CD Baby All the World's a Stage

Description

Tom Teasley is a 'creative bonanza,' claims Bruce Wittet in Modern Drummer Magazine; '... give Tom a bass drum, a snare drum and a djembé and he'll give you part Stravinsky, part Art Blakey.' Teasley is a multi-dimensional performer and composer, crossing the boundaries of solo performance through the use of instruments from the world over, and cross-pollinating techniques from diverse traditions, and combining ancient percussion with digital technology. As a Cultural Envoy, Teasley has traveled throughout the Middle East on behalf of the US State Department, giving historic performances in Bahrain,Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, and Iraq in collaboration with indigenous musicians.He is the recipient of six Fulbright-Hayes Awards. He has also toured extensively,performing at world music and percussion festivals across the US, Europe, South America, New Zealand and Samoa. Tom has began setting the abstract film of Dadaist master Hans Richter and others to his original music. He's equally renowned as a theatrical composer,sound designer and performer, and his work has earned him two Helen Hayes Awards for outstanding sound design.In addition, he has performed with the National Symphony as both a composer and a soloist, and has been an artist-in-residence at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Teasley has been a clinician at Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory among others. Teasley is proud to be supported byThe National Endowment for the Arts. ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE REVIEWS Percussion is often treated as rhythmic garnish but, in the right hands, it can be the meal itself. Light spices, meaty grooves and flavorful accents can provide more than enough sustenance for the ear if they're blended in the right proportions and percussionist Tom Teasley proves that this hypothesis holds water on this, his eighth recording. All The World's A Stage is an overdubbed discourse on the art of tearing down cultural boundaries in the world of percussion. Teasley, a two-time winner of the Helen Hayes Theater Award recipient for outstanding sound design and recipient of three Fulbright-Hayes grants for performances in the Middle East, uses a stockpile of instruments acquired during his globetrotting escapades to create a percussive quilt of many ethnic colors. He taps into the very heartbeat of India, Ireland, The Middle East, Africa and other disparate locales as he crafts cinematic sound collages for the soul. In many ways, a more apt title for this album might have been All The World's A Source. The journey begins with Teasley's balafon work taking center stage on 'Oresteia Furies Dance,' but things quickly move in another direction with 'Rumba For Rama.' Alto melodica moves into the spotlight on this number, as hand drums, cymbals and marimba sounds create a supportive base. 'Nights Over Baghdad' is an appropriate labeling for a number that features a seductive melody over swaying grooves and Teasley turns his attention to expansive, Indo-infused music on 'Fuska And Varuna,' which features vocal percussion. His flute-like bansari whistle tweets and flutters around on 'Return Of The Greenbird' and Asiatic influences are artfully blended into an Arabian tapestry on 'Rise Up,' which features koto-like sounds from Teasley's MalletKat and alluring melodies on alto melodica. Allaboutjazz.com Tom Teasley - All the World's a Stage - T&T Music Percussionist Tom Teasley takes the concept of a one-man band to a unique level on his eighth album as a lea All the World's a Stage