Tom Varner
Encyclopedia
Tom Varner is an American jazz
horn
(French horn) player and composer.
Varner studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson
of Summit, New Jersey
. He holds a B.M. degree (1979) from the New England Conservatory of Music
, where he studied jazz improvisation and composition with Ran Blake
, George Russell, and Jaki Byard
, and horn with Thomas Newell. He also studied briefly in 1976 with jazz horn pioneer Julius Watkins. Varner also holds an M.A. (2005) from the City College of New York
, where he studied with Jim McNeely
, Scott Reeves, and John Patitucci
.
, Dave Liebman
, George Gruntz
, John Zorn
, Bobby Watson
, La Monte Young
, Miles Davis
with Quincy Jones
, Bobby Previte
, Jim McNeely
, McCoy Tyner
, Reggie Workman, the Mingus Orchestra, Franz Koglmann, and appears on over 70 albums. He also has 12 albums out as a composer/leader, with sidemen such as Steve Wilson, Tony Malaby, Ed Jackson, Ellery Eskelin, Tom Rainey, Cameron Brown, Drew Gress, Matt Wilson, Kenny Barron, Victor Lewis, Fred Hopkins, and Billy Hart. Varner has been in the Down Beat
Critics Poll Top Ten annually since the mid-1990s. He has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts
, the Doris Duke Foundation, and has been a resident at the MacDowell
, Blue Mountain Center, and Centrum arts colonies.
Varner's first two recordings as a leader were influenced by Ornette Coleman, Steve Lacy, Charles Mingus, Anthony Braxton, and minimalists such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, and featured Varner's horn with alto sax (Ed Jackson), bass (Fred Hopkins or Ed Schuller) and drums (Billy Hart), with no chordal instrument. His third recording was a more "straight-ahead" jazz project, with Kenny Barron, Jim Snidero, Mike Richmond, and Victor Lewis. The fourth project was a Sonny Rollins-influenced trio of horn, bass (Mike Richmond) and drums (Bobby Previte). From that point (1987) on, most of Varner's work as a leader was for a quintet of horn and two saxes, bass, and drums, with frequent guest artists augmenting the ensembles. Varner has combined contemporary chamber music with jazz and free improvisation in almost all of his subsequent projects. His newest work (finished in 2008, released 2009), Heaven and Hell, is for a tentet of three brass, five reeds, and bass and drums.
Varner lived in New York City
from 1979 to 2005, and now lives in Seattle
.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
(French horn) player and composer.
Varner studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson
Capitola Dickerson
Capitola L. Dickerson is a piano instructor in Summit, New Jersey and graduate of the Juilliard School in Manhattan who is notable for teaching several generations of students and who has been honored by local authorities for her volunteer service. Some of her pupils have become renowned such as...
of Summit, New Jersey
Summit, New Jersey
Summit is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 21,457. Summit had the 16th-highest per capita income in the state as of the 2000 Census....
. He holds a B.M. degree (1979) from the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
, where he studied jazz improvisation and composition with Ran Blake
Ran Blake
Ran Blake is an American pianist and composer from Springfield, Massachusetts. In a career that spans five decades, Blake has created a unique niche in improvised music as an artist and educator...
, George Russell, and Jaki Byard
Jaki Byard
Jaki Byard was an American jazz pianist and composer who also played trumpet and saxophone, among several other instruments. He was noteworthy for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz...
, and horn with Thomas Newell. He also studied briefly in 1976 with jazz horn pioneer Julius Watkins. Varner also holds an M.A. (2005) from the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
, where he studied with Jim McNeely
Jim McNeely
Jim McNeely is a Grammy award winning jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.Jim was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and moved to New York City in 1975. In 1978 he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band...
, Scott Reeves, and John Patitucci
John Patitucci
John Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning jazz double bass and jazz fusion electric bass player.-Biography:Patitucci is of Italian descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he began playing the electric bass at age ten, composing and performing at age 12, as well as the acoustic bass at...
.
Biography
He has performed and recorded with Steve LacySteve Lacy
Steve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
, Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman is an American saxophonist and flautist. In June 2010, he received a NEA Jazz Masters lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts.-Biography:...
, George Gruntz
George Gruntz
George Gruntz is a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist and composer most noteworthy for his work with artists such as Phil Woods, Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin and Mel Lewis.From 1972 to 1994 he served as artistic director for...
, John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
, Bobby Watson
Bobby Watson
Bobby Watson is an American post-bop jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. Watson now has 26 recordings as a leader. He appears on nearly 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role...
, La Monte Young
La Monte Young
La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
with Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, Bobby Previte
Bobby Previte
Robert "Bobby" Previte is a drummer, composer and bandleader. Previte earned a B.A. in Economics at the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979, and became active in the city's thriving jazz and experimental music scenes...
, Jim McNeely
Jim McNeely
Jim McNeely is a Grammy award winning jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.Jim was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and moved to New York City in 1975. In 1978 he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band...
, McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
, Reggie Workman, the Mingus Orchestra, Franz Koglmann, and appears on over 70 albums. He also has 12 albums out as a composer/leader, with sidemen such as Steve Wilson, Tony Malaby, Ed Jackson, Ellery Eskelin, Tom Rainey, Cameron Brown, Drew Gress, Matt Wilson, Kenny Barron, Victor Lewis, Fred Hopkins, and Billy Hart. Varner has been in the Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
Critics Poll Top Ten annually since the mid-1990s. He has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, the Doris Duke Foundation, and has been a resident at the MacDowell
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, Blue Mountain Center, and Centrum arts colonies.
Varner's first two recordings as a leader were influenced by Ornette Coleman, Steve Lacy, Charles Mingus, Anthony Braxton, and minimalists such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, and featured Varner's horn with alto sax (Ed Jackson), bass (Fred Hopkins or Ed Schuller) and drums (Billy Hart), with no chordal instrument. His third recording was a more "straight-ahead" jazz project, with Kenny Barron, Jim Snidero, Mike Richmond, and Victor Lewis. The fourth project was a Sonny Rollins-influenced trio of horn, bass (Mike Richmond) and drums (Bobby Previte). From that point (1987) on, most of Varner's work as a leader was for a quintet of horn and two saxes, bass, and drums, with frequent guest artists augmenting the ensembles. Varner has combined contemporary chamber music with jazz and free improvisation in almost all of his subsequent projects. His newest work (finished in 2008, released 2009), Heaven and Hell, is for a tentet of three brass, five reeds, and bass and drums.
Varner lived in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from 1979 to 2005, and now lives in Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
As leader
- 1981 - Tom Varner QuartetTom Varner QuartetTom Varner Quartet is the debut album by American jazz French horn player and composer Tom Varner recorded in 1980 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:...
(Soul Note) - 1983 - Motion/StillnessMotion/StillnessMotion/Stillness is the second album by American jazz French horn player and composer Tom Varner recorded in 1982 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:...
(Soul Note) - 1985 - Jazz French HornJazz French HornJazz French Horn is the third album by American jazz French horn player and composer Tom Varner recorded in 1985 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:...
(Soul Note) - 1987 - Covert Action (New Note)
- 1991 - Long Night Big Day (New World)
- 1993 - The Mystery of CompassionThe Mystery of CompassionThe Mystery of Compassion is an album by American jazz French horn player and composer Tom Varner recorded in 1992 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:...
(Soul Note) - 1997 - Martian HeartacheMartian HeartacheMartian Heartache is an album by American jazz French horn player and composer Tom Varner recorded in 1996 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:...
(Soul Note) - 1998 - The Window Up Above (New World)
- 1998 - The Swiss Duos (Unit)
- 1999 - Swimming (OmniTone)
- 2001 - Second Communion (OmniTone)
- 2009 - Heaven and Hell (OmniTone)
As sideman
Varner appears on over 70 recordings including:- Rabih Abou-Khalil, The Cactus of Knowledge (Enja)
- Jamie Baum Septet, Moving Forward, Standing Still (OmniTone)
- William S. BurroughsWilliam S. BurroughsWilliam Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
, Dead City RadioDead City Radio (album)Dead City Radio is a musical album by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs, which was released by Island Records in 1990. It was dedicated to Keith Haring.The CD is a collection of readings by Burroughs set to a broad range of musical compositions...
(Island, 1990) - Consuelo Candelaria/Jon Hazilla Quintet Last Sunday Morning, (Accurate)
- Steve Cohn/Reggie Workman/Tom Varner, Bridge Across the X-Steam (Leo)
- Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, Miles & Quincy Live at MontreuxMiles & Quincy Live at MontreuxMiles & Quincy Live at Montreux is a Miles Davis collaboration with Quincy Jones for the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival. For the first time in three decades, Davis returned to the songs arranged by Gil Evans on such classic 1950s albums as Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain...
(Warner Bros.) - Dominic Duval, American Scrapbook (CIMP)
- East Down Septet, Out of Gridlock (Hep)
- East Down Septet, Channel Surfing (Hep)
- Elin, Lazy Afternoon (Blue Toucan)
- Lou Grassi/Tom Varner/Ron Horton/Tomas Ulrich, Neo Neo (CIMP)
- George GruntzGeorge GruntzGeorge Gruntz is a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist and composer most noteworthy for his work with artists such as Phil Woods, Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin and Mel Lewis.From 1972 to 1994 he served as artistic director for...
Concert Jazz Band, First Prize (Enja) - George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band '83, TheatreTheatre (album)Theatre is an album by Swiss pianist, composer, and arranger George Gruntz's Concert Jazz Band '83 recorded in 1983 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
(ECM, 1983) - Ed Jackson, Wake Up Call (New World) [as producer and player]
- Hans Kennel, Habarigani Brass (Hat Art)
- Neal Kirkwood, Neal Kirkwood Octet (Timescraper)
- Franz Koglmann, Let’s Make Love (between the lines)
- Franz Koglmann, Make Believe (between the lines)
- Franz Koglmann, Cantos I-IV (Hat Art)
- Steve LacySteve LacySteve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
, VespersVespers (album)Vespers is an album by soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy recorded in 1993 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars stating "lots of interesting tone colors and harmonies and consistently stimulating solos.....
(Soul Note, 1993) - Steuart Liebig, Pomegranate (Cryptogramophone)
- Manhattan New Music Project, Mood Swing (Soul Note)
- Jim McNeely Tentet, Group Therapy (OmniTone)
- Natalie Merchant, Ophelia (Elektra)
- New York Composers Orchestra, Works by Ehrlich, Horvitz (New World)
- Orange Then Blue, Hold the Elevator (GM)
- Bobby Previte, Bump the Renaissance (Sound Aspects)
- Bobby Previte, Pushing the Envelope (Gramavision)
- Ken Schaphorst, Over the Rainbow—Music of Harold Arlen (Accurate)
- Peter Scharli Special Sextet, Blues for the Beast (Enja)
- Peter Scharli Special Sextet, Guilty (Enja)
- Roman Schwaller Nonet, The Original Tunes (JHM)
- Vern Sielert Dectet, From there to Here (Pony Boy)
- Burkhard Stangl/Ned Rothenberg/Werner Dafeldecker/Max Nagl/Tom Varner, Qui.t (Extraplatte)
- Ton-Art, Mal Vu, Mal Dit (Hat Art)
- Vienna Art Orchestra, Artistry in Rhythm (TCB)
- Bobby Watson, Tailor Made (Columbia)
- John ZornJohn ZornJohn Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
Filmworks 1986–1990 (Elektra Nonesuch)
External links
- Tom Varner official site
- Tom Varner interview by Frank Tafuri
- Heaven and Hell info