Tom McDermott is a pianist and composer born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

in 1957. He began studying piano at age seven, became a professional musician at 16, and received a Master of Music degree from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

in 1982. Two years later he moved to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and became noted for the styles of music associated with that town, especially

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

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 major ...

and

New Orleans R&B New Orleans rhythm and blues is a style of rhythm and blues that originated in New Orleans. It was a direct precursor to rock and roll and strongly influenced ska. Instrumentation typically includes drums, bass, piano, horns, electric guitar, and ...

. He was in the group Dukes of Dixieland through much of the 1990s. In 1994 he co-founded and wrote arrangements for the innovative brass band the

New Orleans Nightcrawlers New Orleans Nightcrawlers are a Regional roots group based in the New Orleans area. They were founded in 1994 by pianist Tom McDermott, sousaphonist Matt Perrine and trumpeter Kevin Clark. In addition, original members of the band included trump ...

. He has released 17 CDs as a leader, and has received praise from ''

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'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', the ''

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'' and other publications. Since 2001 he has devoted much time travelling to Brazil, where he has studied and recorded

choro ''Choro'' (, "cry" or "lament"), also popularly called ''chorinho'' ("little cry" or "little lament"), is an instrumental Brazilian popular music genre which originated in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. Despite its name, the music often has a ...

music. McDermott is also a journalist, writing primarily about music and travel. In 2017, Sagging Meniscus Press published "Five Lines, No Waiting", a book of his limericks and drawings.

Discography

As leader

*All the Keys and Then Some (STR; reissued in 2008 by Parnassus) *Louisanthology (STR) *The Crave (STR) *Danza (w/ clarinetist Evan Christopher) (STR) *Choro do Norte (STR) *Live in Paris (STR) *Creole Nocturne (w/ cornetist Connie Jones) (Arbors) *New Orleans Duets (Rabadash) *Almost Native (w/ Evan Christopher) (Threadheads) *Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott (Chickie Wah Wah) *Bamboula (Minky) *Smiles (w/Kevin Clark; Viper) *Temptation Rag (w/Kevin Clark; Viper) *City of Timbres (w/

Aurora Nealand Aurora Nealand is an American multi-instrumentalist (saxophones, clarinet, accordion, voice), sound-artist and composer based in New Orleans, LA and New York City. Early life and education Nealand lived an early life as all mortals have done ...

) (OPM) *Zeppelins Made to Order (w/ Chloe Feoranzo; Rabadash) *Podge Hodge (Big Whinny Records) *Tom McDermott Meets Scott Joplin (Arbors) *Aurora Nealand and Tom McDermott, Live at Luthjens (Big Whinny Records)

As sideman

*New Orleans Nightcrawlers (Rounder) *New Orleans Nightcrawlers: Funknicity (Rounder) *New Orleans Nightcrawlers: Live at the Old Point *Tim Laughlin: Isle of Orleans *Matt Perrine: Sunflower City *Irma Thomas: Simply Grand (Rounder) *Debbie Davis: It's Not the Years It's the Miles (Threadheads) *John Boutte: All About Everything *Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses: a Tribute to Sidney Bechet *Patchwork: a Tribute to James Booker (STR) *Loose Cattle: Seasonal Affective Disorder (Low Heat Records) *Treme Soundtrack (Seasons 1 and 2)

References

External links

*youtube.com (tom mcdermott solo)
Article about Tom by Edward A. Berlin of Brooklyn CollegeOffbeat Magazine profile, April 2008People of New Orleans
– Video interview with Tom McDermott playing the

Maple Leaf Rag The "Maple Leaf Rag" (copyright registered on September 18, 1899) is an early ragtime musical composition for piano composed by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, and became the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent compos ...

at the end (QuickTime and Windows Media formats).
Ragtime site
*

Le Show ''Le Show'' is a weekly syndicated public radio show hosted by satirist Harry Shearer. The program is a hodgepodge of satirical news commentary, music, and sketch comedy. Shearer, an impressionist known for his voice work on ''The Simpsons'', wr ...

interview & performances:
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Tom Dixieland revivalists 1957 births American jazz pianists American male pianists Living people 20th-century American pianists American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians Washington University in St. Louis alumni