Tom Abs (born 1972) is an American multi-instrumentalist and filmmaker. He works primarily in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...

, and

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

, and plays

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, didgeridoo, and wooden flute, often playing several instruments simultaneously.

Career

A native of Seattle, Washington, Abs attended

The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

, studying with

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey. Career Early in his career, Workman wo ...

, Buster Williams,

Joe Chambers Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, Brian Smith,

Junior Mance Julian Clifford Mance, Jr. (October 10, 1928 – January 17, 2021), known as Junior Mance, was an American jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early life (1928–1947) Mance was born in Evanston, Illinois. When he was five years old, Mance st ...

Arnie Lawrence Arnold Lawrence Finkelstein (July 10, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York – April 22, 2005 in Jerusalem, Israel) was an American jazz saxophonist. Career Lawrence studied clarinet in his youth before switching to saxophone. He played from age 12 in clu ...

, Chico Hamilton, and Arthur Taylor. He began his performing career in 1992. He has worked with Lawrence "Butch" Morris,

Charles Gayle Charles Gayle (born February 28, 1939) is an American free jazz musician. Initially known as a saxophonist who came to prominence in the 1990s after decades of obscurity, Gayle also performs as pianist, bass clarinetist, bassist, and percussioni ...

, Daniel Carter, Cooper-Moore,

Steve Swell Steve Swell (born in Newark, New Jersey, December 6, 1954) is an American free jazz trombonist, composer, and educator. Music career Swell studied at Jersey City State Teachers College before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his m ...

, Roy Campbell, Jr.,

Sabir Mateen Sabir Mateen (born April 16, 1951) is an American musician and composer from Philadelphia. His musical style is primarily avant-garde jazz. He plays tenor and alto saxophone, B♭ and alto clarinet, and flute. As a young man, Mateen was origin ...

Ori Kaplan }, born October 1, 1969) is an Israeli jazz saxophonist and a music producer. He moved to the United States in 1991. He has worked with many artists including Shotnez Tom Abbs, Firewater, Gogol Bordello, and Balkan Beat Box (of which he is a fou ...

Jemeel Moondoc Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021) was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano before s ...

, Assif Tsahar, Borah Bergman, Billy Bang, Andrew Lamb, and Warren Smith. Abbs is a member of Triptych Myth, Yuganaut, and Transmitting (with Napoleon Maddox and Jane LeCroy). He leads the band Frequency Response and tours with his solo multimedia act Multifarious. He has collaborated with the painter M. P. Landis.Mplandis.com
Abbs is the founder of the arts coalition Jump Arts, which presented performances and workshops throughout New York City from 1997 to 2002. He was the general manager of

ESP-Disk ESP-Disk is a New York-based record company and label founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman. History Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based music, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''Spiritual Unity''), ESP ...

from 2007 to 2010 and founded Northern Spy Records which he co-owns with Adam Downey.

Discography

As leader

* ''Conscription'' (CIMP, 2003) * ''Titration'' with Active Ingredients (Delmark, 2003) * ''The Animated Adventures of Knox'' (482 Music, 2006) * ''Live at the Marquise Dance Hall'' (Small Doses, 2008) * ''Lost and Found'' (Engine Studios, 2009)

As sideman

* Daniel Carter, ''The Perfect Blue'' (Not Two, 2010) * Roscoe Mitchell, '' Four Ways'' (Nessa, 2017)

References

External links

Tom Abbs page
from Jump Arts site
Tom Abbs interview
by John Sharpe, June 23, 2008 * Tom Abbs discographyfrom Allmusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbs, Tom Musicians from Seattle Musicians from Brooklyn American experimental filmmakers 1972 births Didgeridoo players American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists American jazz tubists American jazz cellists American male jazz musicians Living people Avant-garde jazz cellists Avant-garde jazz double-bassists Avant-garde jazz flautists Avant-garde jazz tubists Avant-garde jazz violinists Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century tubists 21st-century American violinists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century cellists 21st-century flautists