Tom Abbs (born 1972) is an American multi-instrumentalist and filmmaker. He works primarily in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

, and

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

, and plays

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

, and wooden flute, often playing several instruments simultaneously.

Career

A native of Seattle, Washington, Abbs attended

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

, studying with

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey, in addition to Alice Coltrane, Mal Waldron, Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Tri ...

Buster Williams Charles Anthony "Buster" Williams (born April 17, 1942) is an American jazz bassist. Williams is known for his membership in pianist Herbie Hancock's early 1970s group, as well as working with guitarist Larry Coryell, the Thelonious Monk reperto ...

Joe Chambers Joe Chambers (born June 25, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, vibraphonist and composer. In the 1960s and 1970s, Chambers gigged with many high-profile artists such as Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, and Chick Corea an ...

, Brian Smith,

Junior Mance Julian Clifford Mance, Jr. (October 10, 1928 – January 17, 2021), known as Junior Mance, was an American jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early life (1928–1947) Mance was born in Evanston, Illinois. When he was five years old, Mance st ...

Arnie Lawrence Arnold Lawrence Finkelstein (July 10, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York – April 22, 2005 in Jerusalem) was an American jazz saxophonist. Career Lawrence studied clarinet in his youth before switching to saxophone. He played from age 12 in clubs in th ...

Chico Hamilton Foreststorn "Chico" Hamilton (September 20, 1921 – November 25, 2013) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He came to prominence as sideman for Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie, and Lena Horne. Hamilton became a bandleader, f ...

, and Arthur Taylor. He began his performing career in 1992. He has worked with Lawrence "Butch" Morris,

Charles Gayle Charles Gayle (February 28, 1939 – September 7, 2023) was an American free jazz musician. Initially known as a saxophonist who came to prominence in the 1990s after decades of obscurity, Gayle also performed as pianist, bass clarinetist, bassi ...

, Daniel Carter, Cooper-Moore,

Steve Swell Steve Swell (born December 6, 1954 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American free jazz trombonist, composer, and educator. Music career Swell studied at Jersey City State Teachers College before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his m ...

, Roy Campbell, Jr.,

Sabir Mateen Sabir Mateen (born April 16, 1951) is an American musician and composer from Philadelphia. His musical style is primarily avant-garde jazz. He plays tenor and alto saxophone, B♭ and alto clarinet, and flute. As a young man, Mateen was origi ...

Ori Kaplan Ori Kaplan (; born October 1, 1969) is an Israeli jazz saxophonist and a music producer. He moved to the United States in 1991. He has worked with many artists including Shotnez Tom Abbs, Firewater (band), Firewater, Gogol Bordello, and Balkan Be ...

Jemeel Moondoc Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021) was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano before set ...

, Assif Tsahar, Borah Bergman,

Billy Bang Billy Bang (September 20, 1947 – April 11, 2011), born William Vincent Walker, was an American free jazz violinist and composer. Biography Bang's family moved to New York City's Bronx neighborhood while he was still an infant, and as a ...

, Andrew Lamb, and Warren Smith. Abbs is a member of Triptych Myth, Yuganaut, and Transmitting (with Napoleon Maddox and Jane LeCroy). He leads the band Frequency Response and tours with his solo multimedia act Multifarious. He has collaborated with the painter M. P. Landis.Mplandis.com
Abbs is the founder of the arts coalition Jump Arts, which presented performances and workshops throughout New York City from 1997 to 2002. He was the general manager of

ESP-Disk ESP-Disk is a New York–based record company and label founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman. History Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based music, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''Spiritual Unity''), E ...

from 2007 to 2010 and founded

Northern Spy Records Northern Spy Records is a record label in Brooklyn, New York that specializes in avant-garde music, noise rock, and experimental jazz. The label was founded by Tom Abbs and Adam Downey in 2010 after working for ESP-Disk. History Northern Spy is ...

which he co-owns with Adam Downey.

Discography

As leader

* ''Conscription'' (CIMP, 2003) (& Frequency Response) * ''The Animated Adventures of Knox'' (482 Music, 2006) (& Frequency Response) * ''Live at the Marquise Dance Hall'' (Small Doses, 2008) * ''Lost and Found'' (Engine Studios, 2009) (& Frequency Response) * ''Hawthorne'' (Engine Studios, 2018) (& Frequency Response)

As sideman

* Active Ingredients ( Chad Taylor,

, Abbs), ''

Titration Titration (also known as titrimetry and volumetric analysis) is a common laboratory method of Quantitative research, quantitative Analytical chemistry, chemical analysis to determine the concentration of an identified analyte (a substance to be ...

'' (Delmark, 2002

003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: * 003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) * 1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway * ''O03 (O2)'' and other related blood type alleles in the AB ...

* Yuganaut, ''Yuganaut'' (Not On Label, 2005) * Yuganaut, ''This Musicship'' (ESP, 2005

008 008, OO8, O08, or 0O8 may refer to: * "008", a fictional 00 Agent In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the derived films, the 00 Section of MI6 is considered the secret service's elite. A 00 (pronounced "Double O") is a field agent who ho ...

* Yuganaut, ''Sharks'' (Engine Studios, 2010) * Daniel Carter, ''The Perfect Blue'' (Not Two, 2010) *

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figure ...

, '' Four Ways'' (Nessa, 2017) (w Yuganaut) * Andrew Lamb, ''Rhapsody in Black'' (NoBusiness Recs, 2012) * Andrew Lamb, ''The Cabash Of Love'' (Birdwatcher Recs, 2018) * The Icebergs, ''Add Vice'' (Birdwatcher Recs, 2018)

References

External links

Tom Abbs page
from Jump Arts site
Tom Abbs interview
by John Sharpe, June 23, 2008 * Tom Abbs discographyfrom Allmusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbs, Tom Musicians from Seattle Musicians from Brooklyn American experimental filmmakers 1972 births Didgeridoo players American jazz double-bassists American male double-bassists American jazz cellists American male jazz musicians Living people Avant-garde jazz cellists Avant-garde jazz double-bassists Avant-garde jazz flautists Avant-garde jazz violinists Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century American double-bassists 21st-century American violinists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American cellists 21st-century American flautists