Tom McEvoy

Tom McEvoy is a jazz pianist based in Manhattan. He began playing at 4 years old, and went on to earn his masters degree at Juilliard. He has performed at many of New York’s top jazz clubs such as the Blue Note, Birdland, and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, and he has performed and taught in Europe, South America, Central America, Canada, and most of the United States. His musical influences are the great pianists, especially Ahmad Jamal, Hank Jones, Thelonious Monk, Wynton Kelly, and Duke Ellington.

The only child of non-musical parents, Tom discovered his passion for music through chance early experiences. He was mesmerized by the slow movement of Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata as featured on a Peanuts cartoon, and immediately went to his toy piano to try and figure it out. He had a similarly powerful reaction to a video of Louis Armstrong he saw a few years later. He had his first ensemble experience in kindergarten, when his teacher played the piano in class and led the students in song. Some kind of magic happened when he heard the rich piano chords and blended his voice with the other students. He knew at that moment that he wanted to be a musician.

Tom asked for piano lessons for his sixth birthday, and thus began his formal study of classical music. He added the cello at age nine and gained an appreciation for ensemble playing. His skill and musicality grew rapidly, and he was soon receiving top marks in state piano judgings and invitations to play cello with the state honors youth orchestra.

One fateful afternoon, Tom walked into the music store and purchased two albums that would change his life. Those albums were Live at the Pershing: But Not For Me by Ahmad Jamal and Straight, No Chaser by Thelonious Monk. Tom immersed himself in the rhythmic, sophisticated music, and began to experiment with composition and improvisation. He joined his high school jazz band in his senior year, and they went on to win awards for best band and best rhythm section at the tri-state competition at James Madison University that year.

Tom enrolled as an engineering student at Virginia Tech, but he quickly became involved in the music department and shortly switched his major to jazz piano. He also began playing professionally in the area, but soon felt the need to expand. The opportunity came in the form of a scholarship to study at the University of North Florida with renowned pianist Kevin Bales.

At UNF he distinguished himself as the school’s top pianist, and represented the school in performances in Europe (North Sea, Vienne, Montreux) and North America (Jazz Showcase, East Coast Jazz Festival, IAJE NY & Toronto). While still a student, Tom established himself as a first-call pianist and performed extensively with some of the best musicians in the southeast, including Delbert Felix, Ben Tucker, Von Barlow, and Kebbi Williams. He also began attracting critical acclaim, receiving review as “an artful performer who improvises with remarkable facility and a large vocabulary of fresh ideas”, “a youthful but masterful virtuoso”, and “[a musician who] plays with maturity and authority way beyond his years.” In 2005 Tom took first place in the Kathleen T. and Philip B. Philips Jazz Piano Competition, the only competition he has ever entered.

Feeling the need once again to expand his horizons, Tom made the move to New York in 2006. He was invited to audition at the Juilliard School and enrolled the following year. At Juilliard, Tom had the amazing opportunity to play piano duo with jazz master Kenny Barron every week for two years. His association with the school also gave him the opportunity to study and/or perform with some of the greatest, including Benny Golson, Mulgrew Miller, Christian McBride, Terence Blanchard, Gerald Wilson, Joe Wilder, Benny Green, Kenny Washington, and Steve Turre. These profound experiences were tremendously influential in refining Tom into a mature, well-rounded musician.

Presently Tom stays busy performing with his own groups, working as an in- demand sideman, and sharing his knowledge with the next generation. Never stagnant, Tom continues to study the great musicians of the past and present, striving to expand his vocabulary and refine his craft. In the words of the great Billy Strayhorn, “Ever onward and upward!”

Awards

1st place: 2005 Kathleen T. and Philip B. Philips Jazz Piano Competition