musical pieces, partially provided by the “Great American Songbook" and partially by composing jazz practitioners, have afforded artists a veritable bottomless pit of material with which to apply their own unique vision. One-hundred-plus years of recording history have resulted in a great many standard interpretations. So now it is difficult, if not aesthetically dangerous, for newer artists to delve into ...
Continue ReadingTom Teasley: All The World's A Stage
by Dan Bilawsky
Percussion is often treated as rhythmic garnish but, in the right hands, it can be the meal itself. Light spices, meaty grooves and flavorful accents can provide more than enough sustenance for the ear if they're blended in the right proportions and percussionist Tom Teasley proves that this hypothesis holds water on this, his eighth recording. All The World's A Stage is an overdubbed discourse on the art of tearing down cultural boundaries in the world of ...
Continue ReadingTom Teasley: Global Standard Time
by Ed Kopp
Percussionist/drummer Tom Teasley delivers earthy interpretations of well-known jazz standards on Global Standard Time, a release that's loose, soulful, exotic, and somewhat remindful of Leon Parker's approach to jazz. Like Parker, Teasley is a gifted percussionist whose worldly vision breathes new life into familiar songs.A musician and educator from the Washington, D.C., area whose last project was a stage collaboration with poet-actor Charles Williams, Teasley employs a variety of percussion instruments from around the world on this eclectic ...
Continue ReadingTom Teasley Continues To Expand Musical Boundaries On "All The World's A Stage"
Source:
Cary Goldberg
New CD, the Eighth from Acclaimed Percussionist, Will be Released on July 10 All the World's a Stage is more than merely the title of multi- instrumentalist Tom Teasley's eighth CD - it's an apt metaphor to describe the career of this prolific composer/percussionist/musical ambassador. With the July 10 release of this new CD, on which Teasley plays a dozen different instruments on a collection of nine original tracks, he once again taps the multi-cultural collage of influences that have ...
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Tom Teasley's Expanded Global Viewpoints
Source:
The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins
When the DC-area based multi-instrumental wizard and all around percussion renaissance man Tom Teasley asked me to write liner notes for his latest global percussion release All The World’s A Stage it got me wondering about the evolution of one who self-identifies as a jazz percussionist, yet has so successfully broadened his base to include theater, teaching across far reaches of the planet, and seemingly all manner of expressions in the percussion universe. I mean, what kind of brain exercises ...
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Tom Teasley in Performance: World Wind and Percussion on December 18 in Alexandria, VA
Source:
All About Jazz
The Washington Post calls local drummer Tom Teasley “a composer and a percussionist in the widest and most exuberant sense of the word." This December, listeners can enjoy Tom's music and join in helping the less fortunate in our community. Tom and his new trio present World Wind and Percussion, 3:00 pm Sunday, December 18, at Mount Vernon Unitarian Church, 1909 Windmill Lane in Alexandria, Virginia. It is the second in the BioRhythms series to benefit the Bryant Early Learning ...
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“Multi-instrumental genius...”
— Rebecca Ritzel, The Washington Post
“No instrument has a limitation for him. Give Tom a bass drum, a snare drum, and a djembé, and he'll give you part Stravinsky, part Art Blakey.”
— Bruce Wittet, Modern Drummer
“The drummer’s command of a wide range of percussion instruments is only matched by his ability and desire to use them in new and unusual configurations.”
— Brad Walseth, JazzTimes
John Beasley
piano
Art Blakey
drums
Amina Figarova
piano
Ted Nash
saxophone
Dafnis Prieto
drums
Rave Tesar
piano
Eric Alabaster
drums
Wayne Wallace
trombone
Elio Villafranca
piano
Duduka Da Fonseca
drums
Babatunde Lea
percussion
Pete Zimmer
drums
Denise Donatelli
vocals
Ian Dogole
percussionArtists who share similar musical characteristics to Tom Teasley.
Jack DeJohnette
drums
Bill Evans
piano
Zakir Hussain
tablas
Bobby Hutcherson
vibraphone
Milt Jackson
vibraphone
Elvin Jones
drums
Joe Morello
drums
Paul Motian
drums
Max Roach
drums
