Biography
Almost from the outset, Tom Teasley has brought percussion up from the background, profoundly demonstrating its strength in solo performance. He is “a percussionist in the widest and most exuberant sense” says the Washington Post, calling his contribution to D.C.’s Contemporary Music Forum “the evening’s dazzler." He’s a “creative bonanza,” claims Bruce Wittet in Modern Drummer Magazine; “... give Tom a bass drum, a snare drum and a djembé and he'll give you part Stravinsky, part Art Blakey.”
He started with jazz, blues, funk, pop and European classical music. Early in his career he toured with the United States Navy Band. He recorded and performed nationally with blues artist Catfish Hodge and jazz legend Professor Longhair. A focus on ethnic percussion led to studies with Glen Velez, Trichy Sankaran, Yacub Addy, Frank Malabe, and jazz study with celebrated drummer Joe Morello. Emerging with virtuoso skill over a wide range of instruments and musical styles, the Kennedy Center selected him as artist-in-residence, and he recorded nine performances there. He has also served as artist-in-residence at the Kreeger Museum of Art, collaborating in multi-media presentations with visual artists. He collaborated with the National Symphony Orchestra as both a composer and soloist in Robert Kapalow’s “Citypiece” which was aired on NPR and was the subject of a documentary for public television. He has developed several highly regarded workshops and clinics. Young Audiences of Virginia named him Artist of the Year for his in-school programs across the state.
His lightening-speed agility and fluency with regional musical ideas, from tribal traditions to electronics, give him the means to take listeners just about anywhere. His signature approach is to isolate a few key musical components and recombine them in new ways. He'll take instrument or a rhythm pattern in its original style -- like blues or jazz -- and play it alongside traditional sounds from Brazil, the Middle East, ancient Mesopotamia, Persia, Africa, or India. Another approach is to use a technique original to an indigenous instrument (such as a doumbek), and perform it on an instrument from another place and time (such as on a hand drum synthesizer). Limitless possibilities emerge for new music and creative cultural interaction.
Tom continues to explore instruments and playing techniques, sharing them in workshops and clinics. PASIC (the Percussion Arts Society International Convention), broke with tradition to feature his presentations three times at the world’s largest gathering of percussionists. His innovative fusion of jazz, world and western classical music has earned him endorsements deals with Cooperman Drum, L.P. Music, Vic Firth sticks, Remo, Sabian Cymbals and Yamaha Concert Percussion.
As percussionist/composer for Word-Beat (www.word-beat.com), Tom collaborates with singer/actor Charles Williams in a critically acclaimed and inspiring presentation of original music and spoken word. They combine history’s greatest words about justice, peace, and life with music inspired by the writer’s culture of origin. Poetry and prose from Harlem, the Civil Rights Movement, ancient Africa, India, and the Middle East converge with the energy of jazz, folk, and modern music. Word-Beat’s two CDs have garnered national airplay on radio, high praise among music critics. Word-Beat’s first recording, Poetry, Prose, Percussion and Song. was hailed as one of the most important of its kind at the 2007 International Association for Jazz Education conference. IAJE singled out Word-Beat as a leading collaboration in the integration of poetry and music, calling Word-Beat's recordings "must-haves." The duo’s second CD, The Soul Dances, was nominated for the Washington Area Music Association’s Best World Music Release award.
Currently Tom performs in the U.S. and Europe, teaches in a private studio, presents master classes and school programs, and holds a number of residencies. As artist-in-residence at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C., many of his concerts and master classes are open to the public. A prolific composer and ensemble leader, he continues developing new pieces and recordings, with a ninth (Painting Time) just released. He enjoys airplay on TV, film, and National Public Radio.
Projects
You can experience world percussion in a mind-opening variety of different programs. New collaborations and projects are in constant development. Learn about these latest projects including:
Tom Teasley, Solo Performance in World Percussion:
In solo performances, listeners enjoy original music that combines world instruments and rhythms in ways most people have never experienced before. Borrowing from every corner of the globe, Tom's performances constantly open new ways to hear and explore innovative ideas based on familiar sounds. By introducing new instruments and techniques into well-known traditions, he builds a bridge leading listeners out of the usual concert hall experience into exceptional new territory.
His performances fuse sounds from the ancient past with the energy of jazz, funk, and modern music. The Middle Eastern doumbek, African djembé and balafon, Peru’s cajón, Ireland's bodhrán, Brazil's pandeiro and Egypt's riq combine with the modern synthesizer, looper and other electronics. By remixing even the most distant traditions with today’s jazz, funk and progressive sounds, listeners experience a creative chain reaction when diverse voices interact, and discover the immense wealth of musical ideas from every time and place around the world.
"Tom's unique blend of American music and world influences, of acoustic instruments and electronic sounds, is a most artistic reflection of the global community that our world has become. His outstanding musicianship is matched only by his creativity. Whether in concert or in an educational setting, it's a genuine pleasure to experience his music firsthand." - Amy C. Parks, Dean of the Levine School of Music, Washington, D.C.
World, Wind and Percussion:
Explore instruments that are worlds away in combination with familiar drumset and brass. A unique Australian instrument -- the digeridoo -- and genuine animal horns join with abundant world percussion. Enjoy a unique trio of players, with trombone and digeridoo player John Jensen; trumpet and shofar player Chris Battistone, and percussionist Tom Teasley. More...
Word-Beat:
a critically acclaimed collaboration of spoken word and original music, with percussion artist Tom Teasley and singer/actor Charles Williams. Word-Beat combines history’s greatest words about justice, peace, and life with music inspired by the writer’s culture of origin. Poetry and prose from Harlem, the Civil Rights Movement, ancient Africa, India, and the Middle East converge with the energy of jazz, folk, and modern music. More...
Educational Programs: Got students? Bring geography and social studies to life with music. Hear how we are connected to the Middle East, Cuba, Africa, Latin America and India through musical lines. Tom takes instruments and rhythms that are thousands of years old, and uses them to pump energy into jazz, funk, blues, and hip-hop. Listeners explore the world through musical contributions from other cultures... More...
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