Fred Tompkins
Encyclopedia
Fred Tompkins is an American
jazz
flautist
and composer
- best known for his work as a composer of third stream
music.
, Manus Sasonkin, Lukas Foss
, and Vincent Persichetti
. Early influences on his study and playing were John Coltrane
, Art Blakey
, Modern Jazz Quartet
, Paul Hindemith
and Béla Bartók
.
, with whom he would make recordings which also featured Joe Farrell
, Jimmy Owens and other musicians. His career was put on hold, however, when he was conscripted in 1968. He was, however, able to find time to compose during this period, and it was during this time that his composition "Yes" found its way on to Elvin's LP "Polycurrents".
, and Richard Davis. His next LP "Somesville", again featured challenging compositions, this time played by Jones, Lenny White
, Gene Perla
, Buster Williams
, David Liebman and Steve Grossman. Tompkins' pieces are fully notated
with respect to notes, dynamics
and articulation
, but the players take a little freedom, especially the rhythm section
when there is one, to complementb and propel the swing jazz feeling.
and Emily Dickinson
. (Lucy Shelton
premiered his Three Poems to E. E. Cummings in a “live” radio broadcast on WBAI-FM radio in New York City), and in the 1990s he composed music to pieces by John Keats
, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
and St. Louis poet, Michael Castro
. The early 80s also saw the premier of pieces Tompkins composed for the French horn player John Clark (musician)
, which also incorporated the use of string synthesizer, arco bass, pizzicato bass and drums. In 1989, the world premiere of his piece "Duet Melody" was held at the Bar Harbor Festival and was performed by David Bilger and his wife Dorinne Bilger.
Tompkins has since also worked with Paul DeMarinis
, Chuck Loeb
, Frank Tusa
, Lawrence Feldman, Noah Young (musician), Bryant Hayes, Rick Cutler, Norman Carey, Anthony Jackson and many others. In 1990, he returned to St. Louis and continues to compose, perform (most notably with: Debby Lennon, Ralph Butler, Gary Sykes (musician) and Charlie Dent (musician), and Dave Black (musician)), announce on radio and participate on the board of the New Music Circle. His CD, “There is a Zone” is a compilation of all his recorded music to the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
As sideman with Elvin Jones
:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
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...
flautist
Flautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
- best known for his work as a composer of third stream
Third stream
Third Stream is a term coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller, within a lecture at Brandeis University, to describe a musical genre which is a synthesis of classical music and jazz...
music.
Early life
Tompkins played in his native Missouri for several years after high school and attended the St. Louis Institute of Music starting in 1964, pairing it with summer courses at Berklee College and the Aspen Music School. During this period he received instruction from Lee Humphreys, Trudy Kane, Graham Hollobon Harold BennettHarold Bennett
Harold Bennett was an English actor best remembered for having played 'Young Mr. Grace' in the 1970s British sitcom Are You Being Served?.-Biography:...
, Manus Sasonkin, Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss was a German-born American composer, conductor, and pianist.-Music career:He was born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His father was the philosopher and scholar Martin Fuchs...
, and Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Ludwig Persichetti was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, Persichetti was a native of Philadelphia...
. Early influences on his study and playing were John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
, Modern Jazz Quartet
Modern Jazz Quartet
The Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson , John Lewis , Percy Heath , and Kenny Clarke . Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955...
, Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
and Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
.
1960s
In 1967 he changed his base of operations to New York City and developed an important relationship with jazz drummer Elvin JonesElvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
, with whom he would make recordings which also featured Joe Farrell
Joe Farrell
Joseph Carl Firrantello , known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:Farrell was born in Chicago...
, Jimmy Owens and other musicians. His career was put on hold, however, when he was conscripted in 1968. He was, however, able to find time to compose during this period, and it was during this time that his composition "Yes" found its way on to Elvin's LP "Polycurrents".
1970s
After three years of service, he returned to New York and continued to compose, perform and record. It was during this time that he became associated with the New Music Circle and premiered his composition "Four Lines" for flute, oboe, string bass and drums. His first LP "The Compositions of Fred Tompkins" showed him firmly rooted in third Stream composition, and featured the playing of Jones, Farrell, Owens, Wilbur LittleWilbur Little
Wilbur Little was an African American jazz bassist known for Hard bop and Post-bop. He originally played piano, but switched to bass after serving in the military. In 1949 he moved to Washington, DC where he worked with "Sir" Charles Thompson among others. After that he was in J. J...
, and Richard Davis. His next LP "Somesville", again featured challenging compositions, this time played by Jones, Lenny White
Lenny White
Leonard White III, better known as Lenny White is an American jazz fusion drummer, who is best known for playing in Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:...
, Gene Perla
Gene Perla
Gene Perla is an American jazz bassist.Perla studied piano at the Berklee School of Music and the Boston Conservatory before switching to bass...
, Buster Williams
Buster Williams
Charles Anthony Williams is an American jazz bassist.-Biography:Williams has gained prestige among jazz musicians as a solid supportive player. Since the early 1960s, he has made subtle swing, a precise rhythm and superb technique the landmark of his playing...
, David Liebman and Steve Grossman. Tompkins' pieces are fully notated
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
with respect to notes, dynamics
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
and articulation
Articulation (music)
In music, articulation refers to the musical direction performance technique which affects the transition or continuity on a single note or between multiple notes or sounds.- Types of articulations :...
, but the players take a little freedom, especially the rhythm section
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
when there is one, to complementb and propel the swing jazz feeling.
1980s-present
The 80s saw Tompkins setting music to the poetry of E. E. CummingsE. E. Cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings , popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e. cummings , was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright...
and Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
. (Lucy Shelton
Lucy Shelton
Lucy Shelton is an American soprano best known for her performance of contemporary music. She graduated from The Putney School in 1961 and Pomona College in 1965.-External links:* musician profile...
premiered his Three Poems to E. E. Cummings in a “live” radio broadcast on WBAI-FM radio in New York City), and in the 1990s he composed music to pieces by John Keats
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
and St. Louis poet, Michael Castro
Michael Castro
Roberto Michael Castro is an Ecuadorian footballer who plays for Deportivo Quito.-Club career:Castro has always played for Deportivo Quito. Castro first broke into the first team squad in 2006. In the 2006 and 2007 seasons, he was used a lot because of his great ability to defend. However, in the...
. The early 80s also saw the premier of pieces Tompkins composed for the French horn player John Clark (musician)
John Clark (musician)
John Clark is an American jazz horn player and composer.-Biography:John Clark was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Rochester, New York. His father was William H. Clark, a professor of German and dean of education at the University of Rochester, and his mother was Margaret Garmey. He and his four...
, which also incorporated the use of string synthesizer, arco bass, pizzicato bass and drums. In 1989, the world premiere of his piece "Duet Melody" was held at the Bar Harbor Festival and was performed by David Bilger and his wife Dorinne Bilger.
Tompkins has since also worked with Paul DeMarinis
Paul DeMarinis
Paul DeMarinis is an American electronic music composer, sound, performance, and computer-based artist.-Education:In 1971, Demarinis received a B.A. in Music and Filmmaking Interdisciplinary from Antioch College...
, Chuck Loeb
Chuck Loeb
Chuck Loeb is a guitarist who performs numerous styles of music, most notably jazz. Loeb's own solo projects have generally been commercially successful crossover jazz, which has "contemporary" or "smooth" jazz....
, Frank Tusa
Frank Tusa
Frank Tusa is an American jazz double-bassist, composer,educator.Tusa played guitar before switching to bass at age ten. He worked in a Broadway pit orchestra and then played while serving in the Army. Tusa worked with Paul Bley , Horacee Arnold , and in the Open Sky trio with Dave Liebman and...
, Lawrence Feldman, Noah Young (musician), Bryant Hayes, Rick Cutler, Norman Carey, Anthony Jackson and many others. In 1990, he returned to St. Louis and continues to compose, perform (most notably with: Debby Lennon, Ralph Butler, Gary Sykes (musician) and Charlie Dent (musician), and Dave Black (musician)), announce on radio and participate on the board of the New Music Circle. His CD, “There is a Zone” is a compilation of all his recorded music to the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
Critical reviews
- “Outstanding in the first half of the program was Fred Tompkins’ “Four Lines”. Especially fine was the improvisatory drum part played by the great jazz drummer, Elvin Jones.”
- "The results (of the LP Cécile) are pieces -harmonically and tonally varied and melodically strong -which make use of woodwind sounds and have a firm underpinning of often driving piano lines and swinging but rhythmically broken bass and drum lines." - J. De Muth, Downbeat Magazine
Partial Discography
As leader:- The Compositions of Fred Tompkins (1973, Festival 9001)
- Somesville (1975, Festival 9002)
- Cécile (1978, FKT 103)
- St. Louis Music (1999, The Orchard)
- Fanfare 8 (The Early Works of Fred Tompkins - compilation) (2000, The Orchard)
- Freedom Ring (2001)
- Cécile (2003, 2nd edition - compilation)
- There Is A Zone (2004)
- Curve Extended (2006, The Orchard)
As sideman with Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
:
- Poly-CurrentsPoly-CurrentsPoly-Currents is an album by American jazz drummer Elvin Jones recorded in 1969 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars calling it "Advanced modal hard bop with all of the musicians playing in top form".-Track listing:# "Agenda" -...
(1969, Blue NoteBlue noteIn jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
)
External links
- All Music entry http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll
- MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/tompkinsjazz
- Home page http://www.tompkinsjazz.com