3.30.2024
I'm considering removing this blog and replacing it with a tab called "Lists" that more accurately reflects what I was originally thinking when I created this blog. I wanted a place to 1) further personalize my website and 2) keep myself inspired and motivated, while 3) sharing more of myself to the public. To these ends, I think I'm going to at least ease into the idea of "Lists" by posting some of my lists of inspirations across various arts, media, sports or whatever below, but still keep this blog active until I'm sure I want to fully switch over to the new format. Below are some of these aforementioned lists I've been compiling recently, but this exercise is far from over and I'm sure my opinions will change over time. I guess the blog format is nice for that reason; that one can track my timeline. However, I also want to state that these lists should be taken as mere snapshots into my current artist brain and do not necessarily represent my views/beliefs etc, nor do they necessarily represent any amount of enduring endorsement. They are merely works that currently make me want to sit down and play or write music or inspire me in other ways that impact my art (mostly music these days). I hope these lists may serve as inspirations to other artists and/or their artist brains!
Ryan's Top 25 Favorite Movies
1. Good Will Hunting
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
4. Remember the Titans
5. Office Space
6. Wedding Crashers
7. Bowfinger
8. The Princess Bride
9. School of Rock
10. Uncut Gems
11. Shutter Island
12. Inception
13. Parasite
14. The Science of Sleep
15. Inglorious Basterds
16. Cast Away
17. Ocean’s Eleven
18. Being John Malcovich
19. 40-Year-Old Virgin
20. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
21. Synecdoche, New York
22. I’m Thinking of Ending Things
23. Reign Over Me
24. Anchorman
25. Superbad
Ryan's Top 25 Favorite TV Series
1. Survivor
2. 24
3. Severance
4. The Sopranos
5. Tim and Eric Awesome Show
6. Pardon the Interruption
7. Sports Center
8. Sunday Night Football
9. Monday Night Football
10. Jeopardy
11. NFL Countdown
12. NBA on TNT
13. Saturday Night Live
14. Comedy Bang Bang
15. Shrinking
16. Everybody Loves Raymond
17. Between Two Ferns
18. Broad City
19. Check it Out with Dr. Steve Brule
20. Seinfeld
21. The Simpsons
22. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
23. Three’s Company
24. Curb Your Enthusiasm
25. Better Call Saul
Ryan’s Top 25 Favorite Albums
1. A Love Supreme - Coltrane
2. Coltrane’s Sound - Coltrane
3. Art of the Trio Vol. 4 - Mehldau
4. Time for Tyner - Tyner
5. Album 2 - Louis Cole
6. good kid M.A.A.D. city - Lamar
7. Beyoncé - Beyoncé
8. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - OutKast
9. Giant Steps - Coltrane
10. Here is Phineas - Newborn Jr.
11. Sonny Stitt Sits In with The Oscar Peterson Trio
12. East Coast Blow Out - McNeely
13. Conviction - Kendrick Scott Oracle
14. The Black Album - Jay-Z
15. Coltrane (1957) - Coltrane
16. Magical Mystery Tour - Beatles
17. The Lost and Found - Parlato
18. Beyond The Wall - Garrett
19. Do You Want More?!!!??! - The Roots
20. Thriller - Jackson
21. Up From the Skies - McNeely
22. Africa/Brass - Coltrane
23. Coltrane Plays the Blues
24. 2112 - Rush
25. Kind of Blue - Davis
Ryan’s Top 25 Favorite Current NBA Players with Ball-in-Hand
(a very biased, homer list, to be sure!)
1. Khris Middleton
2. Malik Beasley
3. Damian Lillard
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo
5. Bobby Portis
6. MarJon Beauchamp
7. Brook Lopez
8. Lebron James
9. Kyrie Irving
10. Luka Dončić
11. Nikola Jokić
12. Kevin Durant
13. Jason Tatum
14. Steph Curry
15. Jalen Brunson
16. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
17. Andre Jackson Jr.
18. AJ Green
19. Danilo Gallinari
20. Patrick Beverley
21. Pat Connaughton
22. Jae Crowder
23. Jrue Holiday
24. Anthony Edwards
25. Grayson Allen
As I said, this is an ongoing exercise and I hope that it will in some way help someone someday. If not, at least it was fun to compose. :)
2.29.2024
What a year it's been! Suffice it to say I've been busy teaching, but that wouldn't do justice to the amount of learning I've done in the process. And playing my music is still a huge part of my recreation time when I have it, so I'm glad to be getting back to focusing on that more as Spring Break and ultimately the summer approaches. I wrote a new tune the other day called "Give You Everything," but the original mockup title and dummy lyric was "It's a Philly Thing." I don't really know if that portends anything real yet, but at least I'm feeling at home here in my new home of Philly. I've been itching to focus more time on my compositional, arranging, recording, and musicking goals. I can practically smell the oncoming summer on an unusually warm Spring day like today was, despite (or perhaps because of) the rain, or perhaps (or because of) the musicking.
Speaking of recording goals, I'm happy to say that although the Ernest Edwards recording project has yet to produce recordings for consumption by the general public, the process has progressed significantly since the original recording session. Unfortunately, in order to actually create CDs or digital files/streaming of the music, rights must be acquired which costs money that exceeds my personal budget. So, Mr. Ernest and I decided recently that perhaps a GoFundMe page could allow his fans to help. Mr. Ernest, with the help of a Newark School of the Arts employee named Sharon, has created such a page. I hope to post the liner notes soon if possible! Until then, here's the link! I really appreciate all you can do to contribute to this unsung Newark musician's recorded legacy. Any little bit helps! Thank you very much!
https://gofund.me/dd0b3ed8
1.27.2023
I got called to play at Rittenhouse Grill here in Philly again tonight. They booked me for two dates in February too (10th and 25th). I'm so happy they continue to ask me to play! I've had such a fun time getting to know the people who work there, and I can't say enough about how great it feels to feel welcomed every time I step in the door. Every time I walk in off the street in my suit and sit down to play for a few hours, I feel like Dexter Gordon in that one Jazz Icons DVD where he's walking down a dark street somewhere in Denmark and suddenly he's walked into a lively jazz club and directly onto the stage to perform. Just the coolest. And even though I'm starting to learn the ropes and getting used to playing there, that feeling isn't going away. This is something special!
I'm also happy to report that I very recently recorded an amazingly unique album with Ernest Edwards. More on that soon!
9.7.2022
Back by popular demand, Muzick Prince will once again be joining me for a duo set at The Social Room on Friday, Sept. 23rd! I had so much fun meeting and performing with him over Labor Day Weekend. And the craziest part is that we did it with absolutely no rehearsal! Only time will tell, but I really feel like this collaboration could turn into something very special. I've been looking for just the right male vocalist to bring my original music to life (see "Crossover" materials below), but we've only tried covers so far so it will be interesting to see if it works! The nice thing is that he is so well-versed in non-jazz (R&B, hip-hop, pop, and even rock), that he will bring a much-needed fresh perspective just by singing through some things and giving me feedback. About to send him some emails of my charts; wish me luck!
9.2.2022
I haven't blogged in over a year, but today I'm feeling inspired. I've got another gig at The Social Room in New Brunswick and am so grateful that this music is finally coming to life after the struggle of the last few years. A year or so ago (as the previous blog post describes), I got to try some of this music out with real band members (IRL) for the first time in Perth Amboy. Now that I've moved to Philly, I'm playing more gigs in Jersey than ever, and I've been so fortunate to have reconnected with April May Webb and Allison McKenzie recently. This has opened up the door once again to land some of my own gigs so I can play my own music and tonight represents a point in which I feel the music has finally started to come together. Bassist Charlie Dougherty knows the music well by now and even though our regular drummer Nathan Webb couldn't make it tonight, I've played a lot with Jon DiFiore over the years and have full confidence he will be up for the challenge. The music is deceptively difficult. Maybe tonight will help me decide which songs (they all have lyrics, by the way) will remain in the setlist and eventually get recorded and which songs will end up in the trash. I have no idea if anyone ever actually reads my blog, so if you're actually reading this, would you be so kind as to send me a quick email at ryan@ryantomski.com? I would really appreciate it! Thanks!
7.13.2021
As an update, I'm excited to announce the first live performance of the music I've been composing during the pandemic and over the last few years. The aforementioned "Crossover" project will finally get its first test run in less than ten days. On Thursday, July 22nd from 6-8pm, with the help of some extremely talented friends, the Ryan Tomski Quartet will premier all of the pieces listed below and a few more if there's time. While I definitely still see this project as a recording studio concept album, it will be really fun to see how things go in a live setting in front of a live audience. This event will be free and open to the public, so please stop by or send me a message if you're interested in accessing a recording should one be made. Thanks so much for your support!
1.27.2021
Here are some album cover designs I made awhile back for that project I mentioned a couple days ago. Got some good news today that makes it seem like recording these tunes in a studio with real other people might be possible soon. Of course, I'm not getting my hopes up, but I seriously can't wait to express this first post-graduation, real adult debut album in recorded form soon. If I get time, I'll try to post some track breakdowns and descriptions so you can see the backstory behind some of the tunes. If!
1.25.2021
I've been working on a bunch of new music since the pandemic hit. I can't wait until it's safe to get in the studio and start recording soon. The tentative title for the project is "Crossover," and deals a lot with all the many meanings and implications of the word. Since sports are a huge influence on me, the first thing that comes to my mind is the "crossover dribble" in basketball, which requires both ambidexterity and the will to deceive the defender into a pile of broken ankles. Of course, the word crossover has clear musical implications of multi-genre pollination tied to its usage, in addition to the specific inference of jazz musicians "crossing over" into commercial music, specifically R&B.
While I'm not 100% certain where this project and these ideas will take me, I can't wait to share more with you about my inspirations and thoughts on this blog. Perhaps in a few weeks, I'll have some snippets to share with you here. Until then, thanks for reading!