Tom Vincent : Associate Artist
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Random Audio Sample: Noysie oyster : small jazz ensemble by Tom Vincent, from the CD Tom Vincent Septet. |
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Photo: Christopher Hockings
Artist website: http://www.tomvincent.com.au
Tom Vincent is a unique jazz stylist both as
a composer and as a performing improviser. The rich harmonic
language inherent in his compositions is directly informed by
thirty years of continual improvisation, and his compositional
development is likewise enriching his scope as an improviser.
Vincent studied jazz composition at the Sydney Conservatorium
with George Golla and Don Burrows, graduating in 1989. In the
1990s he worked as a composer and performer in New York City
where he also studied at the BMI Jazz Composers' Workshop with
Jim McNeely and Roger Kellaway.
For twenty years Vincent has been composing for his own
ensembles, living and performing mostly in Sydney, New York,
Melbourne, Amsterdam and now Hobart. Since 2005 he has been
composing both theme tunes and incidental music for ABC TV shows.
In August 2012 the Tom Vincent Septet performed its inaugural
concert to a full house at the Bahai Centre in Hobart with all
music composed and arranged by Vincent. Since 1999 Vincent has
released four self-produced CDs with original compositions, and
since 2000 he has toured Europe, Australia and the world several
times with his trios and quartets
In his composition and piano playing, Vincent is working on
exploring new possibilities in rhythmic and harmonic
organisation. Rhythmically, the platform for standard jazz syntax
is triplets in 4/4 time, resulting in 12 triplets per bar. Jazz
musicians have been superimposing long running lines that create
a faster tempo on top of the existing tempo by playing three bars
in the time of two, thus phrasing triplets as if they are quavers
in a faster tempo. In a similar way, Vincent is working on
phrasing lines by dividing bars into 11s and 13s, rather than 12.
Slightly slower and faster, this creates a curious drifting
sensation while his note choice and phrasing maintain the
essential swing feel, both in composition and improvisation.
Harmonically, Vincent is working with four and five-part harmonisations of running lines of quavers and quaver triplets where no notes are repeated consecutively. Once harmonised, inner voices are carefully analysed and notes are swapped around between them, giving the most tuneful and interesting lines possible to each player, and creating rich, flowing, kaleidoscopic textures.
In 2012 Vincent started composing for Michael Kieran Harvey and also for his new Tom Vincent Septet. At the end of 2012 Vincent was awarded a grant of $14,000 from Arts Tasmania to compose for his Septet. In mid 2013 Vincent spent a month composing music in Spain at an international artists residency in Almeria.
Current releases include the 2015 release Tom Vincent Septet (seven original compositions and arrangements), and the 2016 release Tom Vincent Octet - Dhāraṇī (new suite composed for Dark MOFO 2016).
Tom Vincent is assisted through Arts Tasmania by the Minister for the Arts.
Tom Vincent — current to May 2016
Selected Commissions
Work | Commission Details | |
---|---|---|
Blues in twelve keys (solo piano) (2012) | Commissioned by Michael Kieran Harvey. |