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Thollem McDonas

Thollem is a perpetually traveling pianist, keyboardist, composer, improviser, singer-songwriter, activist, author and teacher. He's spent most of his life living on the road throughout North America and Europe. His work is ever-changing, evolving and responding to the times and his experiences, both as a soloist and in collaboration with hundreds of artists across idioms and disciplines. Thollem's known internationally as an acoustic piano player in the free jazz and post- classical worlds, as the lead vocalist for the Italian agit-punk band Tsigoti and as an electronic keyboardist through a multitude of projects.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Thollem began playing the piano, composing and improvising as a child, absorbing the sounds of his culturally diverse upbringing. As an adult he has continued to incorporate the breadth of musics he has experienced on his extensive travels. Since 2005, he has played over 1,500 concerts throughout N. America and Europe as a soloist and in collaboration with other musicians, dancers and filmmakers. In that time span, as lead facilitator or co-leader, Thollem has released close to 100 albums on 23 different vanguard labels. A very brief cross section of his many collaborators include William Parker, Pauline Oliveros, Stefano Scodanibbio, Nels Cline, Rob Mazurek, Ravish Momin, Michael Wimberly, Mike Watt and Carmina Escobar. He is the founding director of Estamos Ensemble, a Mexican-American cross border ensemble for musical exchange and is a published author about art, politics and his travels in NewMusic Box, The Anthology of Essays On Deep Listening, Full Moon Magazine (Prague) and First American Art Magazine.

Recent Musical collaborators include:
 Stefano Scodanibbio, Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Nels Cline, Susie Ibarra, Francesco Dillon, Daniele Roccato, Mike Watt, Marco Rogliano, Alex Cline, Amy Denio, Faruq Z. Bey, Jad Fair, Brian Chase, John Butcher, Sara Lund, Ernesto Martinez, Eduardo Gonzales, Raven Chacon, LaDonna Smith, Richard Waters, Scott Looney, Jesse Rowland, Gino Robair, Jon Raskin, Ben Wright, Marco Eneidi, Michael Wimberly, Steve Mackay, Tim DuRoche, Ron Stabinsky, Jack Wright, João Castro Pinto, Bruce Ackley, Greg Saunier, John Dieterich, Tim Barnes, T.D. Skatchit, Chris Brown, Ernesto Gonzales, Laura Ortman, Nate Wooley, David Brandt, Nehemiah St. Danger, Gene V Baker, Jesse Gilbert, Jordan Glenn, Justin Pinkerton, Will Northrich-Redmond, Sam Coomes, Luca Nostro, Paolo Ravaglia, dSCI, Joao Pedro Viegas, Gerard Cox, Adam Smith, Anthony Poretti, Andrew D'Angelo, Rob Jost, Ullrich Mitzlaff, Syliva Tarozzi, Joel Grip, Adrienne Webster, Marko Novachkoff, Makoto Soto, Henry Kaiser, Ed Petterson, Pete Abbott, Tom Carter, Jeff Lederer, Mick Hobbs, Liz Albee, Billiana Voutchkova, David Michalak, Tom Nunn, Margaret Cassetto, Abigail Alwin, Carlos Santos, Dave Stone, Gianluca Gentili, Paulo Curado, Scott Amendola, Carlos Zingaro, Daniel Carter, Federico Ughi, Carrie Shull, Crowmeat Bob, Patrick Breiner, Luke Polipnick, John DeHaven, JT Bates, Gianluca Gentili, George Cartwright, Davu Seru, Damo Suzuki, C Spencer Yeh, Fay Victor, Michael Evans, Ravish Momin, Patrick Holmes, Eric Hubel, Steve Baczkowski, Ravi Padmanabha, Derek Johnson, Wes Steed, Ross Hammond, Dax Compise, Shawn Hale, Eric Hall, Andrew Dewar, Davey Williams, R Keenan Lawler, Sandy Ewen, Michael Carey, Skeeter Shelton, Joel Peterson, James Cornish, Kurt Prisbe, Simone Sfamelli, Valerio Cosi, Enzo Franchini, Ron Brendle, Scott Rosenberg, Jacopo Andreini, Matteo Bennici, Piero Spitilli, James Ilgenfritz, Arrington De Dionyso, Mark Southerland, Theresa Wong, Carmina Escobar, Vinny Golia, Alexander Bruck, Julián Martínez Vázquez, Zane Merritt, BC Grimm, AJ Grimm, Ron Stabinsky, Bob Ventrello, Doug Smith, Nick Driscoll, Ben Willis, Pat Reinholz, Masaru Koga, Chloe Jane-Scott, Brian Tairaku Ritchie, Kjell Nordeson, Ava Mendoza, Emilio Tamez, Darin Gray, Glenn Kotche, Rent Romus, CJ Borosque, Csaba Csendes, Karl Evangelista, Matt Ingalls, Michael Guarino, Jeff Harshberger, Shawn E. Hensen, J Ashley Miller, Annie Ellicott, Allie Naifeh, Lauren Sonder, Bob Bucko Jr., Rick Eagle, Jeff Hobbs, Sean Adams, Roberto deHaven, Christopher Johnedis, Paul Hoskin, Fletcher Németh, Sabrina Siegel, Christian Pincock, Mark Weaver, Tim Orr, Tom Djll, Phillip Everett, Eric Marshall, Markus Hunt, Bob Ventrello, Doug Smith, Charles (Charlie) Evans, Laurie Amat, Bob Marsh, Hafez Modirzadeh, Heather Treadway, Ian Kerr, Dave Wayne, Shirt, Shane Ronet, Jerry Soga, Crawford Philleo, Emily Hay, Mark Hoetzler, Dan Grabois, Todd Hammes, Renee Baker, Shaun Johnson, Karl Seigfried, William Porter, Greg Blackburn, Phyllis Sanders, Todd Matthews, Curt Oren, Nick Zielinski, Andy Burton, William Hooker, Paul Kikuchi, Greg Campbell, Adam Holquist, Rick Lopez, Kris Tiner, Spirit, Moe! Staiano, Breana Gilcher, James Connolly, James Baljo, Michael Bisio, Danny Frankel, Eric "Doc" Smith, Karl Berger, Michael Snow, Rova Saxophone Quartet.

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Album Review

Thollem McDonas: Meeting At The Parting Place

Read "Meeting At The Parting Place" reviewed by Francesca Odilia Bellino


Il pubblico di intenditori italiani conoscerà già il pianista, improvvisatore e attivista Thollem McDonas per essere rispettivamente pianista e cantante di una delle band anarco-jazz-punk combo italiane più interessanti e pazze degli ultimi anni: Tsigoti (quattro dischi bomba per ESP). Ma Thollem McDonas è anche qualcosa d'altro, soprattutto nell'avanguardia americana (San Francisco) e non solo date le sue numerose e stratosferiche collaborazioni con tutti i grandi nomi degli ultimi vent'anni. Infatti, suona regolarmente in varie formazioni: in duo (di preferenza ...

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Album Review

Thollem McDonas: Your Letter Must Have Followed Me All Over The World

Read "Your Letter Must Have Followed Me All Over The World" reviewed by Dave Wayne


Coming at improvisational music from the classical realm, pianist Thollem McDonas remains resolutely outside of the main stream of the jazz world. Primarily inspired by, as he puts it in his liner notes to Meeting at the Parting Place, ... “European concert music from the Renaissance to the 20th Century and jazz, particularly of the '60s and '70s" McDonas has consciously chosen a more difficult—but more artistically rewarding—path. He's one of those rare artists whose modus operandi is predicated upon ...

5
Album Review

Soar Trio: Emergency Management Heist

Read "Emergency Management Heist" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Edgetone Records prides itself on taking risks and offers extensive support for its roster of artists, who often compose and perform outside the box. Therefore, the cleverly titled Emergency Management Heist is an avant-garde trio outing that emits a sensation that the musicians could be planning some sort of raid amid pensive or gradually climactic incarnations. They broadcast grave situations via nervy meanderings but most always get to the root of the issue. Hence, the trio means business, but doesn't ...

9
Interview

Thollem McDonas: The Beauty of Never Going Back Home

Read "Thollem McDonas: The Beauty of Never Going Back Home" reviewed by Dave Wayne


What is often forgotten about improvised music is that it can come from anywhere. Though its history is inextricably intertwined with jazz, improvisation is part and parcel of a myriad of musical cultures. Pianist and composer Thollem McDonas is not just aware of this fact, it is part of his daily existence. About 10 years ago, McDonas burst on to the improvised music scene; fully formed and with a sound all his own--one that owes surprisingly little to jazz-piano- as-we-know-it. ...

38
Album Review

Thollem / Parker / Cline: The Gowanus Sessions

Read "The Gowanus Sessions" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Glaring expressionism coupled with rip-roaring layers of acoustic-electric sound-sculpting maneuvers yield the bountiful fruit on this manifold studio date. When guitarist Nels Cline isn't tearing it up with the popular alt-rock band Wilco, he's knee-deep in progressive-jazz, free-form experimental and jazz-rock formats. He's catapulted to the upper echelon of modern guitarists, paralleling the colossal faculties of bassist William Parker and pianist Thollem McDonas. Parker has been a perennial driving force behind the reshaping of jazz along with ...

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1

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Jeff Coffin and the Mu'tet, Peter Martin, Funky Butt Brass Band CD Release, Thollem McDonas, and More

Jazz This Week: Jeff Coffin and the Mu'tet, Peter Martin, Funky Butt Brass Band CD Release, Thollem McDonas, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in and around St. Louis includes the Jazz at the Bistro debut of a touring saxophonist who's already built up a nice local following; the release of a new album by some local favorites; shows from several fine piano players; and, as the saying goes, much more. Let's go to the highlights.... Tonight, saxophonist Jeff Coffin and his eclectic jazz-fusion group the Mu’tet will make their debut at Jazz at the Bistro ...

16

Performance / Tour

Thollem McDonas to Perform Wednesday, May 23 at Laumeier Sculpture Park

Thollem McDonas to Perform Wednesday, May 23 at Laumeier Sculpture Park

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Pianist Thollem McDonas, a frequent visitor to St. Louis in recent years, is coming back again this spring to perform at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 23 at Laumeier Sculpture Park. McDonas (pictured) will play an hour-long set outdoors at Laumeier with multi-instrumentalist Arrington de Dionyso and electronic musician Eric Hall as part of Hall's year-long gig as the park's composer-in-residence. The event is free and open to the public. McDonas was last in St. Louis in January 2011 to play ...

"One of the most captivating pianists working today" — Rui Eduardo Paes, Jazz.pt (Portugal)

“fearless experimentation…super-human handwork” – Brad Cohan, New York City Jazz Record

“McDonas is half pianist, half hurricane”
— Steve Holtje, Culture Catch

"A particularly powerful voice" — David Keenan, The Wire (England)

“An intense and virtuosic keyboardist" —Time Out New York

"Transforms 88 keys into a texturally staggering ensemble." - Detroit Metro Times

“McDonas is known for his rapturous solo piano work which transgresses genre boundaries as much as it transcends them. And while his solo piano oeuvre is remarkable for its stylistic breadth and depth, McDonas has more pure technical ability than most musicians would know what to do with.” — Dave Wayne, AllAboutJazz NY

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Primary Instrument

Piano

Credentials/Background

Over the years, as a teacher, Thollem has worked with musicians and non-musicians alike in a wide variety of approaches and techniques through private lessons and large ensembles, in music conservatories, high school concert bands, with developmentally disabled adults and children, the incarcerated, the elderly, youth symphonies and chamber ensembles. He has been traveling perpetually for years working within communities throughout North America and Europe, collaborating with a wide array of musicians, dancers, filmmakers, writers, poets, and painters. Thollem grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, the son of the dedicated and inspiring piano teacher, Geraldine Simons. He began teaching private and group piano and theory lessons when he was 13 years old. Thollem is available on-line and in person for one-on-one and small group instruction. Subjects include: * piano technique * music history/appreciation *the creative process * listening * improvisation as a way of life * composition * collaboration * career development

Clinic/Workshop Information

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Meeting At The...

Odradek Records
2016

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Dub Narcotic Session

New Atlantis Records
2014

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Conformity Contortion

New Atlantis Records
2014

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The View From Up

Setola di Maiale
2014

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Michael Snow and...

Edgetone Records
2014

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Bian

From: Estamos Trio: People's Historia
By Thollem McDonas

Hinges

From: Magimc: Polishing the Mirror
By Thollem McDonas

Mind Control Free For All

From: Dub Narcotic Session
By Thollem McDonas

In Return to It All Once Again

From: On Debussy's Piano And...
By Thollem McDonas

as there are

From: Thollem/Parker/Cline: The...
By Thollem McDonas

Between Our World Is Seen

From: The View From Up
By Thollem McDonas

For All Those Yet To Come

From: Gone Beyond Reason To Find One
By Thollem McDonas

Videos

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