Ryan Tomski

The Jazz Toolbox - Doctoral Thesis Lecture Recital

I hope to one day publish my original method book, "The Jazz Toolbox," but until then, please enjoy the corresponding lecture recital.

I put a lot of time into exploring the effectiveness of supplementing jazz studies with linguistic devices and rhetorical analysis, as hypothesized by Dr. Jeff Erickson, Dr. Charles Rochester Young, and others.  My thesis concluded that most students performed slightly better when exposed to these types of supplements than when they did not.  If you have any questions about this study, please don't hesitate to send me an email at ryan@ryantomski.com.

"Slay" Ride

Please enjoy my 2020 arrangement of Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride, as performed remotely by Big Beat.

UIUC Joel Spencer Combo Recording Session Spring, 2018

I was fortunate enough to be able to record a few tunes with my classmates at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.  It was a blast!  The band at that time consisted of Philip Kocheril (tpt), Reginald Chapman (bs tbn, bs tpt), Garrett Jones (ts, bassoon), Paul Mock (gtr), Jonathan Small (b), Kevin Cruse (d).  Below is my solo intro on a tune by Philip Kocheril he calls "Up the Down Staircase," followed by a tune I wrote based on the rhetorical device symploce entitled "Symplosium."  Hope you enjoy! :)

UIUC CJB at JEN Conference in Dallas, TX, 2018

Here's the full recording of the tune in which I got the chance to solo and then accompany for the great legend Doc Severinsen.  At 91 years of age, he's sounding as good as ever!  There's a shorter clip with a closer video angle in the "Press" section of this website.  Enjoy!

Jazz Piano DMA Recital II

Here's the first half or so of my second doctoral recital at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  It features Andrew Lautenbach (ts), Kurt Shelby (b), and James Sims (d).  Since I focused on mostly original music for my first doctoral recital, I wanted to do a standards recital.  It turns out that all of the composers were born east of the Mississippi!  Performed live December 1st, 2017.

Empathy

This  EP features four standards, a tune by Brad Mehldau, and an original called "Empathy."

It was recorded in late July, 2014 with bassist Daseul Kim and drummer Joe Spinelli.  Hope you enjoy!

In Some Circles

Some people have never heard of me or my music.  But in some circles, mine was a small attempt at some semi-programmatic art.  This multimedia work is based on my own personal interpretation of the human concept of morality, which includes two basic goods (virtues- mercy and love) as well as seven basic bads (sins-lust, gluttony, envy, sloth, pride, greed, and wrath).  This suite is designed to take the listener on a somewhat experiential journey through nine 'circles' of musical heaven and hell (similar to Dante's "Inferno").  Do not forget to bring your map on this journey.  To find it, ye must scroll-eth downward to "map."

 Pray ye survive....

"map."

SelectRecordings

I teach!

I had the pleasure recently of returning to my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, to be an adjunct professor for a semester.  It was a blast, and this video gives a glimpse of some of the fantastic students I had the pleasure of working with every day.