Tom McDermott
Jazz pianist Tom McDermott has a sense of humor that can lead to some tricky situations. One incident, in particular, could even have led to legal woes when he pulled a sly one in an effort to prove a pet theory concerning a jazz festival that he was unable to break into as a performer. He knew the failure wasn't due to any defect in his skills as a musician. He'd been pleasing audiences in his adopted home of New Orleans for a while. More likely, he believed, the problem was due to something more personal and McDermott set out to prove his theory. He applied again to the festival, this time with a new recording. He doctored up a few other items necessary to the application process, including a bogus review and a few recommendations, which he sent in for the festival's consideration under a pseudonym. It didn't take long for McDermott to find out that his theory was right. Word soon came back that organizers wanted the fake applicant to perform at their jazz festival.
The Missouri native was born into a musical family in 1957, the son of a ragtime-playing mother who also played the organ in church. He devoted eight years to piano lessons, taking instruction from an aunt starting when he was six years old. By his early teens, McDermott became turned on to Scott Joplin and ragtime, and he started composing his own music in a similar vein. He became a professional musician when he was 16, and in 1981 Stomp Off issued McDermott's first album of original rags, appropriately titled New Rags. He attended St. Louis University on a scholarship and earned a degree in art in 1978. Work as a freelance writer followed, with McDermott frequently penning music-related articles for newspapers. Beginning in 1980, he spent three years working as the Globe-Democrat's music critic. During this period, he also pursued a master's degree, which he completed in 1982 at Washington University.
The city of St. Louis couldn't hold the pianist when he was offered work at the New Orleans World's Fair, and he relocated to the Crescent City in 1984. McDermott was drawn by the music of some of Louisiana's finest native artists, including Dr. John, Professor Longhair, and James Booker. He didn't lack for employment, readily finding gigs as a solo performer. In time, he also started working with jazz bands. Beginning in 1990, he devoted five years to the Dukes of Dixieland and appeared with the band at Carnegie Hall. He left the outfit in the spring of 1995 to play on the American Queen, a Mississippi riverboat that had just launched its first season. He continued to record and compose, and in 1994 he helped form a brass band, the New Orleans Nightcrawlers. He acted as arranger and producer for the outfit's Rounder Records debut.
© Linda Seida /TiVo
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Discografia
8 álbum(ns) • Ordenado por Mais vendidos
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Tom McDermott Meets Scott Joplin
Jazz - Lançado por ARBORS em 05/04/2019
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Creole Nocturne
Tom McDermott and Connie Jones
Jazz - Lançado por Arbors Records em 09/01/2007
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Almost Native
Tom McDermott, Evan Christopher
Jazz - Lançado por Threadhead Records em 02/04/2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Temptation Rag
Kevin Ray Clark, Tom McDermott
Jazz - Lançado por 1902216 Records DK em 01/01/2015
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New Orleans Duets
Jazz - Lançado por Rabadash Records em 01/01/2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Louisianthology
Jazz - Lançado por STR Digital Records em 01/01/1999
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All the Keys & Then Some (Piano Music from New Orleans)
Classical - Lançado por Parnassus em 01/01/1996
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cooperation Garden Time: Stories and Songs for Kids
Children - Lançado por Tom McDermott em 01/01/2002
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo