Tom Grant (born February 22, 1946) is an American
smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s.
History
Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...
/jazz fusion pianist and vocalist.
Biography
Tom Grant was born in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, to a musical family. His father was a tap dancer who owned a record store in Portland, and his brother,
Mukunda Goswami
Mukunda Goswami ( sa, मुकुन्द गोस्वामी; born Michael Grant, April 10, 1942) is a spiritual leader (guru) within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (popularly known as ISKCON or the ''Hare Krishnas ...
, was an avant-garde jazz pianist (as Michael Grant) until becoming a pioneer from the beginning of the
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna may refer to:
* International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known Colloquialism, colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnav ...
movement.
Grant learned to play piano and drums when he was young. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he traveled to New York City in 1970 with Native American saxophonist Jim Pepper. This led to Grant touring and recording with jazz greats
Woody Shaw
Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpet ...
,
Charles Lloyd, and
Tony Williams.
Grant cut his first solo record for Timeless in 1976, and in 1979 he formed his own band. Beginning in 1983, Grant started recording a series of jazz-influenced pop albums that have variously been called "New Adult Contemporary", "
Quiet Storm
Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''.
The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...
", "Contemporary Jazz" and "
Smooth Jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s.
History
Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...
"; each have been best-sellers in the lite jazz market.
and was a guest on a March 1993 episode of ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014.
The fourth incarnation of the ...
''.
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
* ''Hands: The Tom Grant Collection'' (1994)
* ''Reprise'' (2001)
As sideman
With
Charles Lloyd
*''
Autumn in New York'' (Destiny, 1979)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Tom
1946 births
Living people
Smooth jazz pianists
Musicians from Portland, Oregon
Jazz fusion pianists
University of Oregon alumni
Verve Records artists
Shanachie Records artists
Windham Hill Records artists
The Tony Williams Lifetime members
21st-century pianists