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Tom Vincent's High 5
Tom Vincent's High 5 Tom Vincent is a leading and dynamic jazz pianist who has been performing for over 20 years. His style is unique and influenced…
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High 5
Tom Vincent is a leading and dynamic jazz pianist who has been performing for over 20 years. His style is unique and influenced mainly by recordings from the jazz greats like Louis, Sarah Vaughn, Clifford Brown, Duke Ellington and so on. Vincent has lived and performed extensively in Europe and spent three years in New York where he was active in the jazz scene, performing and studying. His love of performing reflects the true jazz style of collaborating with other passionate aficionados. This has enabled Vincent, who is now based in Tasmania, to build a strong contingent of musicians across the globe, jazz musicians who are eager to reunite and perform with him.
In October 2009 the Tom Vincent Quaretet conducted a major tour of Australia. In 2010 Tom is touring the world, playing with over ten different musicians in various pockets of the globe including Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Zurich, Amsterdam, Paris, New York and Toronto.
An experience with Tom and his sidemen will have you sitting on the edge of your seat and moving at least one part of your body. Tom is charismatic, spontaneous, downright cool and an absolute genius at the keys. This music is rooted in the jazz tradition and a joy to see live as Tom combines this earthy original jazz feeling with fresh invention, surprising and delighting his side men, himself and of course the audience too. His infectious style of jazz brings people together to simply have a good time over some great swingin’ grooves. His repertoire of hundreds of songs feeds a constant stream of music that is evolving right before you. Tom consistently deliver exciting and entertaining performances.
Tom studied composing / arranging and performance with Don Burrows, George Golla, Mike Nock, Roger Frampton. He graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium in 1989 with encouragement from Burrows to further his study abroad. Burrows described Tom as a trailblazer, ” a musician who does not merely recycle what he’s heard, but will really take music somewhere of his own.”
In 1993 he was awarded an International Study Grant from Australia Council for composition study in New York, where he lived, studied and performed for three years.
1. JOE ZAWINUL – PRAHRAN, 2001
[This was] at the venue upstairs near the train tracks. His band - very good stuff. Very jazzy, but Zawanully. Nice. [I’m] making up words on the spot as they sang. Awesome drummer, bass player and guitarist. [It] blew me away. And the rave Zawinul gave at the VCA when he was there, was very inspiring. It was a cop out to take it too seriously when he told us (the place was packed!!) “Don’t bother practicing so much, you’re not going to get that much better”. In a way it’s true. But now I think, he was probably more talking about himself. He was already pretty good though.
2. MIKE STERN - 303 CLUB NEW YORK CITY, about 1992.
That guitarist who played with Miles. Then he was famous. He was good. [He] took his time and it was cool. I think that club is still there and still has jazz.
3. VINNIE COLIUTTA – BLUE NOTE NYC, about 1993.
Vinnie Coliutta at the Blue Note with Chick Corea’s band. Bill Motzing Junior said “We have to go” and he made me line up in the snow out side the Blue Note in Manhattan in the West Village. I put plastic bags on my shoes to keep warm. We lined up TWO hours before the gig was to start in order to get good seats!! He was amazing!! Back then I had no idea what he was doing but all sorts of polyrhythms and different grouping — but STILL grooving [he] stole the show.
4. JOHN HOFFMAN – SOUP PLUS SYDNEY
John Hoffman used to play at Soup Plus in Sydney. My mum used to take me the regularly when I was a young teenager, 13, 14, 15. The very first time I heard John Hoffman play (I was a trumpet player back then; my teacher Vladamir Khusid had given me tapes of records of Clifford Brown and Wynton Marsalis which cemented my jazz addiction), I was blown away and in my mind his beautiful lines reminded me of the grace of Clifford Brown. And John had such a great tone too.
5. BRANFORD MARSALIS – SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, 2010
In 2010 my band toured Australia supporting Branford Marsalis. Each night we watched Branford’s band up close from the wings. It was a different experience being up close like that. Than, for example – miles away like some people were in the Opera House. The band was exhilarating! Joey Calderazzo played a few incredible solos on the tour that were way beyond any recording I had heard of him. Hearing live music is such a different experience to listening to recorded music. Branford also played some wonderful solos, they all did; Eric Reeves on bass and Justin Faulkner on drums. But most of all, as a group, it was fully pumping, fully swinging. The sound engineers did a brilliant job too. Getting to hear this band up close for several nights was without a doubt one of the most musically exciting times of my life.
