Tom McDermott

Overview

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Tom McDermott is one of New Orleans’ premiere piano players and composers - a modern day keeper of the city’s piano lineage. Born in 1957 and raised right here in St. Louis, where he earned a Masters’ Degree in Music, wrote music journalism for the Globe Democrat, and soaked up the sounds of ragtime and traditional jazz that flourished here in the 1960s and 70s. In 1984, spurred by his love of James Booker, Professor Longhair and Dr. John, he moved to New Orleans, a trip enabled by a gig at the World’s Fair. Tom’s tastes are eclectic - he’s just about the only New Orleans pianist to stretch from the mid-19th-century music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk to the funky New Orleans piano today. He has a great love of Brazilian music (17 trips there so far), the Beatles, European classical music, and early Duke Ellington. He has performed with New Orleans heroes Pete Fountain, Irma Thomas and Gatemouth Brown. He co-founded and arranged for the Grammy award-winning brass band, the New Orleans Nightcrawlers. His performances with The Dukes of Dixieland placed him in Carnegie Hall, Germany, Denmark, Peru, Japan, and much of America. His music has been praised by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. He has recorded 17 albums as a leader; these recordings include 85 original tunes. His music has been heard frequently on NPR, i.e. “All Things Considered”, “American Routes”, and “The Moth.” A group he co-led with clarinetist Evan Christopher, the Danza Quartet, appeared on NPR’s New Year’s Eve show “Toast of the Nation” on 2008-2009. Tom has written for the theatre (the Obie-award-winning off-Broadway show, “Nita and Zita”), and appeared in bit roles in the movies (“He Said She Said”). In the New Orleans-based HBO series “Treme,” he played himself five times in three seasons and had 10 pieces of music used on the soundtrack. His original music has also appeared in Showtimes’ “The Knick.”

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