From Tom Cleary

In this pair of concerts, I'll be focusing on two prolific musical communities, New York City and Burlington, Vermont, and the music of two groups of jazz composers. Through the music of both concerts, I'll be asking one question: Is it possible to hear the sound of community in a piece of music attributed to one or two composers? In the first concert, I'll focus on the group I call the 'Three-Plus Musketeers Collective', a group originating in the mid-1940s which includes the well-known Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell and their lesser-known friend Elmo Hope (sometimes called 'The Three Musketeers' for their close association); Mary Lou Williams, who had a strong influence on Monk and Powell as a teacher, a guide and a fellow musician; and Bertha Hope, Elmo Hope's former wife and a pianist and composer still active today. In the second concert, I'll play the music of composers from the Vermont jazz scene including Ellen Powell, Patricia Julien, the Mad River Valley's own James Harvey and Bruce Sklar, and some of my own compositions.

These concerts will be performed on TURNmusic’s own 1929 Steinway Model M piano that begins its residency at The Phoenix Gallery and Music Hall. This piano has been graciously loaned by Anne Decker and Tim Buckingham of Waterbury, Vermont. 

7pm doors, Music at 7:30pm, $25 suggested donation

Tom Cleary studied jazz performance at Hampshire College, where his teachers included Yusef Lateef and Archie Shepp, and music education and classical piano performance at the University of Vermont, where his teachers included Sylvia Parker and Elizabeth Metcalfe. As a pianist and keyboardist he has had extended collaborations with artists including Phish bassist Mike Gordon (with whom he did a number of tours between 2008 and 2014), James Harvey, Ray Vega, Patricia Julien, and Jamie Masefield. His collaboration with his wife, vocalist and composer Amber deLaurentis, in the jazz quartet Birdcode can be heard on the album You Are Here which was released in 2019 and features a number of his original tunes. He has also played on jazz recordings including Siempre Salsa and Salsa Nortena by Rick Davies and Jazzismo, Cerulean by harmonicist John LaRouche, and Burmese Panther by guitarist/composer Paul Asbell. His work as an arranger and co-writer can be heard on deLaurentis' solo albums Innocent Road and Hey Sadie. He has played on recent releases including Now And Then by saxophonist and flutist Marty Fogel and the eponymous album by Saturn People's Sound Collective, led by Brian Boyes. He has accompanied artists including Clark Terry, Lester Bowie, Fontella Bass, Ernie Watts, Chris Vidala, Pete Yellin, Max Weinberg, Judi Silvano, Joe Lovano, Joan Rivers and Steve Earle. As a composer, his work has been commissioned and recorded by groups including Social Band, Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble and the Saint Michael's College Fine Arts Department. He composed and compiled the score for the musical Mill Girls, a collaboration with director/playwright Peter Harrigan first performed in 2017 at Saint Michael's College and recently revived in an online production now available on YouTube. He teaches in the jazz studies program of the UVM Music Department, the Flynn Arts jazz program and his home studio; please visit https://soundcloud.com/bird-code and blog.uvm.edu/tgcleary.