Tom Tallitsch (born 1974) is an American

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 ...

saxophonist. He is also a composer, music educator, piano teacher for students with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, musical director for the Big Sky Project Dance Company, and jazz radio host. His most recent recording is ''All Together Now'' (

Posi-Tone Posi-Tone Records is an American jazz record label founded by Marc Free, a producer and musician who runs the company with engineer Nick O'Toole. The label's first five albums were issued in 1995. The roster includes trombonist Steve Davis, saxop ...

, 2015) Tallitsch was born in

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of 2021, the city has an estimated population of 47,260. History Members of the Potawatomi Native A ...

and raised in

Westlake, Ohio Westlake is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Cleveland located 12 miles west of downtown Cleveland. The population was 34,228 at the 2020 census. Geography Westlake is located at (41.454439, −81.928657). Acco ...

. He attended Westlake High School and Bay Village High School, graduating in 1992. He attended the

University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a performing and media arts college of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. Initially established as the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1867, CCM is one of the ...

(CCM), graduating in 1996. Tallitsch is married to Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch, a professional dancer and former principal dancer with the

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...

Dance Company.

Performing

Tallitsch has performed as a

jazz saxophonist Jazz saxophonists are musicians who play various types of saxophones ( alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone etc.) in jazz and its associated subgenres. The techniques and instrumentation of this type of performance have evolved ove ...

for over 25 years (bandleader/composer and sideman) throughout the United States, Europe, and South America. He performs regularly at concert venues and jazz clubs primarily in New York City including Birdland, the Sidedoor Jazz Club,

Smalls Smalls may refer to: * Smalls (surname) * Camp Robert Smalls, a United States Naval training facility * Fort Robert Smalls, a Civil War redoubt * Smalls Creek, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River * Smalls Falls, a waterfall in Maine, USA ...

, Fat Cat,

Garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

, Tomi Caffe Vivaldi,

Shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

55 Bar 55 may refer to: *55 (number) *55 BC * AD 55 *1955 * 2055 Science *Caesium, by the element's atomic number Astronomy *Messier object M55, a magnitude 7.0 globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius *The New General Catalogue object NGC 55 ...

, Something Jazz Club,

Puppets A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to mov ...

Smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product ...

, New Jersey jazz venues including

Trumpets The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

, Shanghai Jazz, the West Windsor Arts Council, the

Arts Council of Princeton The Arts Council of Princeton was established in 1967, by Bill Selden, in Princeton, New Jersey. Selden was also the first President of the organization.

, the

Grounds For Sculpture Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) is a sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton, New Jersey. It is located on the former site of Trenton Speedway. Founded in 1992 by John Seward Johnson II, the venue is dedicated to promoting an understanding of ...

and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania jazz venues like Ortleibs, Chris's Jazz Cafe, the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

, Zanzibar Blue, the Philadelphia Jazz Festival, and the Reading Jazz Festival. He has been the opening Jazz artist at the annual Pork Roll Festivals in Trenton, New Jersey. Tallitsch has been the host of The Modern Jazz Radio Show on the

Mercer County Community College Mercer County Community College (MCCC) is a public, community college in Mercer County, New Jersey. More than 7,000 students enroll in one or more credit courses each year. Established in 1966, MCCC has an open-door admission policy. The West ...

jazz station.

Compositions and recordings

Tallitsch has released six albums of original compositions including works on

Posi-Tone Records Posi-Tone Records is an American jazz record label founded by Marc Free, a producer and musician who runs the company with engineer Nick O'Toole. The label's first five albums were issued in 1995. The roster includes trombonist Steve Davis, saxop ...

and

Origin Records Origin Records is a jazz and classical music record label founded by drummer John Bishop in 1997.de Barros, Paul (July 2, 2002)Small label, big noise: Ballard's Origin Records drumming up national interest Seattle Times. With the help of drummer M ...

. His fifth album for Posi-Tone, "All Together Now" was recorded in New York City in 2014 and released in April 2015. Tallitsch has published over 100 original jazz compositions and arrangements for small ensembles, which are regularly played on terrestrial and internet radio stations throughout the world, and by student jazz ensembles including

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

. Tallitsch's compositions include improvisational, written, and recorded music for dance. His works have been used by dancers from the

Martha Graham Dance Company The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded in 1926, is known for being the oldest American dance company. Founded by Martha Graham as a contemporary dance company, it continued to perform pieces, revive classics, and train dancers even after Graham's ...

at The Martha Graham Choreographer showcase "Lookout" 2000, choreographed by Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch. Tallitsch is currently Musical Director, and Composer for the multi-media dance company, The Big Sky Project, founded by Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch.

Teaching

Tallitsch currently tutors jazz saxophone students in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

and teaches piano students with autism at The Princeton Child Development Institute. In addition, Tallitsch has been involved with many grade school, high schools and colleges as a jazz educator, contributing to jazz clinics and lecture series in New Jersey at

The Lawrenceville School The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Lawrenceville is a member of the Eight Schoo ...

The Pennington School The Pennington School is a private (independent), coeducational college preparatory school for day and boarding students in sixth through twelfth grades, located in Pennington, New Jersey, a small community in the northeastern United States mid ...

, Bay Village High School, Creative Music Studios and the Pine Cobble School. Tallitsch was the founding director of The Central NJ Homeschool Bands which offered home-schooled musicians an opportunity for creative group interaction with other musicians in an instrumental ensemble. Tallitsch has given advanced jazz instruction at

Westminster Choir College Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music currently operating on the campus of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's Westminster College of the Arts, the college under which the historic institution has b ...

, Creative Music Studios, The Groove Academy, and

Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, INC. (PCC) is a tax-exempt, non-profit educational and cultural organization. It was founded in 1966 by members of Musicians' Protective Frank Fairfax, Union Local #274, American Federation of ...

Discography

* ''Duality'' (2005) * ''Perspective'' (2008) * ''Medicine Man'' (2009 Origin/OA2) * ''Heads or Tales'' (2012

) * ''All Together Now'' (Posi-Tone, 2015)

References

All Music Review of ''All Together Now'' at All About JazzReview of ''All Together Now'' at Something Else Reviews

External links

RIDE CD Review – somethingelsereviews.com

RIDE CD Review – criticaljazz.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tallitsh, Tom 1974 births Living people American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Jazz musicians from Illinois Musicians from Jersey City, New Jersey Palmetto Records artists Pew Fellows in the Arts Posi-Tone Records artists University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music alumni 21st-century American saxophonists American male jazz musicians 21st-century American male musicians