tomchess

Bio:

Tomchess is a Multi-instrumentalist/Improviser/Composer. He plays Reeds, Western Flute, Arabic/Turkish Ney flute, Oud, and Guitar. He also has a history of using electronics /sampling/live-sampling/loops/fx. He has performed with Drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson' Decoding Society, Butch Morris's Sheng Skyscraper, recorded with Tenor players Dewey Redman, Pharoah Sanders, Morrocan Sintarist Hassan Hakmoun and Butch Morris. He has also led a guitar trio with Drummer Phil Haynes and bassist Drew Gress called Seven Times a Year. He has studied Middle/Near Eastern and West African musics, spending time in West Africa playing and performing. He has studied with Bassam Saba, Omer Erdogdular, Tidiani Bangoura, Abdul Aziz Tourè and Mohammad Camarra. He has also conducted workshops and master classes/lectures and performances in the NYC Public school system as well as New Jersey and Universities and institutions such as Asia Society NY, Johnson State College Vermont, Columbia University, SUNY Fredonia College, McDaniels College, Carrol Community College, Md, and Gettysburg College Pa. He currently lives in NYC where he performs with his different ensembles and works as a freelance musician. He has performed at Lincoln Center, The Turkish Embassy, The Pakastani Embassy, the Asian Society, The Natural History Museum, Himalayan Museum of Art and The United Nations among countless other venues in NYC and the United States. He has also performed on NPR and PBS. He has performed in Africa, Canada, Holland, and Italy. He has been awarded grants from the Turkish American Society and The Maryland Council For The Arts.





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Member Since:

October 16, 2006

Members:

Lovedogs:
Tomchess-oud, ney, western flute, mbira, loops, composer/
Ravi Padmanabha-tabla, morsing, perc/
Alicia Rau-trumpet, flugelhorn/
Shane Shanahan-perc./
Nathan Peck-upright bass/

Bombpop:
Tomchess-reeds, oud, ney, western flute, mbira, misc flutes, tuned paracho, samples, composer/
On Davis-guitar/
Kanaiwa takuma-guitar, electronics/
Ola Forsell-guitar/
Jesse Dulmen-tuba/
Mbuyiselo Mgwandi-bass/
Tim Dahl-bass/
Richard Debonis-drums/
Jon Wilson-drums/
Tom Augsberger-perc./
Frank Didonato-trumpet/
Dj Acrobat-electronics/
Angelo Fabara-dj/
dawoud Kringle-sitar/
Twisty-peformance painting/
Bobby Leann Williams-storytelling, dance/

Music of their Disappearance:
Tomchess-reeds, oud, ney, western flute, mbira, misc flutes, balafon, tuned paracho/
David Gould-drums/
Matt Heyner-bass/

The World Is Dust The World Is Gold:
Tomchess- tenor, oud, ney, western flute, mbira, misc flutes, ocarina, morsing, hulusi, tuned paracho, livesampling/loops/fx/
Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut-guitar, flute/
Dikko Faust-trombone, perc/
Todd Nicholson-upright bass/

Seven Times a Year:
Tomchess-electric guitar/
Drew Gress-upright bass/
Phil Haynes-drums/

Discography:

Footjumbo label:
1997 Bombpop-Flame
1998 Bombpop-10 dancing Girls
1999 Bombpop-The Carnival Streets Of Spring
1999-Seven Times A Year
2000 Bombpop-Live
2000 Bombpop-Invoke/Banish
2001 Bombpop-Conciliation Of The Supernatural
2001 Bombpop-Public Mind
2001 Bombpop-People In The Home
2004 Taking The Coincidence To Heart-Tomchess, Ravi Padmanabha
2004 Music Of Their Disappearance-Vol 1-Resolution For Benevolence
2004 Music Of Their Disappearance-Vol 2-In Preparation Of Goodness
2006 Tomchess-Loveland
2007 Tomchess & The Lovedogs-In The Beautiful Future
2008 The World Is Dust The World Is Gold
2008 Continuance-Tomchess Ravi Padmanabha
2008 The Celebrant-Tomchess, Ravi Padmanabha
2009 Lo-Phi Courier
2009 Harmony Emanation Jubilee

Sachimay Records:
2005 Becoming An Appearance-Tomchess, Kanaiwa Takuma

Influences:

life, love, space, silence, 'the world', city sounds, nature sounds/rhythms, jimi hendrix, jeff beck, led zepplin, james brown, public enemy, p-funk, bad brains, chilli peppers, prince, peter gabriel, bob dylan, leonard cohen, blind willie johnson, robert johnson, leadbelly, howling wolf, son house, sly stone, charlie parker, ornette coleman, don cherry, albert ayler, anthony braxton, eric dolphy, john coltrane, dewey redman, ronald shannon jackson, butch morris, pharoah sanders, miles davis, thelonious monk, rahsaan roland kirk, art ensemble of chicago, diamanda galas, willie nelson, johnny cash, the allman brothers, riad el sunbati, munir bashir, oud music in general, suleyman & kudsi erguner, sufi mevlevi whirling dervish music, sufism, gnawa music, ali farka touré, ali akbar khan, west african drumming, kora music, mbira musics, pygmy song, gamelon musics, ladysmith black mambazo, peter tosh, sacred geometry, al-kemi, number theory, phi, hafiz, rumi, tibetan buddhism, yoga, monty python, schwaller de lubicz, picasso, amedeo modigliani, jean michel basquiat, lawrence ferlinghetti, joan miro, van gogh, giorgio di chirico, william gibson, the kazoo guy and mice elf of course.

Sounds Like:

.. .. About Tomchess and the Lovedogs:

“...drinking from deep clear sufi wells and ascending to dolphynian heights of sensoral grooving bliss.... new original compositions from ancient pages, many books of one writer, Tomchess.”

-Charles blass, WKCR, Live Constructions.

"...a buoyant frontline attack, accelerated by sinuous time signatures via linearly designed unison phrasings....Here, the power of music offers a boost to one’s spiritual health, which is an insinuating notion that parallels the highly entertaining groove-focused aspects of this largely euphoric encounter."

-Glenn Astarita, http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=25567

"...one senses that this will not be an ordinary musical journey....the sound is bold...it feels as if you're witnessing the kind of genius often celebrated in the works of John Williams, John McLaughlin, or Ali Akbar Khan. You feel proud to be alive, fortunate to hear something as beautiful as this..it may suggest that as musicians (a/k/a "the dreamers of the dream"), they are the ones who may find a way to bring peace on a hateful planet. "

-John Book-The Run-Off Groove http://www.myspace.com/crutmusic

"...Tom's powerful oud is featured playing a long, exotic and enchanting opening unaccompanied solo in a raga-like fashion. Tomchess is obviously a virtuoso on the oud and takes a number of outstanding solos on this great double disc set. Tom's ensemble is featured on "19 Times in 17 Years" and sound great, blending cultures, ancient and modern into an enticing multi-ethnic sound...Another thing that Tom does well is looping exotic and eerie sounds, like he does on the fascinating "Two Paths." While Tom takes a haunting ney solo, he loops a handful of strange sounds into a mesmerizing blend that is most riveting to behold... Both discs here are consistently enchanting on a number of levels. ...The great cover of Ornette Coleman's "Peace Warriors" is especially inspired."-Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, nyc

Review for duo cd Continuance /w/ Ravi Padmanabha:

"...I dig the way both of these musicians move together, their lines of notes flowing in a most mesmerizing way. Each solo by Tom, tells a story and takes us along with him to exotic places. Superb, at times sublime and always engaging."-Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, nyc

Review for The World Is Dust The World Is Gold /w/jeff shurdut, dikko faust todd nicholson:

"...The blend of these sounds is strong, mesmerizing and alien like the space-world of Sun Ra....this music is most often magical. The combination of oud, trombone and acoustic bass is certainly unique (on "In Return Above"), yet it still works. "Going By That Way" is one of the rare times that Tom plays tenor sax on any of his three recent discs and he sounds fine here even burning at times, and Todd's throbbing bass shines through the darker sections of this piece. On "The Swan Song," things go even further out with a number of odd unidentifiable sounds floating through (morsing or hulusi perhaps?) and sending us further into outer and inner space."-Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, nyc

Record Label:

footjumbo